Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

5 from 1 vote

Crispy, chocolate chip pecan cookies made with semi-sweet chocolate morsels, crunchy pecans, brown butter and a pinch of sea salt.

Prep Time15 mins

Bake Time14 mins

Total Time29 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cookies

Calories: 149kcal

Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl, set aside.
Cut the stick of butter in half or into cubes and place them in a small saucepan. Melt the butter over medium heat, stirring the butter around as it melts. After 5 minutes, the butter will develop an amber color with butter with brown specks. For dark brown butter, you can go as long as 8 minutes. Turn the flame off and let the butter cool down.
While the butter cools, whisk together both sugars, egg, and vanilla extract in a clean mixing bowl. Whisk quickly as you pour in the melted brown butter. The sugar mixture should be wet and smooth.
Add flour mixture to the bowl with the wet mixture and combine with a rubber spatula to form the cookie dough. You'll know the dough is fully combined once there are no visible streaks of flour.
Add the chocolate chops and pecans to the bowl with the cookie dough and use your spatula to combine them with the dough. The chocolate chips and pecans should be evenly disbursed.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and scoop the dough into 1.5 tablespoon-sized balls. Place 12 scoops on each baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between them. Top each ball of dough with a light sprinkle of coarse sea salt if desired.
Bake the cookies for 14 minutes. Remove them from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a metal cooling rack. The cookies will become firm as they cool.

For an even nuttier flavor, toast the pecans at 350°F on a baking sheet for 5 minutes before adding them to the dough.
For softer, chewier cookies, refer to 'recipe substitutions' in the body of the post.
For flatter cookies: add 1-2 tablespoons of milk or replace the baking powder with an additional ½ teaspoon of baking soda to help the cookies spread out more. You may need to leave additional space between each cookie to allow for the extra spread.
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.