These Brown Butter Pecan Cookies are one of my favorite cookie recipes with savory browned butter, toasted pecans and hints of maple syrup. They're super easy to make and a great addition to the Christmas cookie platter.
When it comes to Christmas cookies, I love a good variety from classic cookies like White Chocolate Chip Cookies and Peanut Butter Cookies, to more unique recipe, like these Tiramisu Cookies or homemade Lemon Curd Cookies.
These Browned Butter Pecan Cookies would be on the unique side, but should seriously be a staple. I know I'm making them every holiday now.
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Why You'll Love This Cookie Recipe:
- Big on Flavor. Browned butter meets toasted pecans in this amazing sweet and savory cookie.
- Easy to Make. There's nothing tricky to this recipe, other than keeping your eye on that browning butter, so it doesn't get too toasty.
- A Holiday Favorite. These are the perfect Christmas cookies. Eat some and wrap up the rest up to hand out to neighbors, friends and family.
- Unique. These cookies are original and elegant, and everyone will want the recipe.
For more popular Christmas treats, try these Marshmallow Fluff Rice Krispies, 4 ingredient Peanut Butter Fudge, Dill Ranch Oyster Crackers, Snickerdoodle Bar Cookies, Andes Mint Fudge, and Biscoff Truffles.
Ingredients:
Salted Butter: Melted and browned in the skillet for more depth of flavors. Think toffee and caramel.
Browned Sugar and Granulated Sugar: A combination is great in cookies because you get the best of both worlds. The granulated sugar creates an airy cookie, and the brown sugar makes a chewier version with caramel and molasses flavors that go well with this cookie.
Pecans: Oven toasted to release deeper nutty flavors and richness. Then, they're chopped finer to incorporate into the cookie batter.
Maple Syrup: Just a touch to add flavor.
All Purpose Flour, Baking Powder, and Baking Soda: Dry ingredients that help with rise and flour helps to form the structure of the cookies.
Egg: To bind ingredients and assist with structure and texture.
*Full recipe ingredients and quantities can be found in the recipe card below.
Substitutions and Variations:
- Unsalted butter can be used instead of salted butter, but I would add an extra ½ teaspoon of salt in with the dry ingredients.
- Want to add chocolate chips? Mix ½ cup in with the toasted pecans.
- A grass fed butter is delicious for this recipe too.
If you love easy pecan dessert recipes, try these Coconut Pecan Cookies and Chocolate Covered Pecans.
How to Make Brown Butter Pecan Cookies:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat a light colored large skillet on the stovetop over medium low heat. Add the salted butter and cook until Amber in color, stirring frequently (Mine took about 6-7 minutes, but this will differ based on the pan, oven, etc.) Once the color is light brown immediately turn off the stovetop and pour the butter into a bowl to cool. Cool at room temperature for 45 minutes.
Step 2: As the butter cools, add the pecans to a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly toasted. Turn off the oven and allow the pecans to cool for a few minutes.
Step 3: Roughly chop the pecans into smaller pieces and set aside.
Step 4: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
Step 5: Once the butter has cooled, add it to the stand mixer with beater attachment, or large bowl if using a hand mixer. Toss in the brown and granulated sugar and blend on medium low speed for 1 minute.
Step 6: Add in egg and maple syrup and blend on medium low speed for 1 minute.
Step 7: Pour in dry ingredients and beat on low speed just until combined. Pour in pecans and mix again, just to quickly incorporate. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Step 8: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and remove the cookie dough from the fridge.
Step 9: Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough into heaping tablespoon sized balls.
Step 10: Spread 12 cookie balls out onto each cookie sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes for a chewy cookie (15-16 minutes if you like them crunchier).
Step 11: Allow the cookies to cool on a baking rack for a few minutes, then enjoy! They taste amazing with a glass of milk.
Expert Tips👨🍳:
- Browned butter can be tricky and must be watched closely. You're looking for a light brown to Amber color. When this happens, immediately turn off the heat to the skillet and pour into a bowl to slow the cooking process. Do not use a dark pan that you can't see the butter color well.
- Because this recipe is using browned butter, it's important to be patient with cooling and chilling. If you add hot browned butter into the cookies, you are going to end up with bad results, with potentially cooking the egg and having runny batter.
- When using the stand mixer, make sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after steps to mix all the ingredients.
For more Christmas Cookie platter recipes, try these Heart Jam Cookies, White Chocolate Raspberry Cookies, Sugar Cookies with Christmas Sprinkles, Pistachio Cookies, and Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Recipe FAQs:
Browned butter is cooking the butter in the skillet beyond the melting point. New flavors are released that results in a different taste. It smells nutty, almost like toasted nuts, and will have more caramelized, toffee tastes. I can tell a big difference in taste.
You really have to watch the butter brown because it happens fast and can overcook quickly. Over cooked browned butter will have dark brown or black chunks in it and taste bitter. If you overcook, you need to start over and toss that batch. As soon as you get the appropriate Amber color (see step by step photos for image), immediately transfer it to a bowl to stop the cooking process.
The best tip to chewy cookies is to not over mix or over bake. I over baked one of my batches and they stayed chewy for a few hours, then turned into more of a crispy cookie, like Tate's cookies. They were still delicious, but if you're looking for chewy, pull them out of the oven before they look ready (12-13 minutes).
Allow the cookies to come to room temperature, then store in sealed containers or gallon sized ziplock bags. Eat within 2-3 day for the best texture.
Yes, the cookie dough can be frozen. I recommend vacuum sealing in heaping tablespoon sized balls, and baking within 2 months for the freshest taste.
More Cookie Recipes You'll Want to Make:
If you tried this Brown Butter Pecan Cookie Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
PrintRecipe
Brown Butter Pecan Cookies
- Total Time: 2 hours, 35 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies 1x
Description
These Brown Butter Pecan Cookies are one of my favorite cookie recipes with savory browned butter and toasted pecans. They're super easy to make and a great addition to the Christmas cookie platter.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, regular or grassfed
- ¾ cup pecan halves
- 1 and ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat a light colored large skillet on the stovetop over medium low heat. Add the salted butter and cook until Amber in color, stirring frequently (Mine took about 6-7 minutes, but this will differ based on the pan, oven, etc.) Once the color is light brown immediately turn off the stovetop and pour the butter into a bowl to cool. Cool at room temperature for 45 minutes.
- As the butter cools, add the pecans to a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly toasted. Turn off the oven and allow the pecans to cool for a few minutes.
- Roughly chop the pecans into smaller pieces and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
- Once the butter has cooled, add it to the stand mixer with beater attachment, or large bowl if using a hand mixer. Toss in the brown and granulated sugar and blend on medium low speed for 1 minute.
- Add in egg and maple syrup and blend on medium low speed for 1 minute.
- Pour in dry ingredients and beat on low speed just until combined. Pour in pecans and mix again, just to quickly incorporate. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and remove the cookie dough from the fridge.
- Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough into heaping tablespoon sized balls.
- Spread 12 cookie balls out onto each cookie sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes for a chewy cookie (15-16 minutes if you like them crunchier).
- Allow the cookies to cool on a baking rack for a few minutes, then enjoy! They taste amazing with a glass of milk.
Notes
- Browned butter can be tricky and must be watched closely. You're looking for a light brown to Amber color. When this happens, immediately turn off the heat to the skillet and pour into a bowl to slow the cooking process. Do not use a dark pan that you can't see the butter color well.
- Because this recipe is using browned butter, it's important to be patient with cooling and chilling. If you add hot browned butter into the cookies, you are going to end up with bad results, with potentially cooking the egg and having runny batter.
- When using a stand mixer, make sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after steps to mix all the ingredients.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cooling/Chilling Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: dessert
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Holly says
These are so good! The brown butter adds so much flavor.