One of a kind and worth all the (quite immense) hassle.
A friend recommended this recipe to me, noting that a Bon Appétit editor declared it the best cookie she has ever made. And just like that editor felt before trying this recipe, I was a little skeptical that a cookie with oats and no chocolate could make it to the top of the list.
But it did not disappoint. It's a giant, thin round of absolute delight, with just the right balance of sweet and salty, crisp edges and a soft middle, and a perfect union of brown butter, toffee, and nutty pecan flavors. I've never had anything like it, and I'm craving one now just talking about it.
Here's the link to the recipe over at Bon Appétit :
A few notes from my experience of making them:
This cookie requires a lot of work. It's the opposite of a one-bowl operation and involves overnight dough refrigeration, so plan ahead and be prepared. I made the mistake of not reading the whole recipe before getting started, and dove into the project late in the evening...which resulted in being up at midnight with a massive pile pots/pans/small appliances to clean up when all I wanted was to be asleep. Or at least have a fresh cookie to reward myself with--which, thanks to that overnight refrigeration step, was not an option.
You will be tempted to eat the pecan brittle that you make in the first part of the process, but try to exercise self-control so that you make it to the finished product. Or, do a double batch of brittle so that you can save some for snacking. :)
The second time that I made this, I split the process up across 4 different days (!!) to make it more manageable for my schedule. The first day was for making brittle, the second was for pulsing the flour, the third was for mixing together the dough and scooping it out, and the fourth day was bake or freeze day, after the overnight rest. If you don't have time to do four consecutive days, the first two segments (brittle and flour-making) can be done a few days apart--those things will keep pretty well in tightly sealed containers before they're combined with wet ingredients.
The recipe freezes really well (see the last note in recipe), and it's frozen unbaked in individual servings, which makes it easy to pull one or two out for an oven-fresh cookie anytime. I think I will only make this recipe in double batches from here on out, because if I'm going through all that trouble and frozen dough has seemingly no difference from immediately baked dough, may as well make that time investment go twice as far!
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