This is the best recipe for homemade Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies! Made with melted browned butter, they have a nutty flavor and soft chewy texture.
For all the chocolate chip cookie lovers, I’ve got a new recipe for the best cookies! These Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies are made with melted browned butter that provides the most delicious nutty flavor and soft chewy texture, while loaded with your favorite chocolate chips and crunchy pecans.
I love making the dough ahead of time, by rolling it into balls and freezing. So, whenever I feel like having some fresh cookies, I can just take a few dough balls out of the freezer and bake them. I provide more freezing instructions below in the recipe.
Table of contents
Why you will love this recipe
- Easy to make. Making pecan cookies should not be complicated. This recipe is so easy to put together, even your kids can make them!
- No need to chill. After you mix the dough, there is no need to refrigerate it. Just roll it, put on the baking sheet and bake to perfection!
- Make ahead. You can also make a double batch and freeze part of it for the future. It will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 1 month.
- Add more flavor. While this recipe is for chocolate chips and pecans, you can always play around with the flavors and add different nuts or dried berries of your choice.
How to make it
Chop 1 cup butter into cubes and transfer into a sauce pan. Put over medium heat, melt, and cook for about 5 minutes constantly stirring until it starts to brown and turn amber in color.
When done, take it off the heat and pour into a bowl with all the burnt bits (these bits have all the delicious caramelize flavors!). Let it cool off on the counter for 30 minutes or put in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, add 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, and ½ tsp salt. Stir and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, pour browned butter, add ¾ cup light brown sugar, and ¼ cup granulated sugar. Whisk until well combined.
Add 2 large eggs and 1 tsp vanilla extract, then whisk again.
Add dry ingredients, and using a spatula, fold it in. (don’t overmix!)
Add ⅔ cup chopped raw pecans and ⅔ cup chocolate chips, then fold it in again. Let the dough sit for 5-10 minutes of the counter.
Using an ice scream scoop or a regular spoon, scoop out 2 tbsp of cookie dough and roll them into a ball. Transfer to a baking sheet with parchment paper 3 inches apart. Then gently flatten the cookie balls into about 1-inch thick disks.
Bake at 350°F for about 10 minutes or until the edges are set and get a light golden color. The center needs to be just set but still will look slightly underbaked.
Take them out of the oven and let sit on the baking sheet for about 10-15 minutes, the cookies will continue to set. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool off completely.
How to brown butter
The browned butter makes the whole difference for this recipe! It enhances the rich nutty flavor and helps to make these pecan cookies more chewy inside with crispy edges.
If you‘ve never browned butter before, here are a few steps to make this process easier for you.
- Chop the butter in cubes and transfer it into a sauce pan or a skillet.
- Melt the butter over medium heat.
- When melted, continue cooking while constantly stirring. It will start to bubble first and will become almost translucent.
- Continue stirring for about 5 minutes, until it turns golden in color with brown bits on the bottom.
- Take it out from the heat and stir for a couple of more minutes to cool off.
- Transfer the browned butter with the brown bits into a bowl and let it cool off completely on the counter for about 30 minutes or in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- When you use it in the recipe, make sure you use all the brown (burned) bits together with the browned butter, as they contain the most flavor and aroma.
Tips for best results
- Don’t overmix the cookie dough! If you do that, they might come out tough.
- For even baking, I prefer to keep the baking pan on the middle rack.
- You should have enough cookies for two baking sheets. Although, I prefer to bake one sheet at a time for more consistency.
- After you roll out the cookie balls and place them on the baking sheet, I like to press on top of them to flatten. That will help them to spread a bit more and have even thickness.
- Make sure you don’t overbake them! The edges should be light golden/brown and the center just set. At first, they might look like they are underbaked, but they will set more after you take them out of the oven and let sit on the counter on the baking sheet for 10 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, this recipe doesn’t require chilling the dough. After you mix all the ingredients, you can scoop and roll them into balls, place on a baking sheet and bake. Although, if you want to make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight, you can do it. Just make sure you leave it on the counter to warm up before baking.
Yes. If you want to freeze it, I would suggest to roll them into balls first and put on a baking sheet. Then put the baking sheet with the cookie balls into a freezer for 30 minutes, so they will freeze and won’t stick to each other. Then you can transfer them to an air-tight container or a zip-lock bag and freeze for up to 1 month.
To defrost, keep them in the fridge overnight or leave on the counter for at least 30-40 minutes to get them to the room temperature before baking. They might need a couple of extra minutes in the oven.
You can keep them in an air-tight container on the counter for about 5 days.
Sure! Chocolate chips and pecans are a great flavor combination. Although, you can use any other nuts or dried berries of your choice. Here are a few of my favorite cookie flavors:
– Chocolate chips and dried cherry
– White chocolate and dried cranberries
– White chocolate and macadamia nuts
– M&Ms
– Chopped peanut butter Reese’s cups
– Andes mint chocolates
– Funfetti
– Crushed Oreo cookies
More cookie ideas:
- Pistachio Cookies
- Danish Butter Cookies Recipe
- Fudgy Brownie Cookies
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
- White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
- Best Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe
- Twix Cookies
- Almond Spritz Cookies
- Snickerdoodle Cookies Recipe
- Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies
- Apricot Rugelach
- Orange Cranberry Biscotti
- Sour Cream Cookies
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup raw pecans chopped
- ⅔ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Chop 1 cup butter into cubes and transfer into a sauce pan. Put over medium heat, melt, and cook for about 5 minutes constantly stirring until it starts to brown and turn amber in color.
- When done, take it off the heat and pour into a bowl with all the burnt bits (these bits have all the delicious caramelize flavors!). Let it cool off on the counter for 30 minutes or put in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, and ½ tsp salt. Stir and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, pour browned butter, add ¾ cup light brown sugar, and ¼ cup granulated sugar. Whisk until well combined.
- Add 2 large eggs and 1 tsp vanilla extract, then whisk again.
- Add dry ingredients, and using a spatula, fold it in. (don’t overmix!)
- Add ⅔ cup chopped raw pecans and ⅔ cup chocolate chips, then fold it in again. Let the dough sit for 5-10 minutes of the counter.
- Using an ice scream scoop or a regular spoon, scoop out 2 tbsp of cookie dough and roll them into a ball. Transfer to a baking sheet with parchment paper 3 inches apart. Then gently flatten the cookie balls into about 1-inch thick disks.
- Bake at 350°F for about 10-12 minutes or until the edges are set and get a light golden color. The center needs to be just set but still will look slightly underbaked.
- Take them out of the oven and let sit on the baking sheet for about 10-15 minutes, the cookies will continue to set. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool off completely.
Notes
- Don’t overmix the cookie dough! If you do that, they might come out tough.
- For even baking, I prefer to keep the baking pan on the middle rack.
- You should have enough cookies for two baking sheets. Although, I prefer to bake one sheet at a time for more consistency.
- After you roll out the cookie balls and place them on the baking sheet, I like to press on top of them to flatten. That will help them to spread a bit more and have even thickness.
- Make sure you don’t overbake them! The edges should be light golden/brown and the center just set. At first, they might look like they are underbaked, but they will set more after you take them out of the oven and let sit on the counter on the baking sheet for 10 minutes.
- To store, you can keep them in an air-tight container on the counter for about 5 days.
- If you want to freeze it, I would suggest to roll them into balls first and put on a baking sheet. Then put the baking sheet with the cookie balls into a freezer for 30 minutes, so they will freeze and won’t stick to each other. Then you can transfer them to an air-tight container or a zip-lock bag and freeze for up to 1 month. To defrost, keep them in the fridge overnight or leave on the counter for at least 30-40 minutes to get them to the room temperature before baking. They might need a couple of extra minutes in the oven.
Oh yum, lovely cookies. I love pecans but I never use them in cookies before. I have to make these cookies. I’m so excited to try them.
The pecans here are just the perfect touch of texture! I can’t wait to make these for my family. Great combination of flavors
I recently made chocolate chip cookies, and I am going to make them again but with pecan this time cause these cookies look amazing! Thank you for sharing this recipe, ic ant wait to make these!
We made these yesterday and just loved them! They have an awesome texture. Can’t wait to make them again!
The added pecans to these cookies add a yummy layer of crunchiness to them that I love.
Hello and Good Morning! I just wanted to let you know I found your cookie recipe via Pinterest and decided to make it! I had some of the stuff on hand and right away went to the market and got the rest of what I needed. Excellent instructions and tips! The recipe turned out perfect. Next time I will be making a few batches to freeze.
Have a great day!
I definitely agree with your tip of baking 1 sheet of cookies at a time. They were perfect and the pecans added a nice crunch.
I love how you put the pecans on top of the cookies. They look neat and appealing! I’m baking them this weekend —lots of rain in Miami. Thanks for sharing!
I made these cookies for my toddler daughter and she loved them! They are a new favorite for her 🙂
I had some extra pecans from another recipe to use up and found your recipe! These chocolate chip cookies are so good – my family loved them!