We all want to bake cookies and save recipes non stop as the holidays approach, but we often give up because it looks daunting!! Well, here are some easy Butter Pecan Cookies with Dark Chocolate to bake when you’re craving a homemade treat:).
These cookies are made with lots of butter, pecans, chopped dark chocolate pieces, vanilla paste and brown sugar among other ingredients!! How could they not be Yummy?
While growing up we made cookies with pecans that my mom simply called in Albanian ‘biskota me arra’. This recipe is based on that childhood recipe, but it’s improved with new ingredients (like dark chocolate) or different measurements for a more modern take. Another difference is that I browned the butter.
Pecan Cookie Ingredients
So these are the ingredients I used to make these soft cookies full of texture and flavor combos:
- all purpose flour
- cornstarch
- baking soda
- butter
- eggs
- pecans
- dark chocolate
- eggs
- vanilla paste
Pro-Tip: Browning the butter and toasting the pecans adds a little time to making these cookies, but it is really worth it flavor wise! Don’t skip those steps!
Let’s bake butter pecan cookies!
I’ll walk you over the process of making these cookies with some pictures to illustrate. Refer to recipe card for detailed instructions with quantities.
My first step is always to roast the pecan halves. I usually roast them for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees F. Halfaway through I shake the baking sheet to avoid any burns. I really want to toast the pecans and not burn them.
Once pecans are toasted, I set them aside to cool off. Then I cut the dark chocolate in rough pieces using a kitchen knife. Set that aside too.
Then I brown the butter until it smells nutty and aromatic. Set the pot aside to cool off since we can’t add hot butter over eggs when making the dough.
Whisk eggs with brown sugar, add vanilla paste and continue whisking. Add brown butter and whisk until creamy. Then add dry ingredients (flour, cornstarch and baking soda after mixing them together first) and create the dough. Add chopped pecans and chopped chocolate and fold them in using a spatula.
Chill the dough enough so you can handle it with your hands afterward to create dough balls. Place them in cookie sheet over parchment paper and bake for about 12-13 minutes.
Butter Pecan Cookies with Dark Chocolate Pieces
Equipment
- 1 Whisk
- 1 silicone spatula
- 1 small sauce pot
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups pecan halves
- 2 dark chocolate bars each bar is 2 ozs
- 2 butter stick 226 grams
- 2.5 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla paste
Instructions
- Places pecan halves over parchment paper in a baking sheet. Roast for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees F. Shake the tray (use mittens) halfway through to flip some of the pecans so they roast/toast evenly. Set aside to cool off when done!
- Chop the chocolate bars on a cutting board with a knife, no need to be precise. You're just trying to create small pieces but they don't have to be symmetrical. Set aside too.
- Brown butter for about 8-10 minutes, remove from heat and place pot over a bowl of water and ice. You want to cool off the butter as fast as possible to almost room temperature so when mixed with eggs it doesn't curdle them.
- In a bowl mix with a spoon all purpose flour, cornstarch and baking soda. Set aside. I refer to this mix as dry ingredients.
- Add eggs to medium glass bowl. Add brown sugar and vanilla paste. Whisk vigorously to create a light creamy mixture. Add brown butter too and continue whisking to incorporate. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix. When it becomes hard to whisk, switch to a spatula.
- Add pecans (you can break them into smaller pieces in a mortar pestle or in a ziplock bag by rolling a rolling pin over them) and dark chocolate pieces.
- Chill the dough for a short amount of time, usually 15 minutes works for me. You want to chill long enough for dough to be pliable to work with your hands and quickly prepare balls of dough as seen in my pictures. Don't work the dough too much since heat from the hands will soften the butter too much.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 13 minutes. Bake in batches if needed because you don't want the cookies to be too close to each other. Use a spatula to place cookies in a cooling rack to rest for about 15 minutes or so. Enjoy:)).
Video
Notes
- Chill the dough for about 15-20 minutes.
- Once you make these cookies couple of times and feel more comfortable with the process, you can try to shave some cooking time by toasting the pecans and browning the butter simultaneously.
- These cookies disappear within a day or two, but usually I store leftovers in an airtight container for 2-3 days when I bake a double batch.
- Salt – you need a pinch of salt in these cookies. I skip adding salt when using salted butter (different brands have different content of salt so try it and see if it works for you). Also watch out for pecans. Most are not salted, but if you buy them already salted watch out so you don’t use salted butter too so you don’t double up on salt.
Nutrition Label
Nutrition
If you would like to save this recipe for later, please pin one of the images from this post to your boards in Pinterest. It makes finding the recipe in the future so much easier. I usually categorize my recipes in Pinterest for example this one I’d usually put it in Cookies or Dessert or Holidays etc etc.
Thank you for reading my blog, it means a lot to me and my family!!
More Cookie Recipes
Here are some of my other cookie recipes:
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