Brown Butter Pecan Cookies
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Brown Butter Pecan Cookies are packed with toasted butter pecans, made with browned butter, and has the most delicious soft and chewy texture. Your house will smell amazing with a sweet butter filled aroma while these bake in the oven!
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Brown Butter Pecan Cookies
These Brown Butter Pecan Cookies are on my top 5 favorite cookie list. From the butter coated toasted pecans and rich flavor the browned butter adds makes these delicious cookies the ultimate buttery cookies. With perfectly crisp edges, soft and chewy centers and bits of crunchy pecan pieces in every bite.
These cookies remind me of butter pecan ice cream but in a chewy cookie form and are just so flavorful. Your taste buds will go crazy! We make these cookies on the bigger side so they are extra thick and indulgent.
If you love this brown butter cookie recipe, you need to try my Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies and Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodles!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
key ingredients
- All-purpose flour: Spoon and level the flour when measuring it. Be sure not to scoop it out of the bag using the measuring cup. This way, you won’t accidentally measure out too much.
- Baking soda: Used as a leavening agent.
- Butter: I used salted butter so you don’t have to add salt but you can also use unsalted butter, just add 1/4 teaspoon of salt in the recipe.
- Sugar: We use both granulated white sugar and light or dark brown sugar to add the perfect amount of sweetness. Brown sugar will make a chewy texture which is what we want for this recipe.
- Cornstarch: Gives the cookies an extra soft and chewy texture.
- Eggs: You’ll need two large eggs and an egg yolk at room temperature.
- Vanilla extract: Adds warm flavor and enhances the flavors. I love using vanilla bean paste for more flavor.
- Pecans: The star of the show! We lightly brown the pecans in butter before adding them in these cookie which makes them extraordinary. We pack crunchy pecans in every bite and on tops of the cookies to make them look extra pretty.
how to make brown butter pecan cookies
To Make Buttered Pecans
In a small saucepan or frying pan, add butter and melt. Add in chopped pecans and coat all pieces with the butter. Cook for about 4-5 minutes until lightly toasted. Remove from heat and let sit until ready to use.
To Make Browned Butter
Melt 2 sticks of butter over medium heat in a pot or medium saucepan, then bring to a boil. Once butter melts and starts boiling, swirl the pan constantly until the butter becomes somewhat foamy and becomes amber brown color. You should see little golden brown bits on the bottom of the pan and have a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and pour into a separate small bowl allowing the butter to cool and stop cooking. Add to large mixing bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes.
Whisk flour ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and ground cinnamon.
Add wet ingredients to browned butter: Add sugars and vanilla extract to the large bowl with the browed butter and mix with a spoon. Add in the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time until combined.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture: Mix just until cookie dough has formed. Add in buttered pecans and mix again until evenly distributed.
Chill in the refrigerator: Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1-3 hours. This is a perfect cookie dough to leave in the fridge overnight. Let the dough sit out for 30 minutes to soften.
Bake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a large cookie scoop equivalent to 3 tablespoons of dough to form cookie dough balls. Place cookie dough balls on prepared baking sheets and place a pecan half in the center of the dough balls (optional). Bake for 10-12 minutes or just until the edges turn a light golden brown color. Let cool for a few minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack. Enjoy!
variations
- Gluten-Free cookies: Use gluten-free flour to make these cookies gluten-free.
- Make butter pecan cookie bars: Line a 9×13 cake pan with parchment paper. Prepare cookie dough batter according to the directions. Transfer the dough into the prepared pan and smooth out with a spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until top is very lightly browned and set. Cool fully before lighting parchment paper out of pan.
- Smaller cookies: Roll only 1 or a 1/2 tablespoon of cookie dough to make them mini size.
recipe tips
- Room temperature ingredients: It’s always important that all of your ingredients are at room temperature. This will help the cookie mixture combine together more smoothly.
- Chocolate dipped cookies: Dip half of each cookie in melted white, milk or dark chocolate. You could also do a combination of chocolates for an extra rich chocolate flavor.
- Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies: Add a cup or 2 of chocolate chips in the cookie dough for a chocolatey twist.
- Room temperature ingredients: It’s important that your eggs are at room temperature. They incorporate with the other ingredients so much better and will help your cookies stay tender and soft.
- Don’t skip the chilling step: It is crucial with this recipe as it helps the ingredients marry together to develop a rich caramel-like flavor, making these the best Butter Pecan Cookies.
- Make the cookie dough in advance: Leave the cookie dough in the fridge for up to 3 days. The dough will be very firm so make sure to bring the cookie dough to room temperature and then continue on to baking in the instructions.
leftovers & storage
Make-ahead: Place the balls of dough into the freezer and freeze for 1 hour so the cookies are firm. Transfer the cookies to a freezer-safe zip lock bag (gallon size works great) and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When you are ready to bake your frozen cookies, place the cookies on a baking sheet and bake as directed, adding about 3-4 minutes to the baking time.
To-store: Store cookies at room temperature in an airtight container or large ziplock bag. They will stay fresh for up to 1 week.
Freeze: Simply place the baked cookies in a freezer-safe zip lock bag and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to defrost, remove the cookies from the freezer and let them thaw for a few hours.
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Brown Butter Pecan Cookies
Ingredients
Butter Pecans
- 1 cup pecan halves chopped (plus extra for the topping)
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
Pecan Cookies
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup salted butter (2 sticks)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 egg yolk
Instructions
To make buttered pecans
- In a small or medium frying pan, add butter and melt. Add in chopped pecans and coat all pieces with the butter. Cook for about 4-5 minutes until lightly toasted. Remove from heat and let sit until ready to use.
To make browned butter
- Melt 2 sticks of butter over medium heat in a pot or medium saucepan, then bring to a boil. Once butter melts and starts boiling, swirl the pan constantly until the butter becomes somewhat foamy and becomes amber brown color. You should see little golden brown bits on the bottom of the pan and have a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and pour into a separate small bowl allowing the butter to cool and stop cooking. Add to large mixing bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes.
To make cookies
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and ground cinnamon.
- Add sugars and vanilla extract to the large bowl with the browed butter and mix with a spoon. Add in the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time until combined.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and mix just until cookie dough has formed. Add in buttered pecans and mix again until evenly distributed.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1-3 hours. This is a perfect cookie dough to leave in the fridge overnight. Let the dough sit out for 30 minutes to soften before ready to scoop and bake.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a large cookie scoop equivalent to 3 tablespoons of cookie dough to form cookie dough balls. Place cookie dough balls on prepared baking sheets and place a pecan half in the center of the dough balls (optional). Bake for 10-12 minutes or just until the edges turn a light golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack. Enjoy!
