2 ½ cups flour

¼ t. baking powder

¼ t. salt

¾ cup packed light brown sugar

1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 t. vanilla

Whole pecans

1 cup chocolate chips

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Beat the brown sugar and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the egg, then the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mix on medium-low speed until completely incorporated. Divide the dough in half, pat into two discs about ¼-inch thick, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about one hour and up to overnight. Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Let the dough sit at room temperature for a few minutes to make rolling easier. Roll out one disc of dough at a time between two sheets of parchment paper until it is ⅛ inch thick. Cut out teddy bears with cookie cutter and arrange about two inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Place a pecan diagonally across the chest of each bear and carefully fold the arms up to hug the nut. Bake until the cookies are golden brown on the bottom, 10-12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely. Gently gather any scraps into a ball and press into a disc; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate the disc until it is firm enough to roll, about 1 hour. Cut out as many cookies as possible, decorate with pecans as above, and bake. Decorate the cookies by melting the chocolate chips, placing them in a plastic bag, cutting the corner to make a very small tip, and dotting ears, eyes, mouth and feet with small dots of chocolate.

Cook’s note: Everyone is looking for that Instagram-able moment when it comes to holiday baking and this one takes the cake … I mean cookie!

Recipe courtesy of Simon May, Fort Wayne, Indiana