Brown Butter Pecan Cookies

Making cookies for the holidays is one of my favorite things to do! These have become a new staple along with brown sugar and mini walnut tarts, and peppermint bark brownie cookies.

These cookies have the extra flavor bump of browning the butter. It's an extra step, but it is so worth it!

• You don't have to chill the dough! Many cookie recipes out there require you to chill the dough before baking. These don't! You can mix up the ingredients and bake them off right away.
• They are great for the non-chocolate lovers! I love a good chocolate loaded cookie, but for some, they want a change from a chocolate chip cookie. These cookies check all those marks!
• They keep really well! Since they don't have any chocolate or jelly, these cookies are perfect to add to a holiday cookie tin because they aren't a mess. They are simple and delicious, a true crowd pleaser!

Most of the ingredients in these cookies are your standard ingredients for cookies, plus pecans!

• Butter- 2 sticks. I like to use salted butter, I know I know, some people swear by unsalted butter. I just prefer salted butter, but unsalted would work as well.
• All Purpose Flour
• Brown Sugar- To give an even more nutty flavor to the cookies
• Granulated Sugar
• Vanilla
• Eggs- You'll need two eggs plus one egg yolk
• Pecans- Toasted slightly

Brown butter is simply butter that is cooked enough so the milk solids toast and brown slightly. You can use brown butter in sweet desserts or savory dinners. It's easy to make and adds so much to the recipes it is added to. Brown butter adds an irresistible nuttiness and depth of flavor to whatever you add it to!

When making brown butter, stay close to the stove! You don't want to walk away from the pan, because the butter will go from browned to burnt in a matter of minutes!

• Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer
• Measuring Cups
• Measuring Spoons
• Ice Cream Scoop for equal sized cookies
• Parchment Paper or Silicone Mat
• Baking Sheet

In a saucepan, place the two sticks of butter and turn the heat on medium. As the butter melts, swirl the saucepan and continue stirring the butter. After 5 minutes, the butter will start giving off a nutty smell and turning brown. When it starts to turn brown, turn the heat off and set the saucepan aside to let the butter cool completely. Stay close to the stove. The butter goes from brown to burnt in a matter of a minute.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the pecans on a cookie sheet and bake them for 5 minutes. Stay close to the oven, you don't want to burn the pecans. When they are cool enough to handle, chop them into small pieces and set them aside.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees. When the butter has cooled, place the brown butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the sugar to the butter and cream the mixture for one minute on medium speed. Add the eggs and egg yolk and mix well.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar and butter mixture. Turn the mixer on low speed and mix until combined. Add the chopped pecans and mix one more time.

With an ice cream scoop, scoop equal sized dough balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are just slightly browned. Cool the cookies on a wire rack, sprinkle with powdered sugar if you would like, and enjoy!

Toasting the pecans will enhance the pecan flavor and will make the pecans more nutty. Stay close to the toaster or the oven when you are toasting them. Nuts burn so fast! They go from perfectly browned to burnt in a matter of seconds. When you can start smelling the nuttiness of the pecans, they are done!

• Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out the dough. That will give you equal sized cookies.
• Make sure the butter is cooled before you add it to the sugars. If the butter is too warm, it will cause the cookies to be greasy and it might cook the eggs.
• Make them slice and bake! Place the dough in a piece of parchment paper and shape the dough into a log. When ready to bake, cut the dough into the size cookies you would like.
• Add chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, or dried cranberries for an extra pop of flavor!

Yes! You can make the dough up to 24 hours in advance and keep the dough in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake. You can also freeze the dough by putting it in an airtight container. The cookies freeze beautifully once they are baked. Bake them and let them cool completely. Add them to an air tight container and freeze them for up to three months.

Yes! Chopped walnuts or chopped almonds would work in this recipe.

Browning the butter adds an extra nuttiness to compliment the pecans. If you don't want to brown the butter, you don't have to. Use softened butter and cream it with the sugars. These cookies will still be delicious!

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Brown Sugar and Walnut Mini Tarts

Peppermint Bark Brownie Mix Cookies

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Crispy Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon and Parmesan

More Dessert Recipes

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• Peppermint Bark Brownie Mix Cookies