Barbecue Sauce Cookies

Add some chaos to your Memorial Day menu.

Thanks, eBay!

If you don't want to show up to a barbecue empty-handed, there are plenty of safe food options to choose from. Chips, coleslaw, and potato salad are classics of the genre, which is why they will likely be overrepresented at whatever Memorial Day gathering you end up at this weekend. For a risky but thematically-appropriate contribution to the picnic table spread, consider making a dessert with an unconventional star ingredient. Barbecue sauce cookies may not be the most popular item at the party, but they're sure to be a conversation starter.

This recipe appears in the August 1975 issue of Home Cooking, a small, monthly magazine of cooking tips and recipes published by Women’s Circle. Most recipes are reader-submitted, and this one comes from Nell Edna Johnson of Nice, California. The ingredients list is typical for the most part: In addition to the usual suspects like eggs and flour, it calls for cinnamon, brown sugar, raisins, and pecans. I’m sure these cookies would blend in perfectly to any dessert spread. You would never know they contain a quarter cup of barbecue sauce before taking a bite.

While the concept here is definitely unusual, I’m not opposed to it. Savory cookies have been enjoying a viral moment recently, and the use of barbecue sauce in baking doesn’t sound inherently weirder than five spice or gochujang. As one of the sweeter condiments in American cuisine (the first ingredient of Sweet Baby Ray’s is high fructose corn syrup), it may actually be the perfect bridge for a sweet-and-savory baked good.

I’m sure barbecue sauce cookies go great with beer muffins.

The recipe doesn’t specify a brand or variety of barbecue sauce, so it’s up to the baker’s discretion whether they want to add something that leans sweet or hot or smokey. There’s even a modification for “very spicy” cookies: Just double the barbecue sauce and omit the milk.

I'm very interested to know how these taste and probably would have made them myself if I wasn't writing this newsletter at the last minute. (I do have a fun recipe picked out for next week that I plan on testing, so stay tuned!) If you end up making them for an upcoming barbecue, please let me know how they turn out—and let me know if you were kind enough to advertise the secret ingredient before letting guests take a bite.

Barbecue Sauce Cookies

3 (4 1/2 oz.) cans pecan halves
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup margarine
2 cups dark brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1 cup raisins

Set aside 2 cups of perfect pecan halves. Chop remaining pecans coarsely. They should make about 1 cup. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In large bowl, beat the margarine until smooth. Gradually add the brown sugar, beating until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating after each until mixture is light. Beat in flour mixture alternatively with milk, then the barbecue sauce, mixing until smooth. Stir in the raisins. Drop batter by rounded teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart, on lightly greased cookie sheet. Top each with a pecan half, pressing lighting into batter. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove to wire rack to cool. Makes about 8 dozen.

Note: For a very spicy cookie, omit the milk and use 1/2 cup barbecue sauce.