-
Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.
-
To make the Swedish cookie dough: Combine the vanilla, baker's ammonia, and salt in a very small bowl. Stir to dissolve the ammonia; the salt won't fully dissolve. Combine the vanilla mixture with the sugar and butter, and beat until smooth.
-
Mix in the flour; the mixture will seem quite dry and crumbly at first, but continue mixing until the dough comes together.
-
Break off pieces of dough about the size of a shelled chestnut (about 1/2 ounce); a teaspoon cookie scoop works well here. Roll the pieces into balls. Space them on the prepared baking sheets, leaving 1 1/2" between them.
-
For somewhat sweeter cookies with the added crunch of sugar topping, roll them in coarse or granulated sugar before placing them on the baking sheets.
-
Use the bottom of a glass, dipped in sugar if necessary to prevent sticking, to flatten the balls to about 3/8" thick. If you have it, use the end of the food pusher from a food processor; many of these have a circular, ridged pattern on their end, which imprints the cookies with a nice design.
-
Bake the cookies until they're a very light golden brown around the edges, about 25 minutes.
-
Remove the cookies from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool.
-
To dip the Swedish cookies: Crush the pecans finely, either by putting them in a zip-top plastic bag and pounding, or in a food processor.
-
Combine the chocolate chips and vegetable oil in a microwave-safe cup. Microwave till the chocolate softens, then stir till it melts completely.
-
Use a pastry brush to pain the bottom of each cookie with chocolate.
-
Dip in the crushed nuts.
-
Place the cookies, chocolate-side up, on a piece of parchment or cookie sheet to set.
-
Store Swedish cookies, well wrapped, for up to a week; freeze for longer storage. The flavor improves as the Swedish cookies age.
