Thick and chewy, high altitude nutty brown butter cookies, loaded with crunchy walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts and macadamia nuts.
You might also love these recipes for brown butter chocolate chip cookies, brown butter oatmeal raisin cookies, and butter pecan cookies.
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Why You’ll Love These Cookies
Thick and chewy. I just love a thick, chewy hearty cookie, and these are exactly that. If you like a chocolate chip cookie without the chocolate (a chocolate chipless cookie, if you will), these nutty cookies are a wonderful alternative.
Brown butter. The richness and flavor that brown butter adds to baked goods is just incredible.
Easy to make. You don’t even need a mixer to make the dough, and you can stir it up completely by hand.
Loaded with nuts. There’s so much texture and flavor in these nutty cookies from all the different types of nuts. And it’s an adaptable cookie recipe, too, since you can use any variety of nuts (as well as chocolate chips) that you like.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter. Adds fat to the cookies to keep them moist. Browning the butter gives it a rich, nutty flavor that’s so good with the assorted nuts.
- Granulated Sugar + Dark Brown Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture.
- Egg. Binds the dough together and adds structure.
- All-Purpose Flour. Gives the cookies strength and structure.
- Corn Starch. Tenderizes the dough for a chewy texture.
- Coarse Kosher Salt. Balances the sweetness and enhances the flavor of the nuts.
- Baking Soda. Leavens the cookies so they puff up a little.
- Vanilla Extract + Cardamom. Flavor.
- Nuts. A combination of nuts is delicious in these nutty chocolate chip cookies. I love using pecans, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and macadamia nuts.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter for about 4-5 minutes, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter stops spattering, a layer of foam appears on top of the butter, and nutty brown solids have formed at the bottom of the pan. The butter should be very fragrant. Pour the browned butter, including the browned bits, into a bowl.
- Let the butter cool for two minutes, then add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk, and whisk vigorously for two minutes until smooth and lightened in color.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, corn starch, salt, baking soda and cardamom. Add the flour mixture and the chopped nuts to the liquid ingredients, and stir into a thick dough.
- Divide the dough into 13 portions (each the size of an ice cream/cupcake scoop). Flatten the dough balls into thick disks with the palm of your hand.
- Space the cookies three inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake the cookies on the center oven rack for about 10-11 minutes, until the edges are set, but the centers are still slightly underdone.
- (I have a 15×20 baking sheet which can accommodate all 13 cookies at a time. If your baking sheet is the more standard size of 13×18 inches, then you’ll need to bake the cookies in two batches so they have enough room to spread.)
- For perfectly round cookies, use a round cookie cutter with a circumference that’s larger than the baked cookies, and “scoot” it around the hot cookies, immediately after taking them out of the oven. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
I used unsalted nuts, but if you use salted nuts, you should decrease the salt in the recipe from 1 teaspoon to 3/4 teaspoon.
Cool cookies completely, then store in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or wrap well and freeze for 3-6 months.
You can add 1/2 cup of any type of chocolate chips you like – white, dark, semi-sweet, or butterscotch.
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High Altitude Nutty Brown Butter Cookies
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Large Cookie Scoop with Release Lever (3 tbsp capacity)
Ingredients
- 9 tbsp unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk (save the extra white for another use)
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp corn starch
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- 1 ½ cups chopped assorted nuts (unsalted)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter for about 4-5 minutes, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter stops spattering, a layer of foam appears on top of the butter, and nutty brown solids have formed at the bottom of the pan. The butter should be very fragrant. Pour the browned butter, including the browned bits, into a bowl.
- Let the butter cool for two minutes, then add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk, and whisk vigorously for two minutes until smooth and lightened in color.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, corn starch, salt, baking soda and cardamom. Add the flour mixture and the chopped nuts to the liquid ingredients, and stir into a thick dough.
- Divide the dough into 13 portions (each the size of an ice cream/cupcake scoop). Flatten the dough balls into thick disks with the palm of your hand.
- Space the cookies three inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake the cookies on the center oven rack for about 10-11 minutes, until the edges are set, but the centers are still slightly underdone.(I have a 15×20 baking sheet which can accommodate all 13 cookies at a time. If your baking sheet is the more standard size of 13×18 inches, then you'll need to bake the cookies in two batches so they have enough room to spread.)
- For perfectly round cookies, use a round cookie cutter with a circumference that's larger than the baked cookies, and "scoot" it around the hot cookies, immediately after taking them out of the oven. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Salted vs Unsalted Nuts. I used unsalted nuts, but if you use salted nuts, you should decrease the salt in the recipe from 1 teaspoon to 3/4 teaspoon.
- Types of Nuts to Use. A combination of nuts is great in these cookies. Pecans, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and macadamia nuts are my favorites to use.
- Storage. Cool cookies completely, then store in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or wrap well and freeze for 3-6 months.
- Chocolate Chips. You can add 1/2 cup of any type of chocolate chips you like – white, dark, semi-sweet, or butterscotch.
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Hello! Would this recipe still work if I am not baking at high altitude?
Please see my FAQs: https://curlygirlkitchen.com/baking-faqs/