Really good one-bowl chocolate chip pecan cookies - dead easy to make

I’ve been searching for inspiration for Christmas recipes – my plans are to make a series of recipes like last year’s – and a good place to start is Martha’s website; there are so many wonderful ideas there, everything’s so beautiful that the difficult part of it is choosing what to bake.

Going through some of her cookie recipes for the holidays I remembered that I hadn’t posted these chocolate chip pecan cookies yet – suggested by my friend Ana Elisa I baked them back in July (if I’m not mistaken) and they were fantastic: delicious, easy to make (no special equipment necessary) and you won’t have to remember to take the butter out of the fridge in advance.

Really good one-bowl chocolate chip pecan cookies
from the adorable Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth

2 cups (220g) pecan halves, lightly toasted and cooled
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter
¾ cup (131g) dark brown sugar, packed
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 ¼ cups (315g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
2 cups (360g) semisweet chocolate chips

Place the butter in a large heavy saucepan. Cook it over low heat, stirring, until completely melted. Remove from the heat and add both sugars, stirring to combine. Add the salt, vanilla and eggs. Stir until just smooth. Stir in the flour, baking soda and baking powder just until incorporated and a soft dough forms. Carefully fold in the chocolate chips and the pecans.
Use an ice-cream scoop or a ¼ cup (60ml) measuring cup to measure out the cookie dough. Place the cookie dough balls on a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, 45-60 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Place the chilled dough balls onto prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart. Bake until the cookies are crisp and golden around the edges but still a little soft in the centers without being gooey, 15-18 minutes. Let cookies cool slightly on the sheets over a wire rack, then carefully transfer the cookies to the rack and cool completely.
Cookies can be kept for up to 2 days in an airtight container, at room temperature.

Makes 18 - I halved the recipe above, used 2 leveled tablespoons of dough per cookie and got 13