Browned Butter Pecan Sandies

Course Cookies, Dessert

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword browned-butter-pecan-sandies, pecan-cookies, shortbread-recipes

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Dough chilling time 8

Total Time 8 35

Servings cookies

Calories 296kcal

Author Melissa Sperka

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread the chopped pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast for 6-8 minutes then set aside to cool completely.
On the stove top in a medium saucepan, simmer the butter over medium-heat for 6-8 minutes. Cook just until light amber in color. Pour butter into a large mixing bowl and chill for 1 hour, until the butter begins to solidify.
Remove bowl from the fridge. Using a hand mixer beat the browned butter on medium-speed until creamy. Add the powdered sugar and brown sugar gradually with the vanilla extract beating until fully to combined.
To the wet ingredients add the flour 1 cup at a time beating just until combined. The dough will be stiff.
By hand stir in the toasted chopped pecans. Divide cookie dough in half and roll into 2 logs. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and chill for several hours or overnight, until firm.
Bake the Cookies - Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Slice the logs into 10 equal slices. As the dough softens gently press any crumbles together and shape into rounds, if needed. Place at least 1-inch apart on the sheet pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

Chill the Brown Butter - After browning the butter on the stovetop, it's necessary to allow it to cool. After it cools and solidifies, use a hand mixer to whip it into a creamy luscious texture that's light beige in color.
Nuts - You could adapt this brown butter pecan cookies recipe using walnuts instead.
Butter - You can use unsalted butter in this recipe. When doing so, whisk 1/2 teaspoon of salt into the flour mixture.
Eggs - It's not an omission, these cookies are shortbread-like and there's no eggs in the dough.
Shape the Dough - Once the dough is made, use your hands to bring it together then immediately shape the dough into logs. It will come together as the warmth from your hands allows it to be shaped.
Plastic Wrap - Wrap the cookie dough logs in plastic wrap or wax paper and twist the ends to seal. You can pop it into a container or a Ziploc bag, to keep it airtight to prevent it from drying out. Chill thoroughly to firm.
Reshape the Dough as Needed - Use a sharp knife to cut the chilled dough into rounds. If it crumbles a bit, don't panic. Slice while cold and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Press any dough together.