Graham Cracker Chocolate Chips Cookies

I like this recipe (and cookies in general) because you actually don’t need much. Here is a breakdown of the main ingredients:

Butter: essential of course, I use European-style butter here.

Sugar: I use white sugar since it makes these cookies fluffier, but you can also replace it for dark-brown sugar. 

Egg: just one, at room temperature

Vanilla Extract: don’t skip this, it adds good flavor

Flour: all-purpose will do, I didn’t try with gluten free flour but I am sure it will work too (though they may be less doughy).

Graham cracker crumbs: I use leftover graham cracker and put it in a food processor, but you can also simply buy the crumbs ready.

Baking soda: this will help the texture of your cookie and make it more airy.

Chocolate Chips: I am not a big fan of overly sweet chocolate, so I use semi-sweet for the recipe.

Pecan Nuts: I think pecan nuts are the perfect balance for these cookies, but you can swap them for walnuts or even almonds. If you’re not a nutty person, just skip them and eventually increase the amount of chocolate chips.

Should I Chill My Cookie Dough?

There are lots of ways to bake cookies depending on your desired consistency. Some people like them more crunchy, others gooey. I personally always do two batches and try different cookies and chilling time. In this recipe, I decided to chill the cookies to make sure they don’t spread too much, but you can also bake them right away if you like “flat” cookies more. They will taste good anyway.

My sweet spot to chill the cookie dough is 6 hours, and I make sure to let it sit out of the fridge for about 5 minutes before shaping to make it easier. If my dough is too hard, it makes it too difficult to scoop nice cookie balls.

How to Shape My Cookie Dough?

I used to shape my cookie dough by hand, but it always resulted in cookies with different sizes and (obviously) different textures. Recently, I decided to invest in a cookie scoop to ensure a uniform size, and it works so well! If you do use this technique, make sure that after scooping you use your hand to flatten the part of the cookie that is looking towards the outer side scoop. This will be the side that is laying on the cookie sheet and the round part will face upwards. Doing it like this will ensure a perfect shape.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup (170 grams) of butter at room temperature
• ¾ cups (150 grams) of sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 cup (150 grams) of flour
• 1 and ½ cup (120 grams) of graham cracker crumbs
• ½ tsp of baking soda
• ½ tsp of salt
• 1 cup chocolate chip
• ¾ cup of chopped pecans

Step-by-step instructions

1. In a bowl, mix butter and sugar until fluffy and smooth. 
2. Add the egg and the vanilla extract, keep beating until fully incorporated
3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, and salt together. 
4. Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture and mix well.
5. Incorporate chocolate chips and chopped pecans to the cookie dough. 
6. Let your cookie dough sit in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight. The longer the wait time, the less they will spread.
7. Once the dough has been sitting, take it out of the refrigerator and let them sit for 5 minutes before shaping them. During this time, preheat your oven to 375 degree Fahrenheit (190 celsius).
8. Shape cookie dough in balls of equal size, place them 2 inches apart in a cookie baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake for 10-12 minutes. They are done when the edges are golden brown and the center is not glossy anymore. 
9. Take the cookies out of the oven and let them cool on the cookie sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.