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Browned Butter Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Dec 4, 2019 · 13 Comments

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These Browned Butter Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies are all of my favorite things packed into one HUGE cookie: toasted pecans, melty, dark chocolate, and the best part: 2 sticks of browned butter. A sprinkle of sea salt on top gives them just the right finishing touch. They are baked just long enough to not be too doughy, but the middles still have just the right amount of cookie-dough-ness. The toasted pecans add the perfect, not-too-crunchy crunch, and the chocolate puddles sprinkled with flaky sea salt just send me to the moon. The best I tell you.

cookies on cooling rack with holiday greenery and lights

When I set out to create a cookie worthy of National Cookie Day and the beginning of the holiday cookie season I knew it had to be truly magnificent on all levels. These browned butter pecan chocolate chunk cookies deliver. Each of the steps I take you through all contribute to layers of flavor that work together harmoniously to create what I feel is the perfect cookie.

What goes into these cookies

Layer one: browned butter. Oh browned butter, how do I love thee? Browned butter is like magic. Just a few minutes on the stovetop and you've transformed already delicious butter into an even more delicious, toasty, nutty, caramel-like elixir. It takes any recipe (sweet or savory) to whole new heights.

Layer two: brown sugar. Using brown sugar in a cookie is nothing new, but using a heavier brown sugar to white sugar ratio amplifies the caramel notes and adds moisture.

Layer three: Toasted and chopped pecans. Yes, we're toasting them before we add them to the cookie dough. Another step, but so worth it and no, you can't skip it. If you taste a pecan straight out of the bag and then taste a toasted pecan you will understand why I add this step to my recipes. They are just better. The texture is better, the flavor is nuttier. And your cookies will be that much better because of it. UN-toasted nuts in cookies, cakes, scones, etc is one of my pet peeves.

Layer four: Really good, dark chocolate that we chop into chunks. You want those chocolate puddles? This is how you get them. I love chocolate chips, I'm a fan of store-bought chocolate chunks, but I will always, always go for chop-it-yourself, really high quality chocolate bars for my best cookie recipes.

Layer five: Flaky sea salt. Dark chocolate loves salt. The end.

cookie on cloth napkin with pecans and holiday decorations

I'm sure we're all very familiar with the internet-famous, face-sized cookies from Levain bakery in NY. They are a pretty basic, very delicious chocolate chip cookie dough, scooped into huge craggy mounds and baked until just set on the edges and still doughy and meltingly delicious on the inside. I developed these browned butter pecan chocolate chunk cookies with those cookies in mind, but this is in no way a copy cat recipe.

Pulling from another famous NY cookie, Jacques Torres' Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies (why do all the great cookies come from NY??) I have you chill this dough for a few hours or overnight if it's easier. I know, another step, but I promise it's worth it! The scooping and chilling step is really important to allow the flour to hydrate and all the flavors to mingle. It also helps them hold their shape in the oven so you have a big, hefty mound of cookie instead of a flat pancake. And speaking of the flour, a mix of all purpose and cake flour gives these the perfect texture.

How do the holidays tie in with this recipe? Well, when I was a child, my dad would always set out a big bowl of shell-on nuts and we'd snack on them all through the holiday season. This is a tradition I've carried on and there is something so special and so old-fashioned about it that just tugs at my nostalgic, sentimental heart strings. Pecans were my dad's favorite and I still remember him showing me how to carefully crack them and use the little pick to get the meat out of the shell. A true labor of love.

bowl of in-shell nuts with holiday greenery and decorations

To me, a cookie doesn't have to be in the shape of a snowflake, flavored with peppermint, and dusted in powdered sugar to be a holiday cookie. It just has to be special. It has to evoke a feeling, a memory, make us think of someone we love or someone we miss. That's what these cookies do for me. Surrounding them with greenery and fairy lights doesn't hurt either. I hope you'll give these cookies a try; feel free to sub in your favorite (toasted!) nut for the pecans or just double up the chocolate chunks if you're totally opposed or allergic to nuts. Either way, make some! Santa will thank you.

I'd love to hear what your favorite holiday cookie is and/or a holiday tradition you've carried over from your childhood. Let me know in the comments below!

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Browned Butter Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies


  • Author: anita | wild thistle kitchen
  • Prep Time: 35 minutes plus resting
  • Cook Time: 12 minutes
  • Total Time: 9 minute
  • Yield: 15 large cookies 1x
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Ingredients

1 cup light brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

2 sticks plus 2-3 tablespoons butter (I always use salted butter - but you can use either here)

1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1.5 cups cake flour

1.5 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon kosher salt (feel free to bump this up to ½ teaspoon if using unsalted butter)

1 cup toasted, chopped pecans

1 3.5 to 4 ounce bar good quality, dark chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli 72% intense dark chocolate)

flaky sea salt for topping (I use Maldon)


Instructions

To Toast Pecans:

  1. preheat oven to 350
  2. Place about 2 cups pecans on a baking sheet and place in preheated oven.
  3. Roast for 10 minutes, stir, and roast for 5-10 minutes more until pecans are darker in color and smell very nutty.
  4. Remove and allow to cool to room temperature before chopping finely and reserving 1 cup for recipe.

To brown butter:

  1. place 2 sticks of butter in a saucepan over medium high heat.
  2. Allow butter to melt and foam.
  3. Continue cooking and stirring occasionally until butter turns a dark amber color. You will have to push the foam aside in order to see the color of the butter underneath.
  4. Once browned, remove from heat and pour into a heat proof measuring cup. You will need to add a couple tablespoons of soft butter to make up for evaporation during the browning process. Just add what you need to reach 1 cup total.

To make cookies:

  1. Place 1 cup browned butter, sugars, vanilla, and eggs in large mixing bowl (you can use a mixer, but I just stir this one up by hand).
  2. Stir until you have a smooth, cohesive mixture.
  3. Add flours, baking soda, and salt.
  4. Mix until almost all of the flour is absorbed.
  5. Add chopped pecans and chocolate and mix thoroughly.
  6. Using a large cookie scoop or a ¼ cup measure, scoop dough and roll into large balls.
  7. Place balls on parchment lined baking sheet and press tops down just slightly so they are not rounded on top.
  8. Once all dough is scooped, rolled, and flattened, cover with plastic and let rest in refrigerator for 2 hours or up to 12.

To bake cookies:

  1. preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Space cookies 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheet.
  3. sprinkle each cookie with a tiny bit of flaky sea salt
  4. bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes
  5. remove from oven and allow to cool on baking tray
  • Category: dessert
  • Method: baking

Keywords: cookie, holiday baking, browned butter pecan chocolate chunk cookie

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alaina says

    December 04, 2019 at 12:50 pm

    These cookies look delicious! Fingers crossed, I’d love to win this to try this cookie recipe out, make some mini heart shaped apple apricot galettes, and finally have some quality bakeware to bake my braided loaves!

    Reply
    • Anita Parris Soule | Cook on a Whim says

      December 04, 2019 at 12:59 pm

      Hi Alaina! Those cookies sound amazing!! Thanks for entering the giveaway!! Good luck! - Anita

      Reply
  2. Gretchen says

    December 04, 2019 at 9:15 pm

    Beautiful post! Can’t wait to make these!

    Reply
    • Anita Parris Soule | Cook on a Whim says

      December 04, 2019 at 9:45 pm

      Thanks my friend!! ❤️

      Reply
  3. Erin says

    December 05, 2019 at 8:32 am

    Might be new favorite cookie, I think I have a new cookie obsession! Delicious! Will make these every year!

    Reply
    • Anita Parris Soule | Cook on a Whim says

      December 05, 2019 at 9:54 am

      Thanks Erin!! That makes me so happy!

      Reply
  4. Haley says

    December 08, 2019 at 5:38 pm

    I’m not typically one who loves nuts in my cookies. But, I trust my friend @thefrozenbiscuit so I’m going to have to give these a shot I think!

    Reply
    • Anita Parris Soule | Cook on a Whim says

      December 09, 2019 at 10:20 am

      Hi Haley!
      Thank you so much for visiting my blog! I am the same usually, but pecans are my one exception. I just love them! I hope you do give them a try--Erin is so sweet!!
      XO - Anita

      Reply
  5. Jasmine says

    December 08, 2020 at 6:28 am

    Hi! These look amazing!! I’d love some clarification though please. 🙂 In step 3, you say to add the flours, baking soda, and salt, but you don’t mention how much salt in the list of ingredients. The list only includes the flaky sea salt for topping. How much salt should be added to the dough before baking? Also, we should use unsalted butter, right? Thanks so much!!

    Reply
    • anita | wild thistle kitchen says

      December 08, 2020 at 9:26 am

      Hi Jasmine! You are so right! Thanks for catching that. I updated the recipe. And I always, always use salted butter. I think the fuss about unsalted butter in baking is just kind of silly. But, with the salt in the recipe and the salt sprinkled on top, this recipe will work with either salted or unsalted butter. 🙂
      Thanks so much for stopping by! Let me know if you make these! xo - Anita

      Reply
      • Jasmine says

        December 08, 2020 at 5:35 pm

        Thanks so much for getting back to me! I always use salted butter too. Haha! Especially in cookies. I just like them a little saltier. 🙂

      • anita | wild thistle kitchen says

        December 19, 2020 at 8:00 am

        I love that and I am SO on the same page!! Happy Holidays and thanks for reading my blog!! xo - Anita

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