Brown Butter Pecan Praline Cookies

These Brown Butter Pecan Praline Cookies are so rich, caramely and delicious that they are almost like eating a piece of artisan candy. They are ultra chewy with deeply caramelized edges that are nearly toffee-like. There is so much depth and complex flavor from nutty brown butter, candied pecans and creamy milk chocolate. These incredibly addictive cookies are perfect for a holiday cookie tray and for gifting as they stay very chewy even days after making them. If you love making cookies with brown butter, I recommend my most popular Chewy Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies and these Brown Butter Pecan Cookies.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

• Rich brown butter cookies - these cookies have a intense, rich buttery flavor that is complex from the nutty and caramel-like flavors produced from browning butter. You really do taste brown butter here, so the effort is not lost in this recipe.
• Chewy texture - you will love the chewy texture these have which contrasts the crunchy edges.
• Caramelized pecans - you will make candied pecans for the praline part of the recipe. You only need 2 ingredients and it is so simple. The pecans toast as they caramelize too so it's a double win! These are incredibly addictive on their own, so make a double batch! I always eat most of them before I even get to use in them in a recipe.
• Milk chocolate chunks - I love to add creamy milk chocolate which complements the pecans and brown butter so nicely.

INGREDIENTS

• Unsalted butter - you can use salted or unsalted butter for this recipe. If you choose salted butter, I recommend reducing the added salt by almost half, so you will use about a heaped ¼ teaspoon. Or, you can just leave the salt as is and they will be extra rich! You will brown the butter for this recipe. Browning butter is a technique common in French cooking called "beurre noisette". It translates to "hazelnut butter" since the butter actually takes on nutty flavors once it is browned. It adds incredible depth of flavor to these cookies.
• All purpose flour - regular unbleached all-purpose flour works just fine in this recipe to make cookies with a chewy texture.
• Brown sugar - this recipe calls for brown sugar and white sugar. Brown sugar which adds a hint of butterscotch flavor to complement the pecans and brown butter, and it also helps to create chewy cookies. You can use light or dark brown, but I prefer light brown in this recipe so it doesn't overpower the other flavors.
• Granulated sugar - white sugar will caramelize to create intensely crisp and candy-like edges.
• Eggs - one large egg will bind this cookie dough.
• Milk - a little bit of milk replaces the moisture lost by browning the butter so the cookie dough is still soft and pliable instead of brittle.
• Pure vanilla extract - vanilla will enhance all cookies. I like this Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla extract.
• Pecans - use raw pecans to make the praline since they will toast up as they caramelize when you cook them with the sugar.
• Milk chocolate - I like to add milk chocolate chunks to make these extra special. Feel free to use dark chocolate or omit them if you prefer.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

• STEP 1). Brown the butter. Follow my steps to brown butter here.
• STEP 2). Cool the butter. Immediately pour the hot brown butter off into a clean bowl. You should be left with golden yellow liquid butter and lots of nutty brown flecks. Let it cool until for 20-30 minutes until it reaches room temperature. It does not need to be firm (it may still be liquid) but if the butter is hot, the cookie dough will be greasy.
• STEP 3). Mix butter and sugar. Once cooled, add brown sugar and vanilla and mix to combine.
• STEP 4). Mix in egg and milk. Add the egg and mix well until smooth, glossy and the mixture lightens in color by a shade. Then, mix in milk.
• STEP 5). Add dry ingredients. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to blend evenly. Add this to the butter mixture and fold it in until mostly combined but there are still some streaks of flour visible.
• STEP 6). Fold in praline and chocolate. Add chopped pecan praline and milk chocolate chunks and fold them in evenly.
• STEP 7). Chill the dough. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• STEP 8).Bake. Use a 1 ½-oz cookie scoop to portion dough and roll into smooth balls. Place them onto prepared baking sheets spacing them 3 inches apart and bake for 9-11 minutes until browned on the edges and lightly golden on top.

EXPERT BAKING TIPS

• Let the brown butter cool. If the brown butter is too hot when you add the sugar and other ingredients, then it will not incorporate evenly the cookie dough will be greasy.
• Measure flour accurately. Too much flour can make these cookies more hard and crumbly instead of chewy. They will also crumble when you slice the dough if it is too dry. For the best results, weigh your flour using a kitchen scale.
• Use a light colored pan to make the praline. I use this stainless steel saucepan to make small batches of praline. It conducts heat quickly and evenly, and the light color allows you too see the color of the sugar as it turns to caramel so you don't burn it.
• Let the baked cookies cool on the baking sheet. The caramelized edges are soft and delicate while warm so let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring them to a rack to continue cooling.

RECIPE FAQ

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Video

Brown Butter Pecan Praline Cookies

Christina Marsigliese, Food Scientist MSc.

These Brown Butter Pecan Praline Cookies are so rich, caramely and delicious that they are almost like eating a piece of artisan candy. They are ultra chewy with deeply caramelized edges that are nearly toffee-like. There is so much depth and complex flavor from nutty brown butter, candied pecans and creamy milk chocolate.

4.91 from 11 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Chill Time 1 hour hr

Servings 15 cookies

Ingredients

  

Pecan Praline:

• ⅔ cup (80g) chopped pecans
• 4 tablespoon (50g) granulated sugar
• pinch of salt

Brown Butter Cookie Dough:

• 1 ½ cups (215g) all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoon (140g) unsalted butter (cold is fine)
• ⅔ cup (145g) packed light brown sugar
• ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) whole milk
• ⅔ cup (113g) milk chocolate chips or chunks

For best results, use a kitchen scale to weigh the ingredients.

Instructions

 

• Make the praline. Add pecans to a saucepan or shallow frying pan. Sprinkle in sugar and cook over medium high heat stirring frequently until it smells fragrant nutty and the sugar melts and caramelizes. It will be dark brown. Turn it out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and immediately sprinkle with salt. Set it aside to cool and set for 20 minutes until hardened, then chop it up coarsely.
• Brown the butter. Follow the instructions in this post here to learn how to brown butter. It's easy! Brown specks and a dense golden foam will form at the surface when it is nearly ready. Pour it out into a clean bowl and let it cool for 10 minutes. This whole process takes around 8-10 minutes. Immediately pour it into a large mixing bowl, then let it cool for 20-30 minutes until it reaches a temperature just warmer than room temperature. If you care to measure, the butter should read 34°C or 93°F on a digital thermometer. It should not be hot, but it should not be too cool or it will stiffen up when you mix in the other ingredients if it is cold in your kitchen.
• Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and whisk well to blend evenly.
• Combine cooled brown butter with both sugars in a large bowl and mix gently to combine. It should look thick like wet sand. You can also mix it in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 20 seconds.
• Add the egg, milk and vanilla and mix it in until well incorporated and creamy-looking. Do not beat vigorously at this stage because if it is cold in your house, the butterfat will firm up and become stiff.
• Add flour mixture and fold it in or mix on low just until mostly combined, then add the chopped pecan praline and chocolate chunks before all of the flour is incorporated and continue mixing until they are evenly distributed. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for up to 1 hour. I wouldn't recommend chilling for much longer than this as the caramelized sugar on the pecans will dissolve into the dough which can make the cookies spread too much.
• Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Use a 1.35-oz cookie scoop to portion dough into 15 portions and roll into smooth balls. Place them onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them 3 inches apart. Do not flatten. Bake for 9-11 minutes until golden on top, browned around the edges and soft in the middle.
• Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.