Name: Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 170 g unsalted butter; 150 g soft brown sugar; 50 g granulated sugar; 1 large egg; 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract; 220 g all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 tsp salt; 85 g pecan halves; 130 g semisweet chocolate chips or chunks; 50 g granulated sugar; 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

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These chewy chocolate chip pecan cookies are thick and flavorful. They’re full of texture, too, made with brown butter, toasted pecans, and melty chocolate chips.

chocolate chip pecan cookies birds eye view.

About these cookies

Easy to make – The dough is super easy to whip together, and there’s no need for an electric mixer!
They use brown butter – If you know me, you’ll know I LOVE brown butter. It’s by far one of the easiest ways to bring a bucketload of flavor to a recipe. Check out my brown butter archives!
No chill time needed – You need about 10 minutes to let the brown butter cool down.
Chewy cookies with crispy edges – Thanks to the melted, nutty brown butter and brown and white sugar mix.
Great texture and flavor – Toasted crunchy pecans bring the cookies a lovely texture and taste. The cookies are also rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking, which perfectly compliments the buttery pecans and brown butter. It’s like an elevated classic chocolate chip cookie.

Ingredients

For the amounts needed for these pecan chocolate chip cookies, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom. Here is a rundown of what you will need, with a little more information about the ingredients.

Butter – You can use salted or unsalted butter in this recipe. Halve the salt in the rest of the recipe if using salted butter. Simmer the butter until browned and toasty.
Soft light brown sugar or dark brown sugar – Brown sugar helps keep the cookie chewy and moist and adds molasses flavor. The darker the brown sugar, the more molasses.
Granulated white sugar – Gives a little crispy edge to the cookie.
A large egg
Vanilla paste – or good quality vanilla extract.
All-purpose flour
Baking soda
Baking powder
Salt
Pecans – Take a couple of extra minutes to toast the pecans first, enhancing their flavor.
Dark chocolate chips or chocolate bars cut into chunks. Substitute for milk chocolate chips if you prefer.
Ground cinnamon – Combine with sugar and roll the cookie balls in this before baking.
Flaky sea salt – (optional) for sprinkling at the end

Method

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) regular oven. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

butter being poured from a saucepan into a white bowl.

Step 2. Let the butter melt in a small-medium saucepan, then cook for around 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly until the milk solids have caramelized and the butter smells nutty.

Pour it into a bowl and cool down for 10 minutes.

Step 3. Take a dry pan and place it over medium heat. Add the pecans and stir while they toast, for around 4-5 minutes until lightly toasted.

Take the pan off the heat and let the pecans cool to room temperature.

Step 4. Once cooled, chop them roughly into pieces and set them aside. If you’re using a chocolate bar instead of chocolate chips, chop it into small chocolate chunks and set them aside.

Step 5. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Set the flour mixture aside.

Step 6. When the butter has cooled, add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla, and egg and mix it well until combined.

Step 7. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon and mix until combined.

bowl of cookie dough with pecans and chocolate.

Step 8. Add in the chopped pecans and chocolate and stir. The dough will be very thick and greasy. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes to let the dough absorb some of the butter.

Step 9. In a small bowl, mix together granulated sugar and ground cinnamon.

Step 10. Roll the cookie dough into balls using 1 1/2 tablespoons for each cookie. Roll each of the cookie dough balls into the cinnamon sugar, coating all sides.

Step 11. Space them out generously on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. The cookies will spread in the oven, so give them plenty of space to do so.

Baking

Step 12. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes until they have puffed up and the edges are golden brown. The cookies will still be very soft but will continue cooking on the hot oven tray once out of the oven and will firm up as they cool down. Don’t overbake them, or it will be a crunchy cookie without a chewy texture.

Sprinkle the cookies with a little bit of flaky salt if you like. Let the cookies cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes, then transfer the warm cookies to a wire rack to cool further.

chocolate chip pecan cookies on a wire rack.

Storing

Leftover cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

The baked cookies or the unbaked cookie balls can also be frozen for up to three months in a freezer bag or sealed container. Freezing the cookie balls means you can enjoy homemade chocolate chip cookies any time!

Baking cookie balls from frozen – The cookies can be baked directly without thawing. They may need an extra minute or two of baking time.

a hand grabbing a melted chocolate cookie.

Measurements

This recipe is written using grams as the main measurement.

If you don’t have a scale, US* cup equivalents are also included; however, using a kitchen scale to measure grams will give the best and most consistent results. *US cup sizes are smaller than metric cup sizes.

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