– Preheat oven to 350F, spray the baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.
– Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, brown sugar and an only ½ cup of the piloncillo) in a large bowl. Mix until all the ingredients are well combined. Add the lard or shortening (cut into small pieces) and gently mix with a fork or a pastry blender. Keep mixing until the mixture resembles coarse oats.
– In a small bowl, mix the milk and the egg. Beat until well combined. Slowly, pour the milk into the dry mixture little by little, gentle mixing to form the dough. Do not over-mix or knead, as this is a soft dough that doesn’t need too much work to form. If you over-knead, the cookies will be hard.
– Divide the dough into 8 pieces and, with the palm of your hand, gently roll one piece in your working surface to form a ball. Again, do not put pressure on the dough.
– Now, carefully pat each ball of dough to form the cookie. They don’t all have to be perfect, that’s the fun part of this recipe! Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet. Top each cookie with ½ tablespoon of shaved piloncillo and place a pecan half in the center of each cookie. Bake for 15 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown.
– Now, to have an extra golden finish on your cookies, immediately after removing from the oven, place them under your already hot broiler for one more minute, keeping a watchful eye on them. Remove from the baking sheet to a cooling rack and enjoy with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee when they cool off.