Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans

Have you ever heard of Bloomsday? If you don’t live in Ireland, the chances are slim. Every year on June 16th, people dress up to relive the events that occur in James Joyce’s novel, Ulysses. I work in one of the coastal towns mentioned in the book, and this year I witnessed the madness of Bloomsday firsthand. It was the most stressful day at work I’ve ever had. Ever. In my whole life. Families from all over the country flocked to our tiny seaside town, crowded in to our tiny wine-bar, and reveled in the crazy atmosphere. I was stressed to my eyeballs. If I was one of them, I’m sure it would have been a lovely day. But of course, I wasn’t one of them. I was on the other side of the bar; my back screaming in agony, cranky, and craving these brown butter chocolate chip cookies.

I wanted to burst into tears, and grab a few bottles of wine. I wanted to be back home, eating cookies. If only things worked that way. The cookies would have made everything better. I would have been nice to customers & colleagues, and I wouldn’t have been on the verge of tears for nine straight hours. Sigh.

BROWN BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

These are by far the best cookies I have ever made, truly. I wouldn’t lie to you – I was reaching for my third cookie before I realized what I was doing. I blame the brown butter. This was my first time baking with brown butter, so I was wholly unprepared. Sure, I’d heard rumors of its nuttiness and fragrance, but I had no idea how delicious it would be! The smell of the cookies straight out of the oven knocked my socks off, almost literally. It was irresistible. 

And the taste! Everyone loved them! 10/10 all around, except for The Boyf who gave them a 9.75 because he doesn’t want me to get cocky. The combination of brown butter, dark chocolate chunks, and pecans is simply unbearably good. They’re rich, but not too rich, they’re flavoursome, and they’re thick & chunky. Honestly, they’re the best cookies I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans

Chocolate + brown butter + pecans = the best cookies ever.

Yield: 18 COOKIES

Author: Passionate Baker

INGREDIENTS

• 285 g plain flour

• 3 tsp baking powder

• 113 g salted butter, browned and cooled – finished weight should be ~85g

• 113 g salted butter, at room temp

• 200 g light brown sugar

• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 tsp maple syrup

• 100 g caster sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 large egg yolk

• 50 g pecans, chopped

• 140 g chocolate, chopped into chunks

DIRECTIONS

• In a medium bowl, combine the flour & baking powder. Set aside.

• In a large bowl, cream the room temp butter with the brown sugar until light & fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and maple syrup & beat until thoroughly combined.

• Next, add the brown butter & and caster sugar; beat until fully incorporated. Add the egg & egg yolk, beating until homogenous.

• Add the flour mixture into the butter mixture & beat until just incorporated. Then, using a spatula, carefully fold the pecans & chocolate chunks into the mix. 

• Wrap the bowl in cling film & leave to chill in the fridge for at least half an hour, ideally an hour.

• Preheat oven to 160°C & line two baking trays with parchment paper. 

• Scoop dough by the two & a half tablespoonful onto the trays & flatten slightly, leaving at least 2-inches in between each cookie. 

• Bake for 15ish-minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven & allow to cool for 5-minutes on the baking tray before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.