Browning the butter is easy. It takes about ten minutes, and is so worth it. You will taste the difference. You just have to watch it so the butter doesn’t burn, or then you’ll have blackened butter, not browned butter, and you’ll have to throw it out and your mother will get angry at me for inspiring you to do something that resulted in wasting 2 sticks of butter.

The real variable in this recipe is the shredded coconut. It’s just there for texture. If you add a cup of sweetened shredded coconut to the mix, the cookies will be chewier. You can easily leave it out. Or try some with it, and some without to see which cookie you like better.

Hope you like it! (And please let me know which version you ended up with – with or without pecans or coconut.)

    1 cup (2 sticks, 8 oz, 225 g) unsalted butter

    1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

    1 teaspoon salt

    1 teaspoon baking soda

    1 teaspoon cinnamon

    1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

    1 cup brown sugar, packed

    1/2 cup white granulated sugar

    2 eggs (large), lightly beaten

    1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    2 Tbsp water

    1 1/2 cups bitter-sweet chocolate chips

    1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

    1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut (optional)

    3 cups Old Fashioned rolled oats (Quick oats are okay, but not steel cut, not instant)