Brown Butter Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Cookies

Happy Tuesday!! I can’t believe this is the last week of November! Hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving and maybe Black Friday?. I went Black Friday shopping late Thursday night and I thought that maybe because of the heavy rain it was going to stop people to get out of their warm homes and go shopping, but guess what! It was super crowded and we didn’t find a spot to park, it was a disaster! We tried again Friday afternoon and we did a little shopping, but I think next year I’ll just sit on my pc and shop online.

Christmas is a big baking holiday at my house, specially cookies and breads. Here is the recipe for Brown Butter Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Cookies. No, you don’t buy “brown butter” at the supermarket (I was told this by a few people). Browning butter on a pan helps release a nutty aroma which works perfect with bourbon and nuts . Making brown butter is easy, just keep an eye on it while cooking because it can burn easily.

Let’s start with the recipe.

Ingredients:

Yield about 24 regular size cookies

1 cup unsalted butter

2 and 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed (you can use light brown sugar too)

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 tablespoons bourbon (you can add 2 tablespoons first and then taste if you want to add more)

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 and 1/2 cups chopped pecans. My favorite brand of nuts is Diamond Nuts.

10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1.- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, place the butter and cook for about 3-4 minutes. First, the butter will foam a bit, then subside. This is the moment when the butter will start to brown, so you have to watch carefully and stir constantly. Smell the butter, you’ll get a nutty aroma. Remove from the heat and pour the butter into a glass bowl and scrape all of those brown bits from the bottom . Let it cool at room temperature. This will take a while, I made my brown butter one night and left it over the counter overnight. I bake my cookies next morning. Butter cannot be watery or super soft.

2.- Preheat oven to 375 F. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper.

3.- In a large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine browned butter and both sugars, beat for about 3 minutes until fluffy. Add the vanilla and bourbon and mix until combined. Add in eggs, one by one, beating after each addition. Add the flour and mix in low speed. With a spatula, fold in the pecans and chocolate chips.

4.- Roll cookie dough into balls, 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie, and arrange 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. I sprinkled a couple more pecans on the top of each cookie so they have a nicer look!  Bake for 10-11 minutes or until browned on top and around the sides.

5.- Let the cookies cool and enjoy!!