Start off by making the butter pecans. In a skillet or small saucepan over medium low heat, melt the 2 tablespoon of butter. Once melted, add your chopped pecan and ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon. Cook for about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once they smell toasty, turn the heat off and pour the nuts into a bowl to cool.
Using the same saucepan (saving on dishes!), brown your butter. Over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Once melted, increase the heat to medium and let the butter begin to foam. Keep cooking and stirring with a spatula, until the butter begins to brown and gives off a nutty smell (2-3 minutes). Pour into a medium bowl and let cool completely.
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter
While the butter is cooling, whisk your dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour, salt, baking soda, cornstarch, nutmeg and cinnamon.
2 ½ cups all purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Add the sugars to the melted butter and whisk until smooth. Add your eggs and vanilla extract.
1 cup light brown sugar, ½ cup white sugar, 2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Fold in the dry ingredients, then fold in the pecans. There shouldn’t be any more dry spots in the batter but you don’t want to overmix it! Optional: if you want to, fold in toffee bits or fudge bits.
Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes, or up to 2 days. If you refrigerate for over 30 minutes, you will have to let the dough come to room temperature before scooping out the cookie dough, otherwise it will be too hard.
Preheat the oven to 350°Fahrenheit/175°Celsius and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop out 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball (optional: you can roll in white sugar if you want sparkly cookies!). Place on the baking sheet, making sure there is about 2 inches of space. Bake for 12-13 minutes.
Notes
My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. .Butter: I use European style butter, like Kerry Gold, in my recipes. This will make your finished bake much creamier and richer.Salt: If you don’t have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt.Sparkly Cookies: Roll the cookie dough balls in white sugar just before baking to get sparkly cookies!Toffee Bits: you can add a half cup of toffee bits or fudge pieces to the cookie dough if you like. Storage: keep the baked cookies in a tupperware for up to 1 week at room temperature. Freeze unbaked cookie dough balls for up to 2 months. When ready to bake, take them out of the freezer and bake at the same temperature as above but for an extra minute or two.