I’m a firm believer that chocolate chip cookies are the best sweet treat there is. You can hold it in your hands, it has melted chocolate and they’re soft and delicious. Now, having said that, these Pecan Praline Chocolate Chip Cookies are another level of good. They’re seriously the best!
Pecan Praline Chocolate Chip Cookies
The pecan praline in these cookies sends them to another orbit. The caramel in the praline gets chewy, just like toffee. It tastes amazing and it’s a lovely surprise. I love pecans over any other nut, but you can definitely switch them for another nut or even peanuts. By the time you try them, you’ll want to transform all your cookies into praline chocolate chip cookies.
When to remove them from the oven
To have soft, melt-in.your-mouth cookies, it’s important to not cook them more than the absolute essential amount. In my case, 12 minutes was the perfect amount, but your oven could need up to 15 minutes. When they are ready, these Pecan Praline Chocolate Chip Cookies will be really soft. You won’t be able to lift them from the baking tray as soon as they come out because they will be too soft. They need to look ever so slightly golden on the edges. If you’re unsure about the baking time, try baking one cookie first and then adjust the time depending on how that one came out.
What to do as soon as they come out of the oven
As soon as they come out of the oven and while they’re still on the baking tray, you will do two things to these Pecan Praline Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- Using a round cutter, you will surround one cookie and make it spin inside the cutter. Since the cookie is still soft, the cutter will shape it into a perfectly round cookie. This is particularly helpful since the caramel in the praline tends to deform the cookies a bit.
- After doing the cutter thing, you will press extra chocolate on top and press down so that it sinks slightly into the cookie. After a minute, the chocolate will have melted with the residual heat from the cookie. At that moment, sprinkle it with flaky salt so that it sticks to the chocolate.
Can you freeze the dough?
The dough for these Pecan Praline Chocolate Chip Cookies can be frozen already formed. To portion the cookies I like to use a large cookie scoop. Then you take that dough, flatten it and fill it with extra chocolate. Then you form it back into a ball and flatten it slightly. You’ll have something similar to a puck. To freeze them, place them on a tray with baking paper and freeze them overnight. After that period, you can remove them from the tray and place them in air-tight bags or containers. To bake them, place them directly in the oven. Since they’re really cold, they will take 2-3 extra minutes to cook.
How to make Pecan Praline Chocolate Chip Cookies
First, you will make the praline which is super easy. If you need step-by-step photos, go ahead to my how to make praline post. Once it has cooled to room temperature, you will cut it up and add it to the cookie dough along with the chocolate. Don’t cut the praline too small so that you can feel it in the cookie. For the chocolate, I use 65% cacao chocolate which works perfectly in this type of recipe. You can also use milk chocolate but bear in mind that the result will be sweeter. These Pecan Praline Chocolate Chip Cookies are based on my marshmallow chocolate cookies recipe. It’s my favourite cookie dough base and I use it everywhere. Here are other cookie recipes you might like:
Pecan Praline Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
For the pecan praline
- 50 g granulated sugar
- 50 g pecans
For the cookies
- 150 g unsalter butter at room temperature.
- 150 g brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or essence
- 220 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 ½ ts baking powder
- 100 g chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips + more for finishing
- Salt flakes optional
Instructions
For the praline
- For the caramel, sprinkle a flat layer of sugar on the pan. Make sure that the pan is really clean before you start; if it has impurities or fat, it will crystalize the caramel. It helps also if your pan is of a light colour so you can see the caramel as it becomes darker. Place the pan over medium heat.
- The caramel will continue to melt. Control the heat so that it doesn't burn and if you need to stir do so with the handle of the pan.
- Once melted and golden, add your nuts and mix immediately. Transfer the caramel with the nuts carefully onto a silicone mat or silpat.
- Let it cool down completely and then chop it up.
For the cookies
- Use a whisk to cream the butter and sugar until it's very soft and creamy.
- Add the egg and vanilla and whisk again.
- Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and mix using a spatula.
- Add half the chocolate and all the praline and mix them in as well.
- Use a large cookie scoop to portion the cookies. Flatten them and place more chocolate at the centre from the amount we didn't use before. Close the cookie up and form a ball.
- Flatten the dough balls slightly and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Repeat with all the cookies, leaving space between them because they expand a bit in the oven.
- Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 180°C/350°F for 12 minutes or until they're just cooked, to keep them soft.
- Because of the praline, these cookies can sometimes be a bit wonky in shape. As soon as they come out of the oven, you can surround them with a cookie cutter and roll them inside it to even out the edges. You have to do this as soon as they come out of the oven.
- Right afterwards, place extra chocolate chunks or chips on top and push them in slightly. This makes chocolate pools. Finish them with flaky salt.
