Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
For dough
2 cups flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
â…“ cup sour cream
1 cup chopped salted cashews
For icing
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons heavy cream
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 to 2½ cups powdered sugar
Whole salted cashews
Directions
To prepare cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, and reserve.
In a bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter until creamy, about 1 minute. Add brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until thoroughly combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with sour cream in two batches and mixing until just incorporated. Fold in chopped cashews.
Drop by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets and bake until cookies are just set and turning golden around edges, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 2 minutes before transferring cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
To prepare icing: Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, then cook another 3 to 5 minutes after butter has melted, watching carefully and swirling pan to make sure butter doesn't burn. When butter is dark brown and smells nutty, remove from heat. Stir in cream and vanilla extract. Add 1½ cups powdered sugar, whisking until smooth, gradually adding more powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until icing is thick enough to spread. Immediately ice cooled cookies and top each iced cookie with a whole cashew.
2005 Finalist: Anne Marie Draganowski of West St. Paul, Minnesota, and DeNae Shewmake of Burnsville, Minnesota