Brown Butter Pecan Cookies

Butter Pecan Cookies are chewy cookies full of real butter pecan flavor, with toasted pecans that have been bathed in brown butter. 

These butter pecan cookies always have people asking for the recipe. This isn't just another cookie with some nuts tossed in - every element is designed to bring out the best flavour and texture. The butter is browned to just the right point for deep, nutty richness without any bitterness; the pecans are toasted and bathed in brown butter for that indulgent butter pecan flavour; and the ratios are carefully balanced so the cookies bake up chewy in the centre with golden, crispy edges.

After testing countless batches and drawing on my years of bakery experience, I've developed a method that delivers consistent, bakery-quality results every time. In this recipe, I'll walk you through the exact steps - from browning the butter to knowing the perfect moment to pull the cookies from the oven for the ultimate pecan cookie texture.

Ingredients

The ingredients for these brown butter pecan cookies are similar to many other cookie recipes, but the magic is all in the method we use to bring them together!

• Butter - You can use salted or unsalted butter for these cookies, depending on how salty you want them to be. There is no need to bring the butter to room temperature, as we will be melting it into a lovely nutty brown butter anyway.
  
• White Sugar - Regular granulated sugar gives a good base for flavor and helps the cookies to have perfect crisp edges. 
  
• Light Brown Sugar - Brown sugar adds a deeper, caramel flavor to the cookies and helps to keep them soft and chewy. You can use dark brown sugar if you prefer, but I think the molasses flavor can overpower the butter pecan flavor a little. 
  
• Egg - Use large eggs in baking and always free-range if you can. Make sure the egg is room temperature. 
  
• Vanilla - Use a high-quality vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. 
  
• Flour - All-purpose flour works best for these brown butter cookies. 
  
• Baking Soda - Make sure you use baking soda and not baking powder, the acidity of the brown sugar reacts with the baking soda and helps the cookies to spread. 
  
• Pecans - Of course, we need pecans! We'll be mostly chopping them up, but make sure you find a few pretty ones to go on top of the cookies.

See recipe card for measurements in both grams and cups.

What You'll Need

• Cookie Sheet
• Saucepan (to make brown butter)
• Frying pan (to toast the pecans)
• Cookie Scoop
• Cookie Lifter 
• Large Mixing Bowl - or stand mixer / electric mixer
• Chopping Board

How to Make Butter Pecan Cookies

This butter pecan cookie recipe has three stages: browning the butter, toasting the pecans, and making the pecan cookie dough. The buttery flavor of the cookies comes from the browned butter, but the pecans themselves are also bathed in the brown butter to get that butter pecan flavor. (This is why these are my favorite cookies!) 

Brown the Butter

Browning the butter is a quick and easy step that adds so much flavor to these butter pecan cookies! It's absolutely worth it to add that deep, nutty flavor. I have a whole post about how to make brown butter if you'd like a more in-depth guide about the best way to do this. 

1. Heat butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once it melts, it will begin to bubble and make a 'crackling' sound; this is the water coming out of the butter. Just stir occasionally and keep going.
2. After the crackling subsides a little, the browning will happen fairly quickly, so keep a close eye on the color of the butter. It will start to darken in color quickly. Once the butter has turned brown and you can smell a wonderful nutty aroma, remove the pan from the heat.
3. Pour the butter into the bowl of your stand mixer or a large bowl to cool while you prepare the pecans. As it sits, it will separate into brown melted butter and a lot of little brown bits on the bottom of the bowl - this is good! These are the milk solids, and they are what will give the cookies their amazing, rich flavor.

Toast the Pecans

1. Add the pecans to dry frying pan over medium heat and let them toast in there, stirring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes or until you smell a delicious nutty pecan smell.
2. Remove from the heat, then add in 2 tablespoons of the browned butter and toss the pecans in it to coat them. Let them sit in there for a few minutes to cool slightly and let the butter flavor soak into the pecans. 
3. Reserve a handful of good-looking pecans to put on top of the cookies later, then roughly chop the rest into chunks with a sharp knife.

Make the Pecan Cookies

Unlike my brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe, these pecan cookies can be made right away without waiting for the brown butter to solidify. It's the same method used in my classic chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Mix Butter and Sugars

By now, the brown butter should have cooled almost to room temperature. if it's still slightly warm, that's okay, as long as it isn't hot.  

Add both sugars to the mixing bowl and beat to combine. You can do this by hand with a wooden spoon or in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. 

Wet Ingredients

Add the egg and vanilla, and then beat vigorously for one minute until thick and pale in color.

Dry Ingredients

Sift in the dry ingredients, including flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix until combined.

Add Pecans

Add the toasted pecans and mix them in until they are evenly distributed.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place the cookie dough in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes (or up to 48 hours).

Once you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C (160° fan-assisted) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Scoop Cookie Dough

Scoop even-sized cookie dough balls onto the prepared baking sheet with enough room to spread.

You can use a medium cookie scoop for this, or just use large tablespoons of dough and roll them into balls with your hands.

You can also make smaller cookies if you like, just reduce the baking time by a few minutes. 

Decorate

Press the cookie dough balls down slightly to flatten them a little.

Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with a little extra brown sugar and a sprinkle of sea salt if you like. Then press one or two of the reserved pecan halves into the top of the cookie.

Bake

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown around the edges.

This bake time will give you the perfect texture of chewy butter pecan cookies with crisp edges - but if you like more crunchy cookies than chewy pecan cookies, then give them an extra minute in the oven.

Remove from the oven and let the warm cookies sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then use a cookie lifter to transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Variations

These are honestly some of the best cookies I have ever tasted, but there are still plenty of ways you can customize them or make them even more special.

• Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies - Add your favorite chocolate chunks or chips to the cookie dough at the same time as the chopped pecans. Milk, dark, or white chocolate chips would all go well with these pecan cookies.
  
• Other Nuts - This brown butter cookie recipe would also work really nicely with other nuts, try walnuts or even almonds.

• Coconut Pecan Cookies - For the holiday season, try coconut pecan cookies. 

• Chocolate Drizzle - For extra indulgence, drizzle or dip your baked cookies in melted dark chocolate.

• Iced Pecan Cookies - Drizzle your butter pecan cookies with a little cream cheese glaze or vanilla glaze for extra sweetness.

Storage

Store your brown butter pecan cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They will be good like this for up to a week, though cookies are always best when eaten within 3 days.

More Cookie Recipes

If you love these buttery cookies, give some of these other cookie recipes a try: