Chewy Chai Spiced Pecan Cookies

If there was ever a cookie that screams fall, it would be these Chai spiced pecan cookies. They are filled with dark chocolate, candied pecans, and toffee bits and flavored with warm Chai spices. Get all the tips and tricks on how to make the perfect cookies in this blog post!

If you make me Chai spiced anything especially desserts, I’m there. Chai has such a unique flavor, and the bitterness from the tea balances out the sugar in desserts. From Chai spiced cinnamon rolls to snickerdoodles, I am absolutely obsessed. These Chai spiced pecan cookies are my current Chai spiced obsession, and they are honestly so good. They’re inspired by pecan pie with the candied pecans and toffee bits, and have the chewy, soft texture of a warm chocolate chip cookie. If pecan pie and a chocolate chip cookie had a baby, this would be it. These are definitely one of the most addictive cookie recipes I’ve ever made.

Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments

• All purpose flour – The main dry ingredient in these cookies.
• Baking soda – Baking soda helps create a soft, fluffy cookie.
• Salt – Salt helps balance out the sweetness from the sugars.
• Unsalted butter – Adds a nutty flavor to these cookies. As mentioned in the tips below, browning this butter amplifies the nutty flavor of the butter.
• Light, dark, and granulated sugar – Through testing, I found that the perfect chewiness (in my opinion) and sweetness come from a combination of all 3 sugars. Light and dark brown sugar make the cookie chewier and the granulated sugar helps give it that crispy edge. You can definitely only use light or only dark brown sugar if that’s all you have. Dark brown will make the cookies sweeter and chewier, and light brown sugar will result to less sweetness and less chewiness.
• Egg – Makes the cookies richer and chewier.
• Vanilla extract – Adds flavor to the cookies. Substitute with an equal amount of vanilla paste or 1 vanilla bean.
• Chai spice mixture (cinnamon, ginger, star anise powder, cardamom, and earl grey tea) – This is my version of a chai spiced mixture, but there are a lot of variations. Sometimes, only 1 or 2 spices are used. Use any combination of these spices that you like. I would make sure to include a black tea and cardamom as a minimum.
• Dark chocolate – I personally like using dark chocolate because it has less sugar than semi sweet or milk chocolate. And for me, it’s all about controlling the amount of sweetness in the cookie because you’re already adding so much sugar. I like using Baker’s chocolate bars for my cookies because you get different sizes of chocolate which helps you get that professional chocolate chip cookie look. If you want to use dark chocolate chips, use 1/3 cup.
• Toffee bits – Toffee bits are a new obsession for me. I love that it adds texture to cookies.

How to make Chai spiced pecan cookies

First, brown 1/2 cup of unsalted butter. Melt butter over medium high heat until it is completely melted. Lower the heat to medium low and cook until brown bits start to appear at the bottom. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Add 1 tbsp of earl grey tea to a spice grinder or food processor. Pulse until it is broken down into powder and add to a bowl. Next, add 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cardamom, 1/4 tsp of ground ginger, 1/4 tsp of ground star anise, 1 cup + 1 tbsp of all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp of baking soda, and 1/4 tsp of salt to the bowl. Mix until combined and set aside.

Add browned butter, 1/4 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, and 1/4 cup granulated sugar to a bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until combined. Add the egg and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Mix for 3-5 minutes until the mixture turns a light brown color. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until just combined. Lastly, add 2 oz of dark chocolate, 1/2 cup of candied pecans, and 1/4 cup of toffee bits. Mix until just combined. Cover and let the cookie dough chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Prepare 2 baking sheets by covering them with parchment paper. Using a medium cookie scoop (~2 tbsp), scoop the dough onto the baking sheet. Make sure they are 2 inches apart. Bake for 14-16 minutes. After baking, let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Tips on how to make the best Chai spiced pecan cookies

Ingredient Tips

1. Use all room temperature ingredients. This really does matter because butter and eggs don’t like to mix together, especially when they’re at different temperatures, so having them at the same temperature helps them come together better.
2. Why are you using brown butter? This is one of the keys to the intense flavor of these cookies. The brown bits add so much extra flavor to the dough. Make sure to cool it down to room temperature before using because using hot butter will create for a greasy dough.
3. Why are you using both dark brown and light brown sugar? I found that this gives a good balance of sweetness and color to the cookies. Dark brown sugar gives that nice light brown color to the cookies as well as sweetness. I found that using only light brown sugar doesn’t give it the light brown color I like. And using all dark brown sugar makes the dough too wet and too sweet. 

Method Tips

1. Mix the butter, sugars, and egg thoroughly. The biggest mistake people make is not mixing the wet ingredients properly. When you mix the wet ingredients, especially the butter and sugar, you’re really trying to incorporate/dissolve the sugar.
2. Don’t over mix the cookie dough after adding the dry ingredients. You want to mix the dry ingredients as little as possible because mixing encourages gluten formation which creates tough, chalky cookies. I like to mix the dough until there is a little bit of flour not incorporated into the dough. I then add the chocolate chips and finish mixing the dough.
3. Why do I need to rest this dough so long? Resting/cooling the cookie dough allows the butter to solidify, so it doesn’t melt so quickly in the oven. This matters because if it melts too quickly in the oven, your cookies will spread more, creating flatter cookies. In addition, allowing it to rest makes it more flavorful. The cookie dough is sort of like marinating while it’s cooling.
4. How do I make my cookies flat? How do I make them more chunky? This will depend on how much time you allow the dough to rest in the fridge. The more you chill the dough in the fridge, the chunkier the cookie will be. If you don’t chill the dough at all, the cookie will be very flat.
5. For the best flavor, chill for at least 24 hours. This is one of the biggest changes I’ve made in my method for baking cookies. The longer the cookie dough rests, the better the flavor and texture will be. This cookie dough can rest in the fridge for up to 72 hours. Personally, I do it for 24 hours because I simply can’t wait any longer! If you can’t wait 24 hours, I would recommend at least 1 hour, but the longer the better.
6. Why is scooping your cookie dough with a scoop important? This is important because the scoop helps give your cookies their round shape. To get the perfect round shape, scoop the dough, press it into the scoop with your hand, and then level it off so you get a flat bottom.
7. Why is cooling your cookies important? I know it is SO HARD to not eat a cookie right away, but your cookies are still baking when they’re on the baking sheet! The center will still look soft but it will slowly get firmer as it sits on the baking sheet.

How do you store these Chai spiced pecan cookies?

Cookies can be stored in an airtight container up to 3 days at room temperature and up to 6 months in the freezer.

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