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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.
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.
