Chocolate chip & pecan nut cookies
The ultimate chocolate chip & pecan cookies. You can of course use any other nuts of your choosing in equal quantity.
Ingredients
- 210 g butter
- 125 g dark brown sugar
- 110 g granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 50 g egg (approx 1 medium egg)
- 20 g egg yolk (approx 1 medium yolk)
- 260 g plain flour
- 185 g dark chocolate chips
- 75 g pecans, chopped & toasted (or any other nuts of your choosing e.g. hazelnuts, brazil nuts, almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190C with the middle shelf in place.
- Prepare two baking trays (approx. 35 x 29 cm or similar) lined with parchment paper and set aside.
- Place the nuts on a baking tray and lightly toast in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Watch them carefully to avoid burning them. Set aside to fully cool.
- Now make the brown butter (if you don’t want to do brown butter, simply heat the butter gently until fully melted and then follow the recipe from step 4). Melt 150g of the butter in a small saucepan on a medium heat until fully melted. Turn up the heat between moderate to high heat. The butter will go through 3 phases: a. as it melts you will see the white milk solids appear;b. it will then start to sizzle and bubble (give the pan a little shake at frequent intervals here to prevent the solids sticking and burning on the bottom of the pan); c. the bubbling then stops and a foam forms on the top. This indicates it is done. This could take 2-3 minutes to reach this stage depending on the level of heat being applied.
- Take it off the heat and pour into a heat proof bowl. Add the remaining 60g of butter cut into small pieces and stir until fully melted.
- Add the sugars (brown& granulated), salt and vanilla extract and whisk with an electric hand beater until fully combined.
- Add the egg and yolk and whisk until the mixture is thick and creamy and any sugar lumps are dissolved. Set the timer and allow the mixture to stand for 3 minutes, then whisk again for 30 seconds. Repeat this process of whisking and resting 2more times (do yourself a little countdown list) when the mixture will be lighter in colour, thick, shiny and creamy.
- Add the flour, chocolate and nuts and fold in by hand with a spatula until fully combined and no evidence of flour remains. You should have a soft, but not wet, dough.
- For small to medium sized cookies take 25g of dough and roll into a ball then flatten slightly between the palms of your hands and place onto the prepared baking tray. Allow5 cm between each cookie. For large cookies, use 50g of dough.
- Bake for 10-12minutes (12-14 minutes for larger cookies) until slightly golden. Baking one tray at a time and turning the tray halfway through baking will help achieve an even bake.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking tray for 5-10 minutes before putting the cookies onto a cooling rack.
- They will keep in an airtight container for a week. They will also freeze.
Notes
Recipe inspired by Cook's Illustrated 'The Science Of Good Cooking'