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I am so EXCITED about these cookies.
These cookies are simple – like really simple, but they’re also one of my favorites.
I adore this combo of brown butter, vanilla, pecans and um chocolate…lots of chocolate. 🙂
To me, these are the flavors of Thanksgiving – warm, cozy and super sweet. Nothing better, right?!?! I mean, yeah there’s turkey and gravy and all the sides, but what about the snacks, the nibbles and the sweets? Ok, there is usually pie for dessert, but I feel like you need something slightly sweet to nibble on in between the appetizers, the turkey and the pies.
What? Hey, I kind of have rather BIG expectations of Thanksgiving!
Also, you should know that it’s about that time of year when I start breaking out my “Eloise” talk. You see, Eloise at Christmastime will forever be one of my favorite holiday movies and I like to channel my inner Eloise this time of year.
Don’t judge. I am just a holiday freak.
Back when my family lived in Ohio, every Thanksgiving was spent at my Aunt Deb’s house in Pennsylvania. My Aunt Debbie has cooked Thanksgiving dinner for as long as I can remember. And for as long as I can remember, she has made turkey cookies every Thanksgiving. These said turkey cookies happen to be insanely delicious…or so I am told. Honestly, I remember what they look like, but I don’t really recall ever eating them…dang! Anyway, my mom has said they used to be her favorite part of the meal.
These cookies are famous though, like it’s not just my mom who raves about them, everyone in the family talks about the Turkey Cookies. Now here’s the thing. My Aunt is keeping her recipe top-secret. I swear, she may take it to the grave with her.
SO.
I created my own little Thanksgiving butter cookie. Granted these are nowhere near as cute as Turkey Cookies (cause a cookie cut, shaped and decorated like a Turkey will always win big on Thanksgiving…duh), but I am hoping they are equally delicious. I can’t say more delicious cause like I said, I don’t really remember the Turkey Cookies. Mom (who has been a brutally honest and brutally tough critic these days) says these cookies are just as good, so I will take it.
And ok, I am pretty sure my cookies are a million and one times easier than my aunts.
I actually think it’s pretty cool my aunt is keeping the recipe secret…but really, maybe she’ll tell me someday? Maybe?!? Well, I have hope anyway.
Here’s the deal, this is a ONE bowl, no fuss cookie. The hardest part is allowing the dough to chill out in the fridge (or the freezer if you are short on time). It requires a good amount of butter (and brown butter…aka the best kind of butter), some sugar, flour, salt, a heavy dose of vanilla, pecans and a generous dip in some melted chocolate. <–YES.
These Slice N Bake Vanilla Brown Butter Pecan Cookies literally take 10-15 minutes to fully prep and then it’s just chill, slice, bake, pour a cold glass of milk, cookies go for a dip in some chocolate… EAT.
Simple as that.
Perfect for an afternoon snack, to munch on throughout Thanksgiving Day, or even to gift for the holidays…if you can resist eating them all yourself, which I will not lie is a HARD task to do. Just telling it like it is.
OH, OH. I also have to give a shout out to all my candle lovers out there that these cookies, a super comfy couch or better yet, a wood burning fire, a glass of milk, a good movie/tv show/book/magazine (in my world, a Christmas Movie) and a Gingerbread Spice OR Pumpkin Pie candle is possibly one of the bestest ways in the world to end your night. Again, just sayin.
Slice 'N' Bake Vanilla Brown Butter Pecan Cookies...Dipped in Chocolate.
Servings: 30 Cookies
Calories Per Serving: 166 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla OR 1 vanilla bean seeds scraped out
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1-2 tablespoons water if your dough seems dry
- 3/4 cup raw pecans very finely chopped
- 1 egg beaten (the is the egg wash)
- 1 cup coarse turbinado sugar
- 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- Add the butter to a medium saucepan with high sides. Allow the butter to brown lightly until it smells toasted, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Butter will foam and then settle back down. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Stir in the vanilla or vanilla bean seeds, granulated sugar, brown sugar and salt. Add two cups flour and stir until fully combined. If the dough is still to moist to form a ball and hold, then add the remaining flour 1/4 cup at a time. Add 1-2 tablespoons water if these needs to be moistened a bit.
- Stir in the pecans.
- Place the dough on a large piece of wax paper or plastic wrap. Using your hands, shape it into a log about 12 inches long and about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap the dough up in the wax paper and place the fridge for 3 hours or overnight. If you have an empty cardboard paper towel ring laying round, cut this lengthwise down the center and then fit your dough roll inside to help the dough set in a round shape.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Unwrap the dough and place it on a cutting board. Brush dough with egg wash, and roll in course sanding sugar. Using a really sharp knife, cut the log into 1/2 inch slices. It is important to cut in a quick forward motion. Do not move the knife back and forth. Use force when cutting. If you cut too slow, the dough will crack. Carefully Arrange the slices 1 inch apart on baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 10-14 minutes, their edges will be golden brown. Let cool 10 minutes on the baking sheet and then VERY carefully transfer to a cooling rack. These cookies are very fragile, so be gentle with them.
- Melt the chocolate over a double broiler or in the microwave on full power, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Drizzle the chocolate over each cookie OR dip each cookie in the chocolate and if desired sprinkle with flaky sea salt. To harden the chocolate, place the tray of cookies in the fridge for 5 minutes. Store cookies in an airtight container for up 4 days at room temperature.
I’ll have some chocolate with my cookies, please… Don’t mind if I do.
Oh, my goodness! We made these at a group bake – our 3rd annual Christmas cookie bake – and we all decided to omit the chocolate because the cookies by themselves were absolutely deee-licious/scrumptious! Thanks for a great recipe – with or without chocolate! Yum…
That is so great! Thank you Joan!
I fell into the category of disaster for these cookies. Not a one held together or is sturdy enough to dunk. I’m really bummed, as I thought they would be such a hit at our party. The cookie taste is heavenly, and I didn’t even try to dunk in the chocolate. I will gather the crumbs and freeze them to serve as an ice cream topping, which will be delicious. Please let us know if you rework the recipe at all or can add more specifics about timing, etc. that will help us get the results you did. Thanks!
Hi Kathy, I am so sorry for the trouble with these cookies. They can be a bit tricky when cutting. Here are a few tips.
Using a really sharp knife, cut the log into 1/2 inch slices. It is important to cut in a quick forward motion. Do not move the knife back and forth. Use force when cutting. If you cut too slow, the dough will crack. Carefully Arrange the slices 1 inch apart on baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 10-14 minutes, their edges will be golden brown. Let cool 10 minutes on the baking sheet and then VERY carefully transfer to a cooling rack. These cookies are very fragile, so be gentle with them.
I hope this helps!
Hello! Is the brown butter supposed to be liquid when you add the sugar or is it supposed to firm up slightly with some liquid brown butter present?
Hi! It’s should be liquid, but if it firms up, that will be fine too. Hope you love the cookies!
Quick question- Instead of turbinado sugar, could you use coconut sugar?
Hi! Unfortunately, I do not think that will work well, but I have not tried it. You can amit the sugar rolling if needed. Let me know if you have questions. Thanks!
These are some of the best cookies I’ve ever had. I used walnuts instead of pecans.
Really happy they’re one of your favs!! Thanks so much Mariah!
These look great! What if I wanted to use cookie cutters (I have a couple leaf ones)? Could I roll or pat the dough out to 1/2 inch and then chill?
Hey Sophia! If you’d like to roll these into sugar cookies, just use a little flour to roll the dough out and then chill the cut cookie in the fridge for 30 minutes prior to baking. I think leaf shapes will be so cute! Let me know if you have any other questions. Thank you so much! 🙂
My husband loves any shortbread kinda cookies, so we have been oogling these for few weeks. Made the dough and left it in the fridge for about a week. Had the same issue with cutting the cold dough as others have posted , with and without serrations on the knife. We didn’t have too many crumbles as much as just cracked in the middle. Baked them anyway and then drowned them in chocolate! All is good when there is proper amount of chocolate!
HI!!
So sorry they cracked in the middle. I can’t figure this issue out since I have yet to experience it. So glad you still enjoyed them, THANK YOU! Happy Holidays 🙂
Hi Tieghan,
I’m sorry if this seems stalker-ish but I just keep coming back to this post to admire your photography and how good these look!
I haven’t had the chance to bake them yet but will do so closer to Christmas.
I’m really looking forward to them.
Thanks!
This was my first time making slice and bake cookies. I attempted to make 3 times, changing knives and size of chopped pecans, but each time the dough crumbled when I tried to cut it. I also adjusted amount of flour. You are adding salt, right? it is in the ingred list but not in actual recipe. I did bake some crumbled pieces and they were delicious, but I hate to try again and have the same thing happen. 🙁
Hey Deb, I am so sorry for the trouble. The only thing I can think is that the dough is not cold enough. Try keeping it in the fridge for w a few hours or even overnight. I am hoping that will do the trick. SO SORRY for the trouble. Fixing the salt now.
These are baking in my oven right now!!
YEAH! Hope you love them!!
These were a serious hit at Thanksgiving!! Thank you so much for giving a seasoned baker a new fabulous recipe!
THANK YOU!! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! 🙂
I made these tonight for Thanksgiving! I froze my dough for the specified time and used a non-serrated knife and had no issues with crumbling! Maybe it has something to do with the temperature of the butter when you add it to the sugar? I dipped them in good quality chocolate and sprinkled with fleur de sel. I can’t wait to taste them tomorrow! The dough was delicious! My sister keeps asking if I need a taste tester 😉 thanks for another great recipe!
So happy they turned out great for you! Happy Thanksgiving!!
I made these last night and they are SO TASTY!!! I love the flavor combo! I did however have the same problem some others were having with the dough falling apart. I am thinking it was the pecans not being chopped small enough. I will for sure try this recipe again and chop the pecans smaller!
Oh man! The dough is just fragile, but yeah, the pecans need to be small. Happy they tasted awesome! 🙂
Have a great Thanksgiving!!
I baked these today and had the same issue as a few others where the cookie dough crumbled as I tried to cut it. My dough wasn’t dry and the slices weren’t too thin so I’m wondering if it is the freezing phase? The cookies are delicious though so next time I’ll be more patient and chill the dough in the fridge instead. Just thought I’d share.
Leigh
Hmm, that is so odd, I do not think it is the freezing as I use this method all the time. The cookies are VERY fragile. Happy they taste great!
I tried these last night and they remind me of the Austrian /German “Vanillekipferl” -so good, so fragile – and getting better each day when stored cool in a container with a tightly fitting lid.
My dough was far from dry, but when I tried to cut slices with a serrated knife, it all crumbled. So I cut them with a Japanese Nakiri knife: it has a large blade and is used to slice vegetables. This worked like a dream!
So maybe it only depends on the knife you’re using….
Thanks, Tieghan, for the recipe ( and several others I have tried so far)
Thanks Monika!! Thrilled you love these cookies and thank you so much for the tip about the knife! 🙂
Have a great weekend!!