White Chocolate Pecan Brownies
These insanely chewy, buttery and delicious white chocolate pecan brownies are sure to please anyone (white chocolate lover or not!).
What business I think I have posting a white chocolate recipe when I’ve been less than kind to dark chocolate’s nemesis, I don’t know.
But I’m here to tell you that even as a white chocolate non-craver (and dare I say, despiser), these white chocolate pecan brownies are to-die for.
I don’t know what it is about them. They are buttery and insanely chewy with a delightful creaminess, thankyouverymuch white chocolate.
Plus, the lightly toasted pecans are the perfect crunchy compliment to the sweet white chocolate. (And don’t even get me trying to explain how I’m not actually a huge nuts-in-brownies fan either; clearly I don’t know who I am anymore.)
I originally spied the idea of white chocolate pecan brownies in this enormous baking book my brother Nate gave me years ago. But the recipe was a massive fail.
They tasted pretty good but looked so ridiculously messy and gross. I’m not sure why I even persevered, but after another three or four times of tweaking and testing, and yes, tasting, these are the perfect white chocolate pecan brownies (and nothing like the original, thank goodness).
I know many of you will say they aren’t really brownies in the technical sense of the word.
But brownies they shall be called since they employ the same mixing method as traditional brownies (melting the chocolate and butter together before adding the dry ingredients) versus their blondie counterparts which are usually mixed up like traditional drop cookies but baked in bar form.
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but is there some kind of award for continuing to support and promote white chocolate when I’m not an inherent fan?
I’d like to say I took one for the team here, but in all actuality, I think these brownies have definitely put me in the camp of one who admires white chocolate.
Just don’t give me a bag of white chocolate chips for snacking and think I’m going to be in any way satisfied.
I’ll be throwing elbows like nobody’s business to get to my dark chocolate chips. My loyalty to white chocolate only goes so far.
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White Chocolate Pecan Brownies
Ingredients
- 9 ounces (255 g) white chocolate baking bars, not chips or almond bark, divided
- ½ cup (113 g) salted butter
- ⅔ cup (141 g) lightly packed brown sugar
- ⅔ cup (141 g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (213 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups coarsely chopped pecans, divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan and set aside.
- Chop the white chocolate into small pieces (about the size of small raisins). Put 6 ounces of the white chocolate (about 1 scant cup, depending on how small the chocolate is chopped – there should be about 1/2 cup remaining to stir into the batter later) in a large bowl with the butter. Microwave for a minute or two (watching closely so it doesn’t burn and stirring every 30 seconds or so) until the mixture is smooth and completely melted.
- Stir in the brown sugar and granulated sugar and mix well. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing just briefly. Add 1 cup of the pecans and the remaining white chocolate pieces while there are still lots of flour streaks remaining. Stir until the batter is combined.
- Spread the batter evenly in the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle the remaining pecans over the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the brownies are set on the sides and in the middle and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few sticky crumbs.
- Let the bars cool completely in the pan. Slice and serve or store covered at room temperature or in the refrigerator. They will stay moist for several days.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
My husband and I are not huge fans of white chocolate, but these are really good! And they freeze well too.
These bars were amazing. I had to bring them to work so I wouldn’t eat all of them! Everyone loved them.
I would probably still 6X the liquid just to be safe.
Thanks, Jen! Glad they were a hit!
Another excellent recipe! I was going to make a half of the portion, decided to make the whole recipe and it was right decision 🙂 Loved the chewy texture and rich white chocolate taste. Thank you!
YUM YUM YUM, these were so yum.
Mel, I have made tons of your recipes and love them all. I just made these brownies for my Dad’s 70th birthday celebration. He is a white chocolate fan and despises dark/milk chocolate in all forms, which is opposite of the rest of us. I made these, along with a chocolate dessert, as I thought no one else would like these brownies. Boy, was I wrong!! Sadly, I only have two brownies left! They were delicious and such a pleasant surprise for us chocolate lovers. Thanks for another great recipe!
Made these for a potluck and they were so delicious!! I really, really enjoyed them.
tried them and the result was wonderful .now onwards i shall always follow your recipes
The only change I did was to line the pan with HD aluminum foil then spraying so the brownies could be lifted out of the pan and cut easily per the Cook’s Illistrated method. I don’t do well with just spraying the pan. LOL
I just tried these and they are delicious! I did add some semi sweet chocolate chips too but you are right, they would have been just fine without them.
I have never commented anywhere ever, but had to weigh in on these. Sooooo totally with you on dark chocolate or nothing, but with your endorsement, I went ahead and tried these out for our daughter’s recital. They almost didn’t make it – I wanted to hoard them. They are AMAZING! I was almost hoping they got bypassed on the table so I could take the leftovers home – there were cupcakes with SPRINKLES after all, and lots of little girls – but once the adults tried them they were coming back for seconds and to take to their wives/husbands to try. They are deceiving- they look so plain, and yet are sooooo satisfying. I even used regular old Baker’s white chocolate bar (only thing we had here in our tiny corner of the world), and they were still to die for. Thank you for all your hard work – you bring lots of people so much joy, and happy bellies. I also made your San Francisco chops in the slow cooker last night for after the recital – also wonderful. Your recipes have been a godsend this year for me, as we added a new bundle of joy to our family. Blessings to you, Mel, as you have blessed so many of us!!
Elisa! You totally summed up my feelings on theses bars. They seem so unassuming but they totally take you by surprise with their deliciousness. I’m so, so thrilled they were a hit. Thanks for the sweet comment (congrats on your new baby)!
I baked up two batches , one to take to church and the other to give to my nephew. He, in turn fed them to his ski buddies and got such a reaction that he’s now baking up a batch to take to work tomorrow. I think he’s going to become a Mel’s fan also.
I always toast pecans even when they are mixed into the batter, same as I do when making Cook’s Ill. Classic Brownies
These were so delicious, Mel! Really. Really. Good.
Some specific feedback: I used walnuts and Ghirardelli white “baking chips” with good results. (I do think pecans would have been better.) I was surprised by how thick the batter came out (possibly because I used chips instead of bars?) but it baked up into the perfect brownie texture.
Great recipe! Thanks!
I made these for our ward Christmas party, and they were a hit. These brownies mess with your mind though- they taste like regular brownies, but are white?! Nom, nom, nom, so yummy. Thanks Mel & great job on making your own brownie recipe. I could never ever do that. Especially with baking. Hats off to you.
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U have literally changed our lives since discovering your site! Thank you. My Daughter thinks you are the next foodnetwork star and is on your sight as much as i am as she plans our dinner menu. She recently started a youtube channel where she reviews books for kids. Your boys might like it 🙂 Either way it would basically be a dream come true if you (Whom she considers famous) commented on her page. Hope you have time and sorry for the weird request.
I am not much of a brownie eater or maker, but these look flat out delicious. I am glad you stuck with it and tweaked it till it was right. Tested recipes are the BEST.
Well I prefer white chocolate to the traditional but if I had my choice between dark or milk chocolate dark wins hands down so I am at opposite ends of the chocolate spectrum. Nuts in brownies are always a no no for me but I am going to trust you (cause I never met a Mel recipe that we didn’t love!) & make these as written. I am putting all my trust in you so don’t let me down! 😀
I love these! They’re different!
I’m with you on the white chocolate, it’s just not good! Especially when there’s dark chocolate available! But it IS amazing in some baking, I’ll give it that, and these brownies look like one of those things – these look delicious!
Delicious! Thank you for creating this recipe and for all the advice on white chocolate. I know I am one of the lone rangers but prefer white chocolate. Easy, chewy and yummy! Your originals are so good and I appreciated all the hard work and trials that go before the posting of them.
think I might try these but with chocolate ( dark if I can find it ). I am not a fan of white chocolate! Almost looks like a chocolate chip brownie or some might call it a bar.
Thanks for sharing!
Mel, you are so funny. These look delicious! And I don’t even like white chocolate! Our old neighbor was so sweet and would bring us a huge batch of white chocolate chip cookies every year for Christmas (his specialty!). Try as we might, we could never become fans, but we smiled and thanked him profusely for them (and took them to our family’s house to share). 🙂 As always, thank you for all of the hard work that you put into your blog..it is awesome! 🙂
I’m not a white chocolate fan either but these look…amazing. The photos really do look like BROWNIES, too, not just a cookie bar or something.
Have you ever used the candy melts from a store such as A.C. Moore ? Not for dipping or candy but in a recipe that calls for melted chocolate. I haven’t but they melt so beautifully I wonder if they would be a good substitute.
I wouldn’t recommend using white candy melts in place of the white chocolate – the flavor really comes through and I think the artificial taste of the melts would create a strange flavor in the brownies.
I am not a white chocolate fan either. But with a nursing baby, desperate times call for desperate measures. I know what I’m taking to my Christmas party on Friday night!
The quality of white chocolate can vary so widely, it’s really kind of frustrating.
On the other hand, white chocolate and roasted pecans are a favorite candy of mine, so this brownie looks just about perfect. (I’ve got some good quality white chocolate in the pantry just waiting for a recipe. Thanks!)
I agree, Anna! There are some pretty bad tasting white chocolate brands on the market. I usually stick with Ghirardelli’s white chocolate baking bar.
My hubby would probably say their not brownies but
I say why not white brownies!!? I just made him a batch of dark chocolate brownies for his birthday yesterday so next time I’m
going with these babies! They look so yummy!
Do you recommend toasting the pecans? You mention they are lightly toasted, but the ingredients just reference “pecans”.
I don’t toast them beforehand but the ones on top of the brownies get lightly toasted while baking and add delicious flavor – you could certainly toast them before hand if you’d like, though.
Loving the white chocolate and pecan combo!
These look soooo yummy. Mel, are you going to do Sugar Rush again this year? Perhaps another anit-sugar rush with savory appetizers?
Hey Sarah – good question! I’m not doing an official Sugar Rush but I’ll be packing this month full of appetizers and sweet treats!
I love white chocolate. I just bought a bag at the baking store and plan on dunking pretzels in it. However, this recipe may make me change my plans for that white chocolate.
How do you think these would be with some dark chocolate chips thrown in? I just don’t know if I can go for a brownie with no chocolate in it…although maybe serving these with ice cream and hot fudge would do the trick. 🙂
Hey Laurie – certainly worth a try although from a fellow dark chocolate lover (me), they are fantastic without any real chocolate in them. I like the idea of ice cream and hot fudge though!
I’m also not a huge white chocolate fan….UNLESS it’s in a cookie, or a bar, or frosting…then it’s very, very wonderful. This looks like a perfect bar with me…AND it has pecans! Bonus!
These look delicious! Thanks for taking one for the team. The whole team thanks you!
I’m not a white chocolate fan but these sound really good. Since I’m going to the grocery store today, I’m going to pick up a white chocolate baking bar so I can make these tonight. Thanks for another great recipe!
I also prefer dark chocolate over white, but I know I couldn’t resist these brownies. They sound incredible, and thank you so much for testing (and testing) the recipe for us! Pinned!
I love that you continued to test and perfect this recipe even though you are not a white chocolate lover. I prefer milk or dark chocolate, too, but sometimes it’s nice to switch things up! These look delicious, Mel!
My husband thanks you in advance. Every time I make something with dark chocolate, he says, “Can you make something with white chocolate?” These sound perfect.
These look wonderful! Thank you!