Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies with Brown Butter
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Looking for the best recipe for pecan chocolate chip cookies? You’ve found it. This recipe has brown butter, toasty pecans, and semisweet chocolate puddles for soft, chewy, and unforgettable cookies. They’re one of my favorites to make for casual parties, holidays, and get-togethers with friends!
I am a proud and very much self-proclaimed cookie snob. So when I create a recipe I like, I develop a hyper-fixation for it until I create a new one.
First, it was chewy coffee cookies, then it was brown butter peanut M&M cookies. And now? Well, I think you know what comes next.
I’m not here to claim that the world needed yet another chocolate chip cookie recipe. But I am here to say that it needed this one. I have literally been perfecting my CCC recipe ever since I was in pastry school over 10 years ago. So many weekends in high school and college testing recipe-after-recipe. So many tiny tweaks. Pounds upon pounds of butter. And I’m stoked to say, we’ve finally made it, friends! 🎉
These nutty, brown buttery chocolate chip cookies are unbelievable. I know that nuts in cookies are a highly debated topic but I’m not here to argue. The pecans belong in this recipe, ok? Trust me on this. They’re chewy and caramelized with a lovely crunch, just the perfect amount of chocolate, and just a touch of flaky salt. Make them. Double them. Share them with your friends!
Semi-sweet chocolate wafers
For those big pockets of chocolate, it’s totally worth it to seek out some semi-sweet chocolate wafers. But chips will work too! You also need unsalted butter, pecans, all purpose flour, baking soda, Morton’s Kosher salt, dark brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and flaky salt.
If you can’t find wafers, use fèves or a roughly chopped chocolate bar instead. The extra surface area will create those gorgeous chocolate puddles!
Brown the butter
Toast the pecans
Don’t skip the step of toasting the nuts! Many people don’t like nuts in cookies because they think they taste bitter. Toasting the nuts before baking draws the oils out of the pecans which makes them crunchier, more flavorful, and gets rid of any bitterness!
Make the cookies
For chewy, not crispy cookies…
If you want chocolate pecan cookies that are chewy instead of crispy, make sure to follow these tips!
- The biggest culprit of crispy cookies is using too much flour. That’s why I always recommend weighing flour with a scale instead of cups.
- Don’t over-mix the dough. When cookie dough is over-mixed, it causes the gluten to become tough which makes the cookies crunchy.
- Also, don’t over-bake! You want to bake the cookies just until the edges are set and the centers are still a bit under-baked.
Store & make-ahead dough
Before you store the cookies, first make sure they’re completely cool! Then, place them in an airtight container for up to 2 days. After a few days, they’ll start to lose their chewiness.
This is also a great make-ahead recipe! Just whip up the dough, cover the bowl, and refrigerate it for up to 2 days. Then, about an hour before you’re ready to enjoy the cookies, scoop the dough, roll it, and bake the cookies.
Freezing instructions
You can either freeze the baked cookies or you can freeze the dough. I like freezing the dough so I can have warm, freshly-baked cookies when cravings hit. But they taste great either way!
- Baked cookies – place the cookies in a freezer-safe container or zipper bag lined with parchment paper. Freeze them for up to 2 months.
- Cookie dough – my favorite way! Roll the cookie dough, and place the cookie dough balls on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Freeze the cookie dough balls until firm, about 2 hours. Then, place the frozen cookie dough balls in a parchment-lined zipper bag. Freeze for up to 2 months.
If you freeze the cookie dough balls, there’s no need to defrost them. Just add 2-3 minutes to the bake time to make up for the extra chilly dough.
If you make this recipe, I would love it if you left a star rating and review! I read every single comment and love hearing what you think about my recipes. Thank you for supporting Sunday Table!
The Best Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 226 grams unsalted butter (1 cup)
- 90 grams pecan halves, plus more for decoration (1 cup)
- 270 grams all purpose flour (2 1/4 cups)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 266 grams dark brown sugar (1 1/4 cups, packed)
- 67 grams white sugar (1/3 cup)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 15 milliliters pure vanilla extract (1 Tablespoon)
- 180 grams semi-sweet chocolate wafers, plus more for decoration (1 cup)
- Flaky salt, for serving (optional)
Equipment
- Hand mixer or stand mixer
- #40 cookie scoop (2 Tablespoons)
- Parchment paper
Instructions
Brown the butter
- To brown the butter, melt the unsalted butter in a shallow, light-colored pan over medium-low heat. Cook, swirling the pan often, for 5-7 minutes. At first the butter will foam up and get bubbly, but eventually, you will start to see small brown bits on the bottom of the pan.
- Once the butter is golden-brown and smells nutty, immediately remove the butter from the heat and pour it into a large heat-proof mixing bowl. Cool the brown butter until it's room temperature, about 15-20 minutes.
Toast the pecans
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Evenly spread the pecans halves in a single layer on a small sheet pan.
- Bake the pecans for 6-8 minutes, tossing halfway through, until they are toasted and smell nutty. Keep a close eye on the pecans so they don't burn.
- Let the pecans cool for a few minutes. Once they're cool enough to touch, roughly chop the pecans. Set aside to cool completely.
Make the cookie dough
- While the butter and pecans cool, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and Kosher salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Then, add the dark brown sugar and white sugar to the brown butter. Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until it’s well-combined, 1-2 minutes. Next, add the eggs one at a time until they're completely incorporated. Mix in the vanilla extract.
- Stir half of the flour mixture to the sugar-butter mixture until combined. Then, add the remaining flour mixture, beating just until the dough forms (a few streaks of flour is ok). Using a rubber spatula, fold the pecans and chocolate wafers into the cookie dough until they're evenly distributed and there are no more streaks of flour. The dough will be a bit loose, but it will thicken once it's chilled.
- Cover the bowl with a reusable bowl cover or plastic wrap. Then, chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Bake the cookies
- Once the dough is chilled and you're ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Using a #40 cookie scoop (2 Tablespoons), scoop the cookie dough and roll them into balls with the palms of your hands. Place the cookie dough balls 3 inches apart on the parchment-lined sheet pans (they will spread quite a bit). Add 2-3 chocolate wafers to the tops of each cookie dough ball if you want the 'chocolate puddle' look.
- Bake the cookies for about 6 minutes, until the cookies are puffy in the center. Using oven mitts, grip the sides of the sheet pan and give the sheet pan a few firm taps against the oven rack until the edges are wrinkly and the centers of the cookies fall and flatten. Flip the pan and bake the cookies for another 2-3 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the centers are just slightly underdone.
- Remove the cookies from the oven, and give them another tap against a counter or another firm surface to make the edges a little more crinkly. Immediately press 2-3 toasted pecans into the surface of each cookie for decoration, if desired. Sprinkle the cookies with flaky salt.
- Let the cookies cool on the sheet pan for about 5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat the above steps with the rest of the cookie dough. Enjoy!
