Messin’ with Perfection Chocolate Chunk Pecan Cookies
Yeah, good luck eating just one of these. Just the right mixture of butter and brown sugar, along with a good vanilla, then a blend of milk chocolate and dark chocolate chunks and crunchy pecans. Bliss! A classic for Christmas, or any day of the year.
AND, I tested these for you guys. Repeatedly. Wasn’t that good of me? I wanted to make sure they had the flexibility I was after, so I could make them ahead, then bake them whenever I want. Yeah….. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. You don’t need a microwave, although you could use one. You just wouldn’t get that brown crunchy edge to go along with that chewy center.
So, they say that the best way to make cookies now is to make the dough and then refrigerate it overnight. So I did. It does add something. The texture gets better. The longer it’s in the fridge, the more the flavor deepens. But it also adds something even if you only refrigerate for a couple of hours. Either way, it is good. Anyway, so I made the cookie dough and refrigerated it for a few hours, then baked a cookie sheet full. Damn good. Then I put the dough in the fridge for the night and baked some the next day. Damn better. Then I made some into gobs just right for the cookie sheet and froze them. After a few days, I baked them right from frozen aaaand the flavor is phenomenal. They don’t flatten as much, but if you thaw them or flatten them a bit, they’re perfectly normal.
I took some of the un-frozen cookie dough to the apartment with me and baked a few at a time. Some of that dough got baked the next week. Those cookies were SOOO good. There is such an added depth of flavor when the dough sits. I wouldn’t keep it in the fridge more than about 10-12 days. But I had fresh.cookies.every.day. Not the best idea to keep doing that, but hey – I would do it again for you guys. I care THAT much.
So… throw the dough together, make it into balls and freeze it. Obviously, the more air-tight, the longer they will stay good. Keep some in the fridge. Go ahead. I dare you.
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2½ sticks butter, softened
- 1½ cups packed dark brown sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I like Mexican vanilla the best)
- 2½ - 3 cups milk and semisweet/dark chocolate chunks
- Beat the butter and sugars in a bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed for about 1 - 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs and the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Beat until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chunks by hand. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the dough and refrigerate at least 1 hour or preferably overnight. At this point you can scoop into balls and freeze them for later, store the dough in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 10 days, or....
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper if you have it. If not, just use an ungreased cookie sheet. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake until the cookies are golden around the edges but still soft in the middle, about 12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool a few minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.