My Favorite Pecan Pie Cookies
If you, like most Americans love a classic pecan pie around the holidays you will become obsessed with my pecan pie cookies. Each bite taste exactly like a slice of grandmas pecan pie. With hints of browned butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, molasses, crunchy pecans and homemade toffee bits this cookie is bound to become one of your favorite cookies too.
Equipment
- 1 Mixing bowl
- 1 Measuring Cup Set
- 1 Rubber Spatula
- 1-3 Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- 1 Cookie Scoop
- 1 Cookie Spatula
- 1 Cookie Cooling Rack
- 1 Medium Sauce Pan
- 1 Candy Thermometer
Ingredients
Homemade Toffee Bits
- ½ cup butter salted or unsalted
- 1 cup organic brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup butter salted or unsalted
- 1 ½ cups organic dark brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon pure molasses
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons water
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup bread flour
- 2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
- 1 cup chopped whole pecans
- ¾ cup toffee bits homemade or store bought
Instructions
Homemade Toffee Bits
- Begin to make the toffee by lining a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Then in a medium sauce pan over medium heat melt the butter in the pot.
- Next add in the brown sugar and salt and whisk vigorously for one minute until combined.
- Continue to cook the candy, stirring constantly until it looks like melted peanut butter and the thermometer reads 295-305 degrees Fahrenheit. This should take about 10 minutes.
- Immediately pour the hot caramel onto the cookie sheet with parchment paper and smooth it out as much as possible with the spatula.
- Let the toffee cool and harden, about 20 minutes. Then crush up the candy with a measuring cup or a mallet into tiny shards to use in the cookie dough.
Cookie Dough
- Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Next line two standard (13x18) cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Begin making the recipe by browning the butter.
- Add the butter to a medium saucepan over medium heat and melt the butter, stirring occasionally to avoid burning.
- Continue to melt the butter for about 7 minutes until the butter foams and golden brown bits form on the bottom of the pan.
- Remove the browned butter from the stove, pour it into a bowl and let it cool for 20 min.
- Now find a large mixing bowl and begin to make the cookie dough.
- Scrape the cooled brown butter into the bowl along with the brown sugar and mix them together until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg, two egg yolks, vanilla extract, molasses and 2 Tablespoons of water to the bowl.
- Mix until combined.
- Then in a smaller mixing bowl add all-purpose flour, bread flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon; mix the ingredients together with a fork.
- Lightly chop the pecans and toss them into the dry ingredients.
- Add 1/2 cup of toffee bits to the dry ingredients too.
- Now transfer the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and with a rubber spatula, fold the two together until the last bit of flour disappears.
- Using a large cookie scoop, form cookie dough balls and place no more than 5 cookies on a baking tray at a time.
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until the edges are lightly browned but the centers are still soft.
- Continue until all the cookies are baked.
- Cool the cookies and enjoy.