Sooooo now that Halloween is over, we can get on to cookie season, right!? I thinks so! I'm not the kind of person who puts up my Christmas lights on November 1st (although tbh I have no problem with that), but I am totally the kind of person who thinks eating cookies all winter is 100% acceptable. So here we go!
These cookies are very similar to my brown butter snickerdoodles — I based the recipe off of that one, but added cinnamon and pecans, put them in bar form, and didn't roll them in extra sugar/cinnamon. They also remind me a bit of soft toffee cookies — which are basically SUPER heavy on the cinnamon, and have pecans on top. Let's call them a baby between the two recipes — they're soft, have browned butter (hellloooo nutty flavor!), lots of cinnamon, and delicious pecans throughout and on top.
I made these in an 8x8" pan, and they were quite thick. Next time, I'd try them in an 8x11 pan (and bake for less time!) for a slightly thinner bar.
Have a great cookie season!!!
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Cinnamon Pecan Cookie Bars
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 15 cookies 1x
Description
Cinnamon pecan cookie bars have browned butter, lots of cinnamon, and pecans. They're similar to a snickerdoodle, plus the nuts!
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 Tbsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp of salt
- ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups pecans, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a heavy saute pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pan, and bring the butter to a simmer. It should fizzle and pop. Continue to stir occasionally. Once the popping has died down, keep an eye on the solids in the pan: we want them to be a dark golden brown, but not to burn. Once they turn dark brown, pour the butter {scraping everything in the pan along with it} into a separate container so it won’t continue to cook. Let the butter cool for 5-10 minutes before proceeding.
- In medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk together and set aside.
- Once the butter has cooled slightly, mix it together with the two sugars. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking to fully incorporate, then add the vanilla and mix again. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and fold together until homogenous. Fold in ⅔ of the pecans.
- Lightly butter an 8x8" or larger baking pan, and line with parchment.
- Press the dough into the pan until flat, then gently press in the remaining pecans.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the edges look set and the top is matte.*
- Let cool slightly before removing from the pan to cut.
Notes
*Baking time here is pretty subjective. You can bake less for a gooey cookie (especially in the middle), or more for a drier cookie. Either way, the edges will be more done than the middle.
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