Late-Night-Craving Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Makes about 30 cookies
Adapted from Joanna Gaines’ Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tip: Keeping the advice simple this time…use the highest quality ingredients you can buy and always, always have these ingredients on hand! You just never know when you might need these cookies. 😀

Ingredients
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 well-rounded tsp baking soda
4 oz (1 stick) butter
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 tsp fine sea salt
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1½ cups (about 10 oz) dark chocolate chunks
½ cup roughly chopped pecans
4 oz (½ of a bag) Heath Bits o’ Brickle Chips

Prep
Bring butter to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Toast the pecans in a metal pie plate or cake pan for about 5 minutes or until they are just fragrant. Do not over-toast. If they taste burned, they will ruin the cookies. Remove nuts from pan and cool on a paper towel while you continue the recipe.
Whisk the flour and baking soda together in a medium bowl; set aside.

Directions
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer), beat the room-temperature butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add salt, eggs and vanilla; beat until blended.

Turn the mixer off and add the flour mixture to the bowl. Mix on low speed just until the flour is mixed in, then turn the mixer to a slightly higher speed for a few seconds to pull the dough together; it will be somewhat lumpy.

Add the chocolate chunks, pecans and brickle chips. Stir in with a strong wooden spoon or use clean hands to mix altogether until additions are distributed through the cookie dough (I use disposable gloves that I buy at Target).

Use a #20 ice cream scoop, a ¼ measuring cup or a large spoon to scoop dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheet(s); leave a little space between scoops, although there shouldn’t be much spread. Bake at 350 until lightly browned, 10-12 minutes. Do not over-bake! Cool partially on the baking sheet (until the cookies can be lifted without breaking apart), then move them with a spatula to a cooling rack. Bake the remaining dough; parchment paper can be reused if needed.

Storage
Cookies will keep well at room temperature in a tightly covered container for 2 or 3 days; they can be frozen for several weeks. Warm frozen cookies slightly in the microwave to restore gooey texture.