Oh boy, brace yourself for these – bourbon pecan chocolate chip cookies. Such a glorious combination of a nutty crunch, sweet chocolate chips and a delicious whiskey kick, all wrapped up into one soft chewy cookie. These rustic bourbon cookies are a real treat.
I love pecans in cookies (and pretty much in everything) and these bourbon pecan chocolate chip cookies are no exception! The pecan pieces roast deliciously as the cookies bake and really get that glorious nutty aroma.
These bourbon pecan cookies would make a great homemade gift for friends and coworkers, or you can take them to an grown up picnic or party.
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✏️ Making a tasty and easy recipe
Something about bourbon and pecans combined in a sweet treat just gives me cowboy vibes. Maybe it's all those thoughts of a classic pecan pie with a whiskey twist. For me, this is the cookie version, and I love the rustic and homely feel of these cookies.
I originally made these cookies with pecan halves, but some of my cookies came out in weird shapes where a pecan had decided it wanted to life its like upright instead of smoothing out flat. Instead, I like to use roughly chopped pecans, big enough to still give you that chunky crunch without taking out your cookie shape. You can still use full pecan halves if you’re planning to make big cookies though.
These cookies would be so delicious having a scoop of ice cream sandwiched between them or maybe some smores!
🥘 Ingredients notes
Use room temperature ingredients to allow them to mix better. It’s never ideal when you’re trying to cream a block of butter as hard as a rock – what a workout!
Use your favourite brand of Irish whiskey, bourbon or scotch whisky for these cookies. I’m not a pro at what’s good and what isn’t, but the whiskey taste is quite prominent so you’re going to want to go with one you love.
I tend to use a tasty whiskey like Whyte & Mackay, Johnnie Walker or the well-loved Tennessee classic Jack Daniels.
🔪 Equipment notes
I like to use digital scales for weighing my ingredients as it's easier and more accurate than other scales. I'm a fan of these KitchenAid or Salter ones! You'll get better result weighing your ingredients rather than using cups.
Use measuring spoons for your teaspoon and tablespoon amounts where possible. Be sure to level off the heaped ingredients in your scoops before adding them to your mix.
🍱 Storage
Store your cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They should keep fresh for up to 4 days.
💭 Top tips for success
- To stop your cookies from spreading and becoming thin rather than thick and chewy, refrigerate the cookie dough before baking. I usually stick my cookie dough in the fridge for at least 30mins before baking.
- You can roll your cookie dough into balls and freeze them for a few months in an airtight container before you bake them! If doing this, I would allow your cookie dough balls to defrost in the fridge for a few hours before cooking.
- Sprinkling sea salt flakes over your cookie bars as soon as they come out of the oven is optional, but it will add an extra delicious taste a texture. You can also use other types of salt to sprinkle over the top.
- For a more polished finish to your boozy cookies, you can save a few chocolate chips / chunks and pecan pieces back from the cookie dough and press these lightly into the tops of cookies straight after they come out of the oven. This will give each cookie a few cute chunks sitting on top for a prettier cookie.
Troubleshooting help:
If you’ve got any specific questions on making these bourbon pecan chocolate chip cookies, please feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll try my best to help out!
Alternatively, you can get in touch via my Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest – I’d love to hear from you!
♻️ Alternatives and substitutions
One of my favourite things to do is sprinkle sea salt on your bourbon pecan cookies. When they’re fresh from the oven, sprinkle a generous helping of sea salt flakes over each cookie. This should be roughly a pinch or two of salt per cookie.
If you’re a huge nut fan, why not try adding other nuts into your mix. You want to keep the same total amount of nuts so you don’t overload your cookie. Replace some of your pecans with other tasty nuts, such as brazil nuts, macadamia nuts or walnuts.
These cookies would also be delicious with dark chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate chips, especially if you’re topping them with sea salt.
If you like your cookies practically bourbon soaked, you can increase your bourbon by an extra tablespoon and add another tablespoon of flour to maintain consistency.
I love making these whisky cookies with either chocolate chips or chunks, depending on your personal preference or what you’ve got available. Personally, I always rave about Callebaut chocolate - it just tastes SO good!
Alcohol-free option:
If you’re not drinking alcohol, you can use an alcohol-free bourbon / whiskey flavouring instead. These pecan and whiskey chocolate chip cookies would still be just as delicious. Swap the whiskey in the recipe for 1 teaspoon of whiskey flavouring extract or essence.
Gluten-free option:
To make these cookies gluten-free, swap the plain / all-purpose flour for a gluten-free plain flour blend of the same quantity.
I usually recommend a pre-mixed blend such as King Arthur's measure for measure flour or Freee from Doves Farm.
🧁 Other goodies
So, I definitely recommend that you whip up a batch of these soft and chewy bourbon pecan chocolate chip cookies! But as an avid home baker, I’m sure you’re asking yourself “what next?”.
If you’re a fan of cookies, check out my white chocolate pecan cookies or my matcha white chocolate cookies! White chocolate chips in cookies are just heavenly.
If you love a boozy bake, and bourbon whiskey in particular, definitely check out my gluten-free whiskey almond cookie bars with sea salt – they’re divine! For more boozy treats, take a look at my Bailey’s Irish cream chocolate cheesecake or one of my all-time favourites – gluten-free tequila rose skull cake.
Looking forward to some new recipes? Check out my Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest pages for a few sneak peeks and some sweet inspiration!
Or if you’d like to hear about our latest recipes, why not subscribe to our newsletter?
📋 Recipe
Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Ingredients
- ½ cups (125 g) butter softened at room temperature
- ½ cups (100 g) light brown soft sugar
- ⅔ cups (125 g) caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups (235 g) plain flour or self-raising flour and exclude the baking powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt plus extra for topping
- 2 tablespoon of your favourite bourbon / whiskey / scotch
- ½ cups (120 g) milk chocolate chips or chunks
- 1 cups (100 g) pecans roughly chopped
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven: 195°C / 175°C (fan) / Gas Mark 5½ / 390°F
- Cream together the butter and sugars until smooth.
- Beat in the egg, vanilla and bourbon until fully combined.
- Sieve in the flour and baking powder, then add the salt and stir until just combined.
- Add in the chocolate chunks and pecans, stirring through until spread throughout.
- Roll the dough into balls slightly larger than a golf ball, and space evenly across baking trays lined with greaseproof paper. Put these into the freezer for 15mins or the fridge for 30mins.
- Bake the cookie dough balls in the oven for 8-10mins until lightly golden. Sprinkle with sea salt as soon as they’re done and allow them to cool on a wire rack or eat them warm and gooey.
Notes
- Not wanting to eat all 12 at once? Freeze the cookie dough as cookie-ready balls and keep up to 3 months in the freezer. No need to defrost before cooking, unless you want slightly thinner cookies, then defrost for a few hours before baking.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate based on an online nutritional calculator, actual values may vary.
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