These Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies are perfectly soft and chewy with caramelized and toasty notes from the brown butter and pecans.
If you have never tried the absolute flavour-WOW that is brown butter, I'd suggest you change that asap! Like these Blueberry Brown Butter Scones, this brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe is taken to the next level thanks to the step of browning the butter before using it in the recipe for nutty, toffee, caramelized flavor notes.
Billionaire's Shortbread Bars are also made with brown butter in the caramel layer for an additional punch of flavor. This Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting is also a brown butter masterpiece along with my simple and easy Brown Butter Cookie Bars!
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⭐️ Why You Need to Make This Recipe
- Flavor - The nutty pecans and brown butter are the perfect flavor contrast to the sweet chocolate.
- Texture - Fresh out of the oven these cookies are delightfully soft and gooey inside and crispy around the edges.
🧈 Ingredients
Here are the ingredients needed to make these brown butter pecan cookies.
Ingredient Notes
- Butter - I use salted butter but you could use unsalted butter with an additional ½ teaspoon of salt added
- Sugar - A combination of brown and white sugar makes for a delightful flavored and textured cookie.
- Chocolate Chips - I always use semisweet chocolate chips for this recipe but you could use dark chocolate or milk chocolate instead, if you prefer.
- Pecans - You could use chopped walnuts or almonds instead or omit the nuts entirely.
See the recipe card for the full list of ingredients with measurements.
📃 Instructions
Step 1: Begin cooking the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until it melts completely and the milk solids separate and brown on the bottom into a deep chestnut brown color. Let cool to room temperature but not solidified.
Step 2: Whisk together the cooled liquid brown butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until combined.
Step 3: Add the egg and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
Step 4: Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until fully combined.
Step 5: Fold in the chocolate chips and chopped pecans.
Step 6: Cover the dough and refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.
Step 7: Scoop or shape the chilled cookie dough into balls and place on a prepared baking sheet.
Step 8: Bake in a preheated oven for 8-12 minutes or until slightly golden around the edges.
Top Tip: Add more chocolate chips and chopped pecans to the top of the cookies right after they come out of the oven for a pretty garnish.
💡 Top Tip
If you prefer a softer baked cookie, I'd suggest baking the cookies for around 7-10 minutes. If you prefer a crispier, more baked-through cookie go for around 10-13 minutes bake time. Every oven is different though, so be sure to watch the cookies and bake just until right for you!
❓ Recipe FAQs
Brown butter ("beurre noisette" in French), is a type of clarified butter that's been cooked until the milk solids turn a deep brown color and the butter develops a rich, nutty flavor. The process involves melting butter over medium heat and cooking it until the milk solids in the butter start to brown and give off a toasty aroma.
Yes! Simply add an additonal ½ teaspoon of salt to the recipe if using unsalted butter.
No! The chilling time is super important for this recipe to ensure proper flavor development and prevent the cookies from spreading too much.
Yes, you could definitely leave out the pecans or replace them with a different kind of nut such as walnuts or almonds.
Love cookies as much as I do? Here are some of my most popular cookie recipes!
- Homemade Oreo Cookies - This recipe is made super easy with a cake mix in the cookie dough and the cream cheese frosting, although not like a classic Oreo, is delicious with the chocolate cookie!
- Chewy Coconut Oatmeal Cookies - These cookies are SO yummy!! A plate of these will never last long!
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies - If you like soft & chewy cookies, these are definitely for you! I could eat so many of these cookies...
- Best Ever Ginger Cookies - Fall is just around the corner and I cannot wait to whip up this year's first batch of these perfectly chewy and spicy ginger cookies!
⭐️ More Pecan Recipes
Looking for other recipes featuring delicious pecans? Try these:
If you tried these Chocolate Chip Brown Butter Cookies with Pecans or any other recipe on my website, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and write a little note telling me how it went in the comments below. Thank you!!
📖 Recipe
Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- heavy saucepan
- baking sheet(s)
- parchment paper
- mixing bowl
- measuring cups & spoons
- mixing spoon
- silicone spatula
Ingredients
- ¾ cup salted butter * (instructions for browning below)
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
To brown the butter:
- Melt the salted butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring frequently until the butter is chestnut brown in color and has a nutty aroma. It is completely normal for the butter to sputter, bubble, and foam during the process.
- Pour into a heat-safe bowl or container and let cool until the butter is room temperature but still liquid.
To make the cookie dough:
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together the cooled brown butter, sugar, and brown sugar until combined. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and mix just until there are no streaks of flour left. Fold in the chocolate chips and chopped pecans. Cover and refrigerate in the mixing bowl for 1 hour. Do not skip the step of chilling the cookie dough!
To bake the cookies:
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper or silicone baking mats or spray with nonstick spray.
- Scoop the chilled cookie dough using a medium-sized cookie scoop or teaspoon onto the prepared baking sheets, 8 cookies per pan. Bake cookies one pan at a time in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until just slightly soft looking on top. Let cool on the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling while you bake the remaining pans of cookies. Enjoy!
Notes
- Or use unsalted butter with an additional ½ teaspoon of salt added to the recipe.
Noah
These are probably the best chocolate chip cookies that I have ever made! I don’t know exactly how but the brown butter gives them a extra dimension of flavour. The only thing that I found with them is that there seems to be a little to much vanilla (this might just be that our vanilla is extra strong 🤷🏻♂️) but other than that they are absolutely delicious!
Naomi
Ah, that's awesome!! Of course, if you find the vanilla too strong, just use a little less next time! Thank you for the terrific review!
Naomi