Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
These Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies are rich, chewy, and packed with toasty pecans and melty chocolate chips. Made with nutty browned butter and simple pantry ingredients, they’re perfect for fall and easy enough to whip up anytime. A cozy, crowd-pleasing treat!
Equipment
- 1 cookie scoop optional, but helpful
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter browned and cooled
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cup chopped pecans toasted
- 3/4 cups mini chocolate chips or regular chocolate chips
Instructions
Brown the Butter
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Stir continuously as it foams, then begins to darken.
- You'll see golden bits form on the bottom and smell a deliciously nutty aroma—that’s when it's ready! This usually takes about 5–7 minutes for a whole cup of butter, but every stove is different.
- Pour the browned butter (including the browned bits!) into a heatproof bowl and let it cool for 10–15 minutes.
Toast the Pecans
- While the butter is cooling, preheat your oven to 350°F and spread your chopped pecans on a baking sheet. Toast them for 5–7 minutes or until they smell rich and nutty.
- Set them aside to cool completely.
Make the Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookie Dough
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooled browned butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Mix until smooth.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla, and beat until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.
- Fold in the toasted pecans and chocolate chips.
Chill and Bake
- Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least 30–60 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (if it’s not still on from earlier). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop the chilled dough into balls (about 2 tablespoons each) and space them a couple inches apart on the prepared sheet.
- If you like, sprinkle some extra pecans and mini chocolate chips on top of the cookie dough before beaking for an extra picture-perfect look.
- Bake for 9–11 minutes, or until the edges are set and just turning golden.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2–3 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.
Notes
- Chilling helps the flavors deepen and prevents the cookies from spreading too much when baking.
- When browning the butter, you'll see that the butter foams a lot and eventually that foam will subside. After the foam subsides, start trying to push it to the side so you can see the bottom of the pan. Once you see brown specks form in the bottom of your pan under the foam, it's down.