Nutty White Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Cookies

If you love a thick, chewy cookie with loads of nuts, then these nutty chocolate chip cookies are for you! They’re based on my high altitude recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies, but this time I started by browning the butter. The browned butter adds such a rich, nutty depth of flavor that’s perfect with an assortment of nuts. Then I loaded the dough with a mix of chopped pecans, almonds, hazelnuts and macadamia nuts. Sweet white chocolate chips and butterscotch chips add more texture, and a lovely flavor with the crunchy, toasty nuts and brown butter.

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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.

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 and chocolate chips. There’s so much texture and flavor in these nutty cookies from all the nuts and chocolate chips. And it’s an adaptable cookie recipe, too, since you can use any variety of nuts and chips that you like.

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 + Nutmeg. Flavor.
• Chocolate Chips. I used both white chocolate chips and butterscotch chips, but you can use any you like, including milk, semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips.
• Nuts. A combination of nuts is delicious in these nutty chocolate chip cookies. I love using pecans, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and macadamia nuts.

Instructions

Make the brown butter.

• 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.

Whisk the butter with the sugar, vanilla and egg.

• Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar to the browned butter and whisk vigorously for 2 minutes. The mixture will seem grainy at this point, which is normal.
• Add the vanilla and egg, and whisk until smooth and ribbony.

Stir in the dry ingredients.

• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, corn starch, salt, baking soda and nutmeg. Use a wooden spoon to stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring just until no more flour remains. Let the dough sit at room temperature to cool for 10 minutes.
• Stir the chocolate chips and chopped nuts into the cooled dough. The dough will be thicker now than it was before cooling.

Shape and chill the dough.

• Divide the dough into 15 portions (each the size of an ice cream/cupcake scoop) for medium-sized cookies and 30 portions for small cookies. Shape into balls, and flatten into thick disks with the palm of your hand. Refrigerate the dough balls for 25 minutes – no more, no less.
• Note, if you don’t flatten the dough balls, they won’t spread enough while baking.

Bake the cookies.

• Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place the chilled dough 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake the cookies on the center oven rack for 9 minutes (for medium cookies) or for 6 1/2 – 7 minutes (for small cookies). The cookies should still be very pale, with the edges set and the centers still underdone.
• Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does browning the butter do?

The process of browning butter toasts the milk solids, giving the butter a rich, nutty depth of flavor. Some of the water will evaporate as the butter cooks, and will reduce the butter from 9 tablespoons to 8 tablespoons. If you want to skip the step of browning the butter, simply melt 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) butter.

What kind of chocolate chips should I use?

I used both white chocolate chips and butterscotch chips, which are very sweet, but so good with the nuts. Milk, semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips are great in these cookies, too.

Should I use salted or 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.

What kind of nuts are good in these cookies?

A combination of nuts is great in nutty chocolate chip cookies. Pecans, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and macadamia nuts are my favorites to use. I’ve used more than 1 cup, all the way up to almost 2 cups, but if you add that much, it’s harder to get the dough to stick together when shaping the dough balls, so no more than 1 cup is best.

How should I store the cookies?

Cool the cookies completely, then store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. If not eating them within a few days, you should wrap them well and freeze for 3-6 months.

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