These brown butter pecan chocolate chip cookies are made with toasty brown butter, crunchy pecans, cozy cinnamon, and melty chocolate. They have thinner, crispy edges with a super soft & gooey interior.
This post is sponsored by Amoretti. All opinions are my own - thank you for supporting the brands that make Sturbridge Bakery possible!
Adapted from my Chewy Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, these cookies are incredibly flavorful - they have a caramel-like nuttiness from the brown butter, a crunchy texture from the pecans, and of course, the chocolate.
For other brown butter recipes, Brown Butter Snickerdoodles, Brown Butter Oreo Rice Krispie Treats, Brown Butter Maple Chocolate Chip Cookies are some good ones!
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Why you will love these brown butter pecan chocolate chip cookies
- Aromatic brown butter. The nuttiness, almost butterscotch, caramel-like flavor, that brown butter adds to the cookies is *mwah* chef's kiss.
- Crispy edges & soft centers. These cookies strike the perfect balance between crispy edges & a chewy, soft center. The centers are packed full with melty chocolate, so each bite is even more gooey!
- The mix-ins. The mini chocolate chips and the chopped pecans give each bite sweet & nutty flavors. The crunch the pecans add is *mwah* chef's kiss!
Key ingredients
- Brown butter: browning the butter adds a rich, nutty, almost caramel-like flavor, that is just perfect in cookies!
- Sugar: the combination of light brown sugar and granulated sugar adds sweetness to the cookies, while also contributing to the cookies chewy texture & crisp edges.
- Vanilla: I used Amoretti's Natural Vanilla Bean Artisan Flavor because it adds such a wonderful depth of flavor to these cookies!
- Egg: binds the ingredients together.
- Sour cream: sour cream adds tenderness, moisture, and a slight tangy flavor to the cookies.
- Leavener: baking soda & baking powder are used to help the cookies rise.
- Cornstarch: the secret ingredient for the perfect texture. Cornstarch keeps the cookies soft and tender on the inside.
- Cinnamon: cinnamon adds a warmth to these cookies and complements the brown butter.
- All purpose flour: the main structure builder, flour provides the necessary body and texture to the cookies.
- Mix-ins: mini chocolate chips & chopped pecans give you the gooeyness of the chocolate & the crunch of the pecans, so every bite has a little something special 🙂
Steps
- Chop the pecans. Coarsely chop the pecans and set aside.
- Brown the butter. Toast the butter in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat. Let it completely melt and crack/sizzle in the pan, then it will start to foam up. Once this happens, you should begin to see brown bits swirling around in the butter. Once golden brown, immediately remove from the heat and let cool in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Add the wet ingredients to the butter. Add the brown sugar, white sugar, and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the egg & whisk to combine, followed by the sour cream.
- Mix in the dry ingredients. Add the baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt and whisk until incorporated. Fold in the flour until almost fully mixed in.
- Add the mix-ins. Add the chopped pecans and mini chocolate chips and fold until fully incorporated.
- Chill. Cover tightly and chill the dough for three hours.
- Scoop the dough & bake! Scoop the dough and space the cookies 2-3 inches apart on a baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes. The cookies will be set on the edges and puffy in the center.
FAQ
Technically, yes, but I wouldn't skip it. It adds so much to the flavor of the cookies. If you are going to melt the butter and skip the browning process, make sure you are adjusting the amount of butter accordingly. See the recipe notes for details.
If your cookies are greasy, it could be because you are using too much butter. Remember, you are supposed to have about ¾ cup or 170 grams of browned butter after you are finished with the browning process. I suggest actually measuring this to ensure success. Also, if you are using European butter, you can probably use a little bit less than the recipe states to make up for the added fat content - about 1-1 ½ tablespoons should do it.
Absolutely! Portion the dough into balls and freeze them on a baking sheet. Once frozen, transfer the dough balls to a zip-lock bag. Bake straight from the freezer, adding a minute or two to the baking time.
Store them in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also freeze them for longer storage; just ensure they are well-wrapped to prevent freezer burn.
Absolutely! Get creative with your add-ins. Try using white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, or other nuts like walnuts or macadamia nuts for a unique twist!
Baking tips
- Use a kitchen scale. I cannot stress this enough - a kitchen scale is the only way to ensure accurate results. They are cheap and will make cleaning up SO much easier.
- Chill the dough. Chilling the dough controls spread and it gives the ingredients the chance to emulsify, resulting a much deeper, caramel-like flavor.
- Let the brown butter chill in the fridge before adding the other ingredients. The butter will get very hot during the browning process, so make sure you give it enough time to chill. Otherwise, the hot butter may cook the egg.
- Use an oven thermometer. Making sure your oven is calibrated correctly and is at the right temperature is incredibly important. If your oven runs hot, the cookies may spread too much too quickly.
- Use a cookie scoop. Cookie scoops are one of my favorite kitchen tools. It makes scooping the chilled cookie dough so much easier, and you don't have to get the dough all over your hands.
- Cookie scoot. "Cookie scooting" is taking something circular (a cookie cutter, as an example) and gently scooting the cookies after they are removed from the oven. This makes the cookies the perfect circular shape. You can also use a mug, a glass storage container, etc.
Baking in grams
While I provide volume measurements for the recipes on my blog, I highly suggest baking these recipes using weight. It is the most standardized and accurate way to bake. I carefully recipe test all of my recipes using a kitchen scale, not by using cups, and therefore I cannot guarantee the success of my recipes when using volume measurements.
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Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 211 grams unsalted butter browned to 170 grams or ¾ cup*
- 150 grams light brown sugar
- 50 grams granulated sugar
- ½ tablespoon Amoretti's Natural Vanilla Bean Artisan Flavor or vanilla extract
- 1 egg room temperature
- 20 grams sour cream room temperature
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 225 grams all purpose flour
- ¾ cup mini chocolate chips
- ¾ cup pecans coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Chop your pecans and set aside.
- In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. It will start to crack and sizzle - let it do this while stirring occasionally. After a few minutes or so, the butter cracking/sizzling will subside and the butter will begin to foam up in the pan.
- Every few seconds or so, swirl the pan around until you can see that the butter is golden brown. You should also be able to see some of the brown bits swirling around in the butter. Once golden brown, immediately remove from the heat and pour the butter into a large bowl and put in the fridge to cool for 10 minutes.
- After the 10 minutes, remove the butter from the fridge and add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla. Whisk to combine.
- Add the egg and whisk well until completely combined. Add the sour cream and whisk to combine.
- Add the baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt, and whisk until incorporated.
- Add the flour and fold it into the mixture using a rubber spatula until there are only a few streaks of flour remaining. Add the chopped pecans and chocolate and fold until evenly incorporated and the flour is fully mixed in.
- Cover the bowl tightly and chill the dough for 3 hours. Once the three hours is almost up, preheat your oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop the dough using a cookie scoop (I used a 1.5 oz scoop, about 3 tablespoons or 50 grams) and space them 2-3 inches apart on your baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes until the edges are set and the centers still look slightly underdone. Let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then enjoy warm or transfer to a baking sheet to cool completely.
Notes
- We need ¾ cup or 170 grams of browned butter. The three extra tablespoons of butter in the recipe should account for the moisture that is evaporated during the browning process. After the butter is browned, make sure you have exactly ¾ cup or 170 grams.
Tried this recipe? Make sure to rate and review and tag @sturbridgebakery on Instagram!
Veronica Figueroa
Can Gluten-free flour be substituted? Like King Arthur’s 1-to-1?
Jess Italiano
It should!! 🙂