Chewy Brown Butter Pretzel Pecan Cookies. (2024)

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The best ever Chewy Brown Butter Pretzel Pecan Cookies. Homemade brown sugar cookies, made with browned butter, sweet maple, and a secret ingredient that really makes these cookies better than the rest. There are vanilla-toasted pecans, salted pretzels, and plenty of sweet chocolate chunks that melt in your mouth. There’s really nothing not to love! Perfect for holiday baking, gifting, and of course, snacking between meals.

I’ve created more cookie recipes than I care to really sit down and count, but these are special. They’re definitely in my personal top 5 for most delicious, I just love these. They remind me so much of the holidays, but most importantly they’re just delicious!

Salty, sweet, swirled with the wonderful flavors of brown sugar and vanilla, and full of chocolate. Oh, and they’ve got lightly crisped edges and chewy centers.

These really might just be the perfect holiday cookie.

Let me back up a little here and explain. Every single November without fail, I share at least one new cookie recipe with the idea of snacking on the cookies throughout Thanksgiving Day.

My mom grew up enjoying what she called, Aunt Debbie’s Turkey Cookies, on Thanksgiving. She’d even get to enjoy a few before dinner. And from all the stories I’ve heard about these cookies, she really loved them!

I’ve never been given that recipe, so instead, I made my own variation. I love butter pecans, chocolate, and vanilla paired together. So this year, my heart was set on a butter pecan cookie.

I wanted to make them special – really delicious to the point of calling them
“addicting”.

So I added pretzels, and oh my goodness, that was the key.

Details

I start out by toasting the nuts with the pretzels. I love tossing them with maple, vanilla, cinnamon, and sea salt. They turn out so delicious. I then give the nuts and pretzels a nice chop.

While those are toasting, brown the butter. When the butter has browned, let it chill a bit before mixing up the dough. The rest goes really quickly.

To make the cookies

Take the brown butter and beat it together with dark brown sugar, maple syrup, apple butter (that’s the secret ingredient you must trust me on), an egg, and some vanilla. Mix, mix, mix, then stir in the dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, and salt.

For the apple butter, I use my homemade maple apple butter. This is one of my favorite things to keep in the fridge. You can use my recipe or pick some up at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Thrive Market, or via Amazon. I will say that thehomemade recipeworks a little better for the cookies, but either is great!Just make sure your apple butter is spiced for best flavor.

Mix in the pecans, the pretzels, and plenty of chocolate chunks. Then, to make the cookies really sparkle, roll the dough balls through coarse sugar.

Bake the cookies, and smell the wonderful scents as they bake. Trust me, after the first bite you’ll be making batch after batch. These cookies are delectable and just perfectly set on the edges. Soft and gooey in the center with just the right amount of chew and salty pretzel CRUNCH.

It’s not even December yet and I feel like these are the perfect holiday cookie. I’m getting so excited for this year’s cookie box!

Looking for holiday cookie recipes? Here are a few ideas:

Brown Sugar Maple Cookie Pie

Soft Pumpkin Sugar Cookies with Cinnamon Brown Butter Frosting

Chocolate Bourbon Chai Latte Cupcakes with Butter Pecan Frosting

Glazed Brown Sugar Maple Cookies

Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

▢ 1 cup raw pecans
▢ 1 cup salted pretzel twists
▢ 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
▢ 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
▢ 3/4 cup dark or light brown sugar
▢ 2 tablespoons, plus 1/4 cup maple syrup
▢ 1/4 cup apple butter (see notes for subs)
▢ 1 egg, at room temperature
▢ 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
▢ 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
▢ 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
▢ 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks
▢ 1/3 cup coarse sugar

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss the pecans and pretzels with 2 tablespoons maple syrup, 2 teaspoons vanilla, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Bake 8-10 minutes, until toasted. Once cool, roughly chop.
2. Add the butter to a small saucepan set over medium heat, cooking until the butter begins to brown, 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Stick in the freezer to chill, 10-15 minutes, but no longer.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. In a bowl, beat together the browned butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, apple butter, egg, and vanilla until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Fold in the chocolate chips, pecans, and half of the pretzels.
5. Roll the dough into tablespoon size balls, then roll through the course sugar and place 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Insert your desired amount of pretzels to each cookie.
6. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and tap the baking sheet gently on the counter to flatten. Return to the oven and bake another 2-3 minutes or until the cookies are just beginning to set on the edges, but still doughy in the center. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. They will continue to cook slightly as they sit. Eat warm (highly recommend), or let cool and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Notes

Apple Butter Replacement: use an equal amount of apple sauce or molasses. In a pinch, use additional maple.

If you’re Cookie Dough is Dry: reduce the flour to 2 1/4 cups and add 1-2 tablespoons of additional maple syrup

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