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Salted Pecan Cookies
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If you are looking for the ultimate bakery-style cookie recipe, these brown butter salted pecan chocolate chip cookies are the ones for you.
Made with a rich nutty brown butter and espresso base, with chocolate chunks and pecans throughout and an extra little sprinkle of sea salt on top they are definitely one of my favourite cooks recipes, EVER.
Notes from The Patisserie
The key ingredient to these cookies, is using the brown butter base, coupled with a hint of espresso throughout. This cookie recipe was born from my favourite coffee to drink (salted pecan latte) and because I was craving something a little different, and a little extra cookie wise.
These cookies are soft, with chewy centres, with crisp golden edges. They are rich and nutty from the brown butter base and pecans, and have the perfect balance of sweet and salty.
They may sound a little OTT, but honestly whether you are baking for a weekend treat, sharing with friends, or adding it to a future baking list these cookies are elite. Full of simple cupboard ingredients, but also perfect for freezing the dough to bake in the future.
What is brown butter?
Brown butter (which is also known as buerre noisette) is basically when butter has been gently cooked until it has separated, and the milk solids have toasted to a golden colour – creating a natural nutty aroma to the butter.
It adds a level of depth to regular butter which levels up bakes that regular butter simply cannot match in my opinion. It is important to watch it as it ‘cookies’ because you don’t want it to completely burn. Once the milk solids reach an amber colour, and it smells toasted, pour it into another bowl to cool.
When you brown the butter, some of the weight disappears (the water weight) so you always need to start of with more butter than you actually need in the cookie dough (or other bake), which is why the quantity is higher than normal.
Ingredient notes and tips
As well as the brown butter mentioned above, there are quite a few other ingredients in these cookies (that if you regularly follow me recipes, you should already have)
- Sugars – as I often do, I use a mix of white granulated sugar and light brown soft sugar – this is for flavour and texture. You can swap to all light brown or all granulated, or even swap in some dark brown soft as well.
- Eggs – for added richness, I use a whole egg and an egg yolk – trust the process, it’s delightful.
- Vanilla – optional as always, but it adds a level of depth you might miss if you don’t use it.
- Espresso powder – because these are inspired by a coffee, I used finely ground instant coffee as espresso powder in my cookies – if you don’t like coffee, leave it out.
- Flour – plain flour is best as you do not want too much raising agent in the cookies because it’ll change the texture
- Bicarb – a touch of bicarbonate of soda (NOT baking powder) for texture requirements – I use it in all of my cookie recipes
- Salt – as you add some salt on at the end, you don’t also need to add it in the dough if you don’t want to – but I add a little pinch because I love salt in bakes.
Flavouring the cookie dough
A key part in these cookies, is the additional flavours (on top of the brown butter and espresso). Based on that coffee I adore, I wanted to use pecans. All I did to prep these was chop them up, and then also use a whole one for the top of each cookie (I made 17 cookies, so made sure I also had 17 pecans ready to go). The pecans can swap to any other nut you want, of course.
I also used some chopped chocolate. I ended up not having enough to use one type of chocolate, so I used dark chocolate in the base (which I had chopped up into similar size pieces as the pecans) and then also had a piece of chocolate for the top of each cookie. You can of course use whatever chocolate you want.
FAQs
Do you have to chill the cookie dough?
No, you don’t – but it does help create the best cookie. Often, cookies can be too soft and spread too much if they are not chill before baking.
Can I prep these in advance and bake when I want?
Yes – the raw dough can last in the fridge for up to 48 hours, but you can also freeze the dough and just bake straight from frozen. Add 1-3 minutes baking time (and maybe lower the oven temp slightly)
Can I freeze the baked cookies?
For sure! The baked cookies will last for 3+ months in the freezer. Allow them to thaw in the fridge overnight, or at room temperature over a few hours.
How do I know when my cookies are baked?
When cookies are fresh out of the oven, they will always remain quite soft as they continue ‘to bake’ whilst cooling – they basically need to set in place. They should start to turn golden, and be firmer on the edges when they come out.
Can I use a different chocolate?
For sure – you can use any combination or any type of chocolate you want. I use bars of dark chocolate and milk chocolate in this recipe that I chop up, but you can use chocolate chips or other bars
Do I need to use nuts?
No, you can leave these out, and/or use more chocolate.
Salted Pecan Cookie Recipe
Delicious salted pecan cookie recipe with chocolate chips, a brown butter espresso base and a sprinkle of sea salt
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Servings: 16 cookies
Ingredients
Butter
- 175 g unsalted butter
Cookie dough
- 125 g brown butter
- 75 g granulated sugar
- 100 g light brown soft sugar
- 1 medium egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp espresso powder (I use finely ground instant coffee)
- 275 g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- pinch of sea salt (optional)
- 200 g chocolate chips/chunks
- 200 g pecans (chopped)
Extras
- chocolate chips/chunks
- pecans
- sea salt
Instructions
Butter
- Add the butter to a medium sized pan
- Heat the butter for a few minutes to melt down until smooth
- Once melted, keep cooking the butter in the pan for a further few minutes, for the milk solids to start to brown. You are looking for a deeper caramel colour
- Make sure to swirl the pan and stir slightly to stop anything from burning
- Once browned, pour the brown butter into a new bowl to cool fully (it will now weigh less)
Cookie Dough
- Once the browned butter has cooled add it to a new bowl
- Add the sugars and mix together
- Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and combine
- Add the espresso powder and mix through
- Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix
- Mix through the chopped pecans and chocolate chips/chunks
- Portion using a 5cm scoop onto a tray and chill for 30 minutes
- Preheat the oven to 190ºc/170ºc fan and line 2-3 trays
- Split the cookies between the trays (I do 6 per tray) and bake for 11-13 minutes
- When fresh out of the oven, decorate (if you want) with some extra chocolate and nuts and a sprinkle of sea salt
- Leave to cool for 30 minutes
Notes
- These cookies will last for 4-5+ days once baked, in the fridge or at room temperature
- These cookies will freeze once baked for 3+ months
- These cookies can be stored raw, in the freeze for 3+ months – add 1-3 minutes baking time and bake from frozen
- I use this 5cm scoop in this recipe
Storage & Freezing
These cookies are delicious when they are freshly baked, and still a little warm and gooey. However, they will easily last for 4-5+ days once baked. You can store them in the fridge or at room temperature, that is entirely up to you.
These cookies will last once baked for 3+ months in the freezer. Or, you can freeze the raw cookie dough and bake directly from frozen, with no need to thaw the raw dough. You simply need to add 1-3 minutes baking time to bake straight from frozen (and maybe lower your oven temp by 10-20ºc)
Related recipes
Whilst I know if you love any of the themes of this recipe, you are going to love these cookies, there are a few other recipes you might also want to have a look at:
- Brown butter NYC Cookies – These are a delicious New-York style version of these cookies, but filled with triple chocolate chunks. They are moreish, delicious, gooey and crunchy all in one.
- Brown butter cookie bars – If you want to bake something delicious and cookie based, also with brown butter, these brown butter cookie bars are even easier to bake as you can portion after baking into whatever size pieces you fancy
- Milk chocolate sea salt cookies – a classic recipe from my blog archives, with delicious sweetness from the milk chocolate, and the saltiness on top. YUM.