If you have a jar of Costco’s Kirkland Mixed Nut Butter with Seeds, try these chocolate chunk cookies that include a big spoonful of the nut butter. They require no electric mixer and bake into large, soft, chewy cookies with classic chocolate chip flavors — brown butter, vanilla, molasses and caramel. The nut butter is subtle in flavor but improves the cookie structure and texture.
Cookies with Nut Butter and Brown Butter
This recipe starts by browning half the butter. Browning only half adds a rich, toasty flavor without losing too much moisture. Using the remaining cold butter helps the mixture cool faster: brown half the butter, pour it into a mixing bowl, add the cold butter, the nut butter and vanilla, and let the mixture rest until the butter softens and becomes slightly opaque.
Dry Ingredients
While the butter cools, whisk together the dry ingredients. The recipe works well with a blend of bread and cake flours for extra chew and tenderness, but all-purpose flour is fine too. Combine the flour with baking soda, baking powder, salt and cream of tartar — the cream of tartar gives a gentle lift and helps keep the cookies soft. Finish the dry mix with a tiny pinch of cinnamon for background warmth without making the cookies taste like cinnamon.
Making the Dough
When the butter mixture has set up and the dry ingredients are ready, stir the sugars and egg into the butter and vanilla. Mix by hand with a wooden spoon or scraper until smooth, then add the flour mixture and stir until you have a soft dough. You can also use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on low if preferred.
Chocolate Chips and Chunks
These are Chocolate Chunk Cookies, so use large pieces of chocolate. I often use Ghirardelli bittersweet chips because they are large and not overly sweet, and I’ll add semisweet or bittersweet wafers for variety. You can use any good-quality dark chocolate in large chips, wafers or chunks — the cookies are designed to melt those larger pieces into pockets of chocolate throughout.
Walnuts or Pecans
Since the dough includes mixed nut butter, adding walnut or pecan pieces reinforces the nut theme and makes the presence of nuts obvious for anyone with allergies. Chopped walnuts or pecans add a pleasant crunch and texture contrast.
Smoked Maldon Sea Salt
A few flakes of smoked Maldon sea salt are an unconventional but delicious finishing touch. The coarse, smoky salt brightens the chocolate and doubles down on flavor. The cookies are still very good without the salt, but they sing when finished with a few grains on top.
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Recipe
Kirkland Mixed Nut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Anna
Pin Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks (170 grams)
- 2 tablespoons Kirkland Signature Mixed Nut Butter (32 grams)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour or a mix of bread and cake flour (260 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/16 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
- 1 teaspoon salt (use ½ teaspoon if using salted butter)
- ¾ cup light brown sugar (150–160 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 1 large egg (48 grams)
- 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup semisweet or bittersweet wafers or chunks (or any good-quality dark chocolate)
- ½ cup walnut pieces
- Maldon sea salt or smoked Maldon sea salt
Instructions
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Brown 6 tablespoons of the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When it is brown and fragrant, scrape it into a mixing bowl.
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Add the remaining 6 tablespoons of cold butter to the brown butter, then stir in the mixed nut butter and vanilla. Let the heat from the browned butter soften the cold butter, stirring occasionally until the mixture begins to set.
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While the butter mixture cools, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar, salt and cinnamon (if using) until evenly combined.
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Once the butter has cooled completely, use a large wooden spoon or scraper to beat in the brown sugar, granulated sugar and egg until smooth.
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Add the flour mixture and stir until a soft dough forms.
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Stir in the chocolate chips and chunks (or wafers) until blended. You can fold them all in or reserve a few to press onto the tops of the shaped dough rounds.
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Divide the dough into 10–12 equal pieces and shape each into a 2½-inch round, more like a puck than a ball. Place the rounds in a zipper bag or on a plate covered with plastic wrap and chill for 48 hours. You can bake some immediately if you like; they are good baked at once and even better after chilling.
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When ready to bake, bring the number of dough rounds you plan to bake to room temperature. Baking from room temperature produces more crinkles and crevices, though you can bake from cold as well.
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Position the oven rack in the lower third and preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
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Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Place four rounds on the sheet with plenty of space to spread. Sprinkle Maldon salt on top of each cookie.
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Bake for 15–18 minutes, until the edges are brown and the tops show cracks. Cool on the baking sheet for 3–5 minutes, then transfer the parchment to a cool surface and move cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.