Make chocolate chip pecan cookies with rich chocolate, crunchy pecans, and a tender homemade crumb fit for cookie jars and afternoon treats!

These chocolate chip pecan cookies arrive with crisp golden edges, soft and chewy centers, puddles of melted chocolate, and buttery toasted pecans tucked into every bite!

Browned butter gives each cookie a warm caramel-like aroma, dark brown sugar keeps centers pleasantly soft, and a tiny sprinkle of flaky salt makes chocolate taste even richer.

This is exactly what you make when an ordinary chocolate chip cookie sounds good, but a bakery-style cookie with extra personality sounds much better!

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, 226 grams
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar, 200 grams
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 67 grams
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons whole milk, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 270 grams, spooned and leveled
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chopped semisweet chocolate, about 210 grams
• 1 cup pecan halves, about 110 grams, roughly chopped after toasting
• Flaky sea salt, optional, for finishing

Servings: 18
Yield: 18 large cookies
Serving size: 1 cookie

How to Make Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

Heat oven to 350°F (175°C), spread pecan halves on a small baking sheet, and toast them for 7 to 9 minutes, stirring once near halfway, until they smell buttery and look one shade darker.

Watch closely during final two minutes because nuts can move from fragrant to “well, that escalated quickly” with almost no warning!

Transfer pecans to a plate so they stop cooking, let them cool, then chop them into pieces about size of a chocolate chip, leaving a few larger bits for extra crunch.

Place butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat because a pale pan makes it easier to see when milk solids turn brown.

Let butter melt, then cook for 5 to 8 minutes while stirring or swirling often; it will foam, crackle, and eventually smell like toasted hazelnuts and caramel.

Once foam begins settling and small specks on bottom look amber-brown, immediately pour butter and every flavorful brown speck into a large heatproof mixing bowl.

Do not wait for specks to become dark brown, since carryover heat keeps working after pan leaves burner.

Let browned butter cool for 12 to 15 minutes, until bowl feels warm rather than hot. You should be able to touch its side comfortably for several seconds.

This pause matters because very hot butter can melt sugars too aggressively and may start cooking egg, which is not a plot twist we need in cookie dough!

Add dark brown sugar and granulated sugar to warm butter, then whisk firmly for about 45 seconds until mixture looks glossy and evenly combined. It may appear slightly grainy, which is normal.

Whisk in whole egg and yolk until mixture thickens and becomes smoother, then add milk and vanilla and whisk again for another 20 to 30 seconds. Scrape bowl around sides and bottom so no streaks of egg or butter remain.

In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and fine sea salt until evenly distributed. Measure flour by weight whenever possible; when using cups, fluff flour first, spoon it gently into cup, and level top without packing.

Too much flour is one of fastest routes to dry cookies, and nobody bought chocolate chips for that outcome!

Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and fold with a sturdy spatula just until several flour streaks remain. Add toasted pecans and about 1 cup of chocolate, saving remaining chocolate for tops, then continue folding only until flour disappears.

Dough should look soft, thick, and slightly glossy. If it feels warm or loose, that is expected after browning butter, so resist adding extra flour.

Cover bowl and chill dough for 45 minutes. Don’t skip this step, here’s why: chilling lets flour absorb moisture, firms butter, reduces excessive spreading, and gives brown-butter flavor time to settle into dough.

Dough should feel scoopable and hold a rounded mound after chilling; if your kitchen is especially warm and dough still slumps, refrigerate it for another 15 minutes.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop dough into 3-tablespoon portions, about 55 grams each, and roll each portion very lightly into a tall mound rather than a compact ball. A taller shape helps cookies remain thick in center.

Arrange six cookies on each tray with at least 3 inches between them, then press reserved chocolate pieces and a few pecan bits into tops so finished cookies look generous before anyone even takes a bite!

Bake one tray at a time on center rack for 11 to 13 minutes, rotating tray from front to back after about 8 minutes if your oven browns unevenly. Pull cookies out when edges look set and golden, surfaces appear lightly puffed, and centers still look soft and slightly underdone.

Do not wait until centers look completely baked because hot baking sheet keeps cooking them after they leave oven.

For extra accuracy, an instant-read thermometer inserted into a thick center should register roughly 175°F to 185°F (79°C to 85°C), although visual cues are usually enough.

As soon as tray comes out, use a round cookie cutter or wide glass to gently circle each warm cookie if you prefer tidy edges.

Add a small pinch of flaky salt while chocolate is still glossy, then let cookies rest on baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving them to a wire rack.

Warm cookies are delicate, so lifting one immediately may leave you holding half a cookie and reconsidering your patience. Admittedly, eating broken evidence is a respectable kitchen responsibility!

Serving Suggestions

• Serve these cookies slightly warm, about 15 to 20 minutes after baking, when chocolate remains soft but centers have enough structure to hold together. A glass of cold milk, hot coffee, cappuccino, or unsweetened black tea balances their buttery sweetness beautifully.
• For dessert, place one warm cookie in a shallow bowl and add a scoop of vanilla, butter pecan, or salted caramel ice cream. Melted chocolate mingles with ice cream while toasted pecans keep every spoonful pleasantly crunchy!
• You can also sandwich a small scoop of vanilla ice cream between two fully cooled cookies, wrap each sandwich, and freeze until firm for an easy make-ahead summer dessert.
• For a party platter, prepare smaller 1 1/2-tablespoon cookies and bake them for 8 to 10 minutes. Begin checking at 8 minutes, since smaller portions move quickly from chewy to crisp.

A tray of chocolate chip pecan cookies should smell like browned butter, toasted nuts, vanilla, and melted chocolate before it even reaches table, and this recipe delivers all four without making you perform pastry-school acrobatics!

Hungry for more feel-good meals? Explore these 21 Anti-Inflammatory Breakfast Recipes for a nourishing start and 10 Anti-Inflammatory Dinner Recipes for delicious evenings that make healthy eating easy!