Bourbon Pecan and Brown Sugar Cookies

Welcome to the "Twelve Days of Cookies" Special. For the first twelve days in December, a new cookie recipe will be featured to help fill your cookie tins this season. On the Eighth Day of Cookies, my true love sent to me:  Eight Bourbon Pecan and Brown Sugar Cookies.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Delicious brown butter flavor
• Crunchy bourbon sugar
• Toasted pecans
• Can be baked into any sugar cookie shape

I was inspired to make these delicious Bourbon Pecan and Brown Sugar Cookies after visiting the Tea & Spice Exchange in Williamsburg, Virginia. They had a Bourbon Black Walnut Sugar that smelled absolutely divine and tasted even more spectacular.

Delicious brown butter cookies

These cookies have a tantalizing and rich brown butter flavor infused with bourbon whisky and brown sugar. The toasted pecans add to the flavor, making them a heavenly treat. I loved how my kitchen smelled while making these.

The icing is irresistible, and most of my friends’ and family’s favorite part of the cookie. It does not have a pure, sugary taste that most cookie icings have. Instead, it tastes toffee-like with buttery notes and a splash of bourbon.

I only make these cookies around Christmastime, so I’m sure to create a batch of cookie dough that I can freeze and then bake at any time.

Bourbon Black Walnut Sugar

Bourbon Black Walnut Sugar is a flavored sugar that combines the rich flavors of bourbon, black walnut, and sugar. This type of sugar is often used as a specialty ingredient in cooking and baking to add a unique and sophisticated flavor profile to various dishes.

It isn’t typically made with real bourbon, but instead contains a natural bourbon flavor. As a result, the sugar has a distinctive sweet and smoky flavor with complex notes of vanilla, caramel, and oak.

Black walnuts have a bold, earthy, and slightly bitter flavor compared to the more commonly used English walnuts. The inclusion of black walnut flavor enhances the overall nuttiness of the sugar and adds depth to the taste.

Use it to elevate the taste of desserts, beverages, and other culinary creations. It might be sprinkled on top of cookies, used in the crusts of pies, incorporated into cocktail rims, or added to coffee and tea for a flavorful twist.

Ingredients include: turbinado sugar, black walnut natural flavor blend (water, ethyl alcohol, glycerin and natural flavor – contains no tree nuts), bourbon extract natural flavor blend (ethyl alcohol, water, natural flavor and glycerin).

So far, I have used it to flavor cookies, muffins, coffee, and milk. Whisky Walnut Sugar from the Oil & Spice Company can be used as an alternative.

If you cannot find or do not want to use bourbon black walnut sugar, simply use granulated or turbinado sugar.

Keep the cookies chilled

This recipe creates a very soft cookie dough, so they spread very easily if baked too warm. For the best results, work with the cookie dough while chilled to get the best cut-out shapes. Also freeze the cookie shapes ahead of time, then bake straight out of the freezer.

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Special Tools and Equipment

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Bourbon Pecan and Brown Sugar Cookies

Prep Time 4 hours

Cook Time 25 minutes

Servings 25 cookies

Ingredients

For the Bourbon sugar cookies

• 2 1/2 cups (550g) unsalted butter
• ¾ cup (150g) cane sugar
• ¼ cup (60g) brown sugar
• 3 cups (300g) all-purpose flour, sifted
• 2 (35g) large egg yolks
• 1 tsp (5g) vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp bourbon whisky
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• unsalted and toasted pecan pieces, for topping
• bourbon sugar, for topping

For the brown butter bourbon royal icing

• 1 1/2 lbs (680g) confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 1/2 cup (100ml) water
• 1/2 cup (60g) meringue powder
• 1 tsp (5g) vanilla extract
• ¼ cup (60g) brown butter
• 4 tbsp bourbon whisky

Instructions

Make the brown butter

1. In a medium sized sauce pan, simmer the butter, stirring regularly until it reduces in volume by half, browns, and develops a toffee-like aroma.

2. You should have between 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups (250g to 300g) of browned butter. Take the browned butter off the heat and allow it to cool for 15 minutes before placing it into an air-tight container.

3. Store the browned butter in a food safe container in the refrigerator to chill for an hour. It should be solid, yet malleable.

For the cookies

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and 1 cup (200g) of the browned butter until super smooth and creamy. Next, add the eggs, bourbon whisky, and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated.

2. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
3. A third at a time, mix the flour into the creamed sugar until combined. Mix for another 15 seconds. Do not over-mix. Over-mixing will develop the gluten structure, creating a dense and chewy bread-like cookie. The dough should come together easily, but still have a slightly crumbly consistency.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it until the dough comes together further. This should only take a minute. At this point, it should no longer be crumbly, but smooth and easy to shape. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts.
5. Lay a 12×12 inch sheet of parchment onto the counter and dust it with flour. Roll out one of the chunks of dough onto the parchment until it is just under a 1/4 inch thick. Repeat for the remaining piece of dough.

6. Lay the layers of parchment and dough on top of one another, and place onto a baking sheet. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill it in the freezer for at least 1 hour.

7. Take the dough out of the freezer and lay the parchment on the table.
8. Keeping the dough on the parchment, use desired cookie cutters to cut out unique shapes in the dough. Set the shapes onto clean parchment lined cookie sheets at least an inch apart from one another. Knead the leftover dough together and roll it out again into a sheet just shy of a 1/4 inch thick. If the dough is too soft, chill it again before cutting out additional cookie shapes. Repeat until all of the dough has been used up. You should have 20 to 25 cookies.

9. Allow the cookie dough to chill for an additional hour. For the best results, chill them overnight.

10. Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C).

11. Place the cookies 3 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake them in the center of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until slightly golden at the edges.

12. Allow the cookies to cool completely before decorating with royal icing, or eat as is!

For the royal icing

1. In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, add all icing ingredients and mix on the lowest speed until all of the ingredients have been fully incorporated. This should take no more than a minute. Do not over-mix or else the mixture will destabilize.

2. If the icing seems too thick, add water a tablespoon at a time until the consistency is like honey.

3. Pour the icing into a clean container and cover the icing with plastic wrap to prevent the icing from crusting over. The icing keeps in an airtight container at room temperature for 14 days; 1 month in the refrigerator; 4 months frozen.

Ice and decorate the cookies

1. Ice the cookies using a pastry bag with a #3 tip, or a sandwich bag with a small corner cut out of it.

2. After icing the cookies, top with toasted pecans and a sprinkle of bourbon sugar. Allow the icing to set for 24 hours.

Did you give this recipe a try? If so, please tell us how it went in the comments below!