Salted Caramel Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Week before the Gathering. Everything is ready and I'm walking around like I'm looking for something to fix. Hannah says I always do this. I always do. The hosting nerves are a kind of nerves I have and don't talk about. Hannah handles the people part better than I do. I handle the work part better than she does. The division has held for years and is holding for this.

I smoked two pork shoulders all day Tuesday as a test run for the smoker capacity. Sixteen-pound pork butts, salt and brown sugar and paprika rub, into the smoker over hickory at 235 for fourteen hours. They came out at the right pull. Hannah pulled one with two forks and it shredded into long perfect ropes. We ate pulled pork sandwiches on bean bread for two days, took a third dinner over to Terry, and froze the rest in vacuum bags. The test run did what I needed — confirmed the smoker can hold the temperature for the long cook on the cool nights we'll have around the gathering. It can.

The wood pile. I split a quarter cord this week of the pecan and oak that came down in last year's ice storm. The fire pit needs hardwood, not soft, and the size and seasoning of the pieces matter. I built the pile under the workshop overhang where it stays dry, and I made sure the rounds of pecan are toward the front because pecan is what I want the smoke to taste like for the gathering main dish, which will be the smoked venison and a brisket I bought from a Cherokee Nation rancher whose name I keep meaning to remember.

Tommy is coming. Kai called Wednesday. They're driving out Friday before the gathering, staying through Sunday. Tommy will be the youngest person at the event. He'll be four and a half. I asked Kai what Tommy's eating these days. Kai said: everything. I said: that includes acorn cookies? Kai said: especially acorn cookies. I said: good. The next generation has to know what acorns taste like. Otherwise the knowledge dies in one generation, and the dying of knowledge in one generation is exactly what we're fighting.

Caleb said he'll come Friday too — early — to help with last setup. He's been at every Saturday for ten weeks now. He's family work-crew at this point. I told him the day before to bring his good shirt because Hannah will make him stand in a photo. He said: I have one good shirt. I said: that's sufficient. He laughed. Caleb laughs more than he used to. The math of his sobriety is not subtle to me — eleven weeks of Saturdays here, several years of program work, the structure of meaningful labor in his life — and the laugh is the data point I trust most.

Kai said Tommy eats everything, and especially acorn cookies, and that answer settled something in me — the next generation showing up hungry for the old flavors is the whole point. I had pecan on my mind all week anyway, from splitting the rounds for the smoker and stacking them toward the front of the pile, and when I decided to bake something for the gathering table I went straight to it. Salted caramel and pecan and chocolate in one cookie felt right for a weekend that was already going to taste like woodsmoke and effort and everyone showing up.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 32 min (plus 1 hr chilling) | Servings: 36 cookies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup roughly chopped pecans, toasted
20 soft caramel candies, unwrapped and cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp flaky sea salt, for finishing

Instructions

Toast the pecans. Spread chopped pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat and toast 3—4 minutes, stirring often, until fragrant. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
Whisk dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and fine sea salt. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugars. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter with both sugars on medium-high speed for 2—3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Add eggs and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the vanilla extract until fully incorporated.
Combine. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until no dry streaks remain. Do not overmix.
Fold in mix-ins. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips, toasted pecans, and caramel pieces until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Chill the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight. Chilling helps the cookies hold their shape and deepens the flavor.
Preheat and portion. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop dough into 1 1/2-tablespoon rounds and place 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets.
Bake. Bake 10—12 minutes until the edges are set and golden but the centers still look slightly underdone. The cookies will firm as they cool.
Finish with flaky salt. Immediately after pulling from the oven, sprinkle each cookie lightly with flaky sea salt. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Nutrition (per serving)

Salted Caramel Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies — Something Sweet for the Generation We’re Feeding