Brown Butter Maple Pecan Cookies

melt in your mouth buttery pecan cookies dipped in a delicious maple glaze – sandy and perfect!

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The perfect little cookie for treat bags, cookie boxes, or to fill up your cookie jar (you have one, right?). This is truly my favorite kind of cookie, because it reminds me of an elevated pecan sandy! Trust me, take the extra step to brown the butter and toast the pecan makes ALL the difference. It gives these cookies plenty of caramel, nutty notes of flavor that are irresistible! 

These brown butter maple pecan cookies are super simple to make, and are fun baking project to do with kids as well. My own kids think that they “don’t like nuts” in their cookies, but guess what? They LOVE these buttery pecan shortbread cookies. Can you guess the reason why? The real maple extract in the glaze at the end takes these cute little cookies over the top!

Want more delicious Cookie recipes? Who doesn’t?!

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Toffee

Perfect Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

Soft Stamped Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients

• grass fed butter – and plenty of it! The butter is the main character in this maple pecan cookie story, so go with the high quality grass fed butter – my go-to brand is of course Kerrygold Irish butter. The higher butterfat content in the butter makes my bakes rich and super flavorful.
• powdered sugar – for this recipe we’re using powdered sugar to give the cookies that melt-in-your-mouth experience.
• pecans –  light toast your pecan in a 350 degree oven for about 10-12 minutes. This little step enhances and elevates the flavor of the pecans so much. Chop them really finely so they just melt into the cookie dough.
• unbleached all purpose flour – in all of my bakes, I like to use King Arthur Baking Company’s flour. I like what the company stands for, it is 100% employee owned, and the high quality flour always gives me consistent, professional results, 10/10.
• pure maple extract – this is the only ingredient you might not already have in your pantry…but you should! HERE is link to my favorite all natural pure maple extract.
• kosher salt – kosher salt is my go to in both baking and cooking. I like Morton’s Kosher salt. If you’re using Diamond Crystal, add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the recipe. 

HOW TO BROWN BUTTER

Browning butter may seem intimidating but it’s very simple, and worth every extra minute of effort in the final product. You’re basically cooking the butter of medium heat for about 6-8 minutes.

First, it will bubble up, then it will start look foamy on top, and then you’ll see the browned milk solids poking through the middle. That’s when you know you’re done! Hot tip: don’t walk away from the stove, and don’t try to multitask. You don’t want to get distracted and burn your precious butter. Stay close by, and whisk the butter very regularly for about 6 minutes.

Then, pour the browned butter out of the pan, into a heatproof bowl, to stop the cooking. Brown butter instantly makes EVERYTHING taste richer, with real depth of flavor but don’t take my word for it, try it for yourself!

Allow the brown butter to thoroughly cool before mixing up your cookie dough. A lot of times, I like to brown the butter the night before I bake the cookies to let it cool completely. 

How to make Brown Butter Maple Pecan Cookies

1. Place the butter in a medium skillet or saucepan. Turn the heat to medium low, and cook the butter, stirring often until it is completely melted. It will begin to bubble, and turn golden brown and smell nutty and caramelized. This should take about 5 minutes. Pour the browned butter into a heatproof bowl, set aside and allow to cool completely.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cool butter, powdered sugar, and the salt. Beat with the paddle attachment until thoroughly combined. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
3. Add the unbleached flour and ¾ of a cup of the toasted chopped pecans to the bowl. Mix on low speed until combined and the dough just comes together (Reserve the remaining ¼ cup of pecans for the top).
4. Pour the dough out onto your work surface. With lightly floured hands, bring the dough together into a ball. Wrap the dough tightly into a large piece of plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
6. Make the maple glaze: In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, maple syrup, water, maple extract, and kosher salt. Whisk well to combine, until the glaze is smooth, and there are no lumps of powdered sugar.
7. Flour your work surface, and begin rolling the dough out into a large circle, until it is ⅓” thick. Use a 2” cookie cutter to stamp out as many cookies as possible. Re-roll the scraps, and stamp out more cookies.
8. Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the baking sheet back into the fridge for 10 minutes to let the cookies firm up. This will ensure that the cookies hold their shape when baked.
9. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, until the edges are just slightly golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool. 
10. Dip half of the cookies into the glaze, and sprinkle the remaining chopped pecans on top of the cookies. Allow the glaze to set for about 30 minutes, then serve.

Baking Tools I Use and Love

Here are just a few tools that I can’t live without in the kitchen, and I’ve linked them all for you here!

Don’t have a set scalloped edge cookie cutters? Maybe it’s time! Here are my favorites (linked).

If you make these delicious Brown Butter Maple Pecan Cookies please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.

And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3

Enough of the chitchat, here are my adorable Brown Butter Maple Pecan Cookies! Be sure to save this recipe and Pin It to your Cookie boards on Pinterest!

Happy Baking xo LeAnne

The Recipe

Print

Brown Butter Maple Pecan Cookies

delicious buttery pecan shortbread cookies dipped in a rich maple glaze

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 20 minutes

Servings 20 cookies

Author LeAnne Yaakubov

Ingredients

For the cookies:

• 16 tablespoons Kerrygold Unsalted Butter
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup pecans toasted then finely chopped, divided

For the maple glaze:

• 2 ¼ cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• ½ teaspoon maple extract
• 1-2 tablespoons water
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

1. Place the butter in a medium skillet or saucepan. Turn the heat to medium low, and cook the butter, stirring often until it is completely melted. It will begin to bubble, and turn golden brown and smell nutty and caramelized. This should take about 5 minutes. Pour the browned butter into a heatproof bowl, set aside and allow to cool completely.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cool butter, powdered sugar, and the salt. Beat with the paddle attachment until thoroughly combined. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
3. Add the unbleached flour and ¾ of a cup of the toasted chopped pecans to the bowl. Mix on low speed until combined and the dough just comes together (Reserve the remaining ¼ cup of pecans for the top).
4. Pour the dough out onto your work surface. With lightly floured hands, bring the dough together into a ball. Wrap the dough tightly into a large piece of plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Make the maple glaze: In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, maple syrup, water, maple extract, and kosher salt. Whisk well to combine, until the glaze is smooth, and there are no lumps of powdered sugar.
7. Flour your work surface, and begin rolling the dough out into a large circle, until it is ⅓” thick. Use a 2” cookie cutter to stamp out as many cookies as possible. Re-roll the scraps, and stamp out more cookies.
8. Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the baking sheet back into the fridge for 10 minutes to let the cookies firm up. This will ensure that the cookies hold their shape when baked.
9. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, until the edges are just slightly golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool.
10. Dip half of the cookies into the glaze, and sprinkle the remaining chopped pecans on top of the cookies. Allow the glaze to set for about 30 minutes, then serve.

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