Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Chocolate chip cookies all grown-up.
With a name like Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies, you know you’re in for a treat. These aren’t your mom’s chocolate chip cookies, that’s for sure! One bite of these crunchy yet perfectly chewy cookies will have you ready to ditch the plain chocolate chip cookies in favor of this grown-up version.
Not only does this recipe include chopped dark chocolate, pecans, and a hit of bourbon, but they are made with brown butter. Don’t worry – this isn’t some specialty ingredient you’ll only use once or twice and end up throwing away. You can make this stuff yourself!
To brown butter, you’ll need a skillet or saute pan, and butter. Melt the butter as normal in the pan, then continue to cook it over medium heat, stirring occasionally until it reaches a golden brown color. Watch your butter closely as it browns because it can burn easily!
Once it’s nice and golden brown, remove from the heat and pour into a heatproof bowl. Make sure to scrape all of the golden bits off the bottom of the pan. Place the bowl in the fridge for 2 hours. Because the brown butter must come back to room temperature before using it in the cookie dough, you’ll want to plan ahead time-wise.
It may seem like a small thing, but brown butter has such a rich, earthy, almost caramel-like flavor to it, which pairs beautifully with the bourbon and pecans. Add in freshly chopped chocolate chunks and a dash of coarsely ground sea salt, and you have yourself one incredible cookie!
Trust me, these things are as delicious as they look. If you love decadent cookies with a crunch on the outside and a perfectly soft, chewy center, this is the recipe for you!
Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies
For the Buttered Pecans:
- 1 1/2 cups pecan halves, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
For the Cookies:
- 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 12 ounces dark chocolate, roughly chopped into chunks
- Extra pecan halves, for decoration (optional)
- Sea salt
For Buttered Pecans:
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in chopped pecans and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until lightly toasted. Set aside until needed.
For Brown Butter:
- Place butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly until butter has browned. Pour into a heatproof bowl, making sure to scrape all of the "toasted" bits into the bowl as well.
- Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 2 hours, or until the butter is at room temperature. (The butter is at room temperature when you press a finger into the top and it makes a slight indentation. It should not be liquid at all.)
For the Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
- Mix flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, combine browned butter and both sugars and beat on medium-speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and bourbon and beat until combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
- With a spatula or wooden spoon, gently fold in the flour mixture until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks and buttered pecans.
- Roll 3 tablespoon-sized scoops of dough between your palms to form a ball (they should be big; almost a 1/4 cup), then place on prepared sheets (make sure to leave enough room in between each cookie for inevitable spreading). Top with a pecan on each cookie ball.
- Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, or until golden at the edges but still soft in the middle. Sprinkle cookies with sea salt right when they come out of the oven. Let cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe adapted from Baker by Nature.