Made with toasted pecans and a surprise sprinkling of toffee bits, these Butter Pecan Cookies are soft, chewy, buttery and so good! Easy to make with no mixer and no chilling required, what’s not to love??
This is a great last minute cookie option for your holiday cookie tray. I’ll be serving these alongside other soft and chewy cookies like my peanut butter blossoms, molasses cookies, and Snickerdoodles.
I originally shared this recipe for Butter Pecan Cookies over on The Recipe Critic!
If I can control myself, this Butter Pecan Cookie Recipe will be the last recipe that I share until 2019.
I have a few more videos of older recipes that I finished and have scheduled to go out (you’ll see them if you’re subscribed to my YouTube channel), and I do hope to get up a Crumbs post, but other than that I told Zach that I was going to give myself (both of us, really) a mini vacation between Christmas and New Year.
These past few weeks have been super fun but super busy. Somehow Christmas is just 4 days away and I’ve hardly even listened to any Christmas music so far. And didn’t we just put up our tree!? I’m going to try to take a minute to just breathe. To stop and smell the roses. Or in this case, the butter pecan cookies.
Self control has never been my strong point though (as was very clear when I wolfed down half a dozen of these butter pecan cookies by myself), and while sharing recipes is a lot of work, it’s also a lot of fun, so we’ll see if I can make it to the New Year. I honestly feel like I should just delete this whole post so far and just start over because it’s probably going to turn out to be a lie, but we will see!
Tips for Making Butter Pecan Cookies
As usual I have a few tips I want to leave you with. These cookies are really pretty simple (and there’s no mixer or chilling needed!) but it’s better to have too many tips than not enough, right?
Toast your pecans!
This is optional, but this step will give your cookies the best flavor. Toasted nuts always win over un-toasted. I also recommend toasting your nuts and then chopping them. This helps to toast them evenly and minimizes the chance of them burning in your oven.
Take care when measuring your flour
If you are measuring your flour using cups, I have some suggestions for best practices. Always stir your flour first in its container, then spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off your cup. Don’t scoop the flour directly into your cup, or you’ll pack it in, leaving you with way more flour than the recipe actually calls for.
Honestly I really recommend using a kitchen scale when baking. It’s been a game changer for me and it cuts back on dishes, no measuring cups to wash! This is the kitchen scale that I use (affiliate), it’s inexpensive and I love it.
Some notes for baking your cookies
When your cookies come out the oven, the edges should be a light golden brown but the centers should still seem soft and even just a hint under-baked. Let them cool completely on the baking sheet, where they’ll finish baking as they cool. This will keep your cookies soft and chewy as opposed to pulling them out of the oven when the centers are firm and fully baked, which will actually result in over-baked, hard cookies.
Alright, I hope you’ve enjoyed all the Christmas Cookies I’ve been throwing at you over the past few weeks!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Treat yourself to a FREE E-BOOK!
More Cookie Recipes You Might Like:
Soft & Chewy Butter Pecan Cookies
Ingredients
- 1½ heaping cups pecan halves (175g)
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled at least 10 minutes* (226g)
- 1¼ cup dark brown sugar tightly packed (250g)
- ½ cup sugar (100g)
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all purpose flour** (375g)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup Heath Toffee bits optional, but recommended! (120g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Spread pecan halves evenly over cookie sheet and bake on 350F (175C) for 3-5 minutes.
- Remove from oven (do not turn off your oven) and set aside while you prepare your cookie dough.
- In a large bowl, combine melted butter and sugars. Stir well.
- Add eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir until well-combined.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients until completely combined.
- Add chopped pecans and toffee bits (if using) and stir well.
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and drop cookie dough by heaping 1½ Tablespoon onto prepared cookie sheet, spacing at least 2" apart.
- Transfer to 350F oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Cookies should still look soft/slightly under-done in the centers. Allow to cool completely on baking sheet and they will finish baking through as they cool but will stay nice and soft!
Wendy Nesbitt says
do you use a hand mixer to mix all ingredients together also in a comment someone mentioned heavy cream.. I don,t see that in the recipe above. so does it call for heavy cream? if so how much.. thanks Wendy
Sugar Spun Run says
Hello, Wendy! Yes, I recommend using a hand mixer to combine the ingredients. As far as heavy cream, that is not needed in this recipe. I hope that you enjoy the cookies! Happy Baking. 🙂
Janice says
Delicious! These are now my husband’s favourite cookie! Making another batch today to freeze for lunches. Love having the weights too!
Sugar Spun Run says
Thank you, Janice! I am so glad that you enjoyed the butter pecan cookies and even happier that they were husband approved. 🙂
Caitlyn says
These are delish and I substituted splenda for a “sugar free” option (I’m a diabetic). Made for a wedding and bake sale total hit! Thank you for sharing!
Sugar Spun Run says
Hello, Caitlyn! I am so happy that the butter pecans cookies were a hit and that the Splenda substitution worked well for you. Thanks for your comment. Enjoy!
Millican Pecan says
These are wonderful! As with many families, we too have children who have trouble with gluten. We have substituted pecan meal (flour) for the all purpose flour. This is a nice alternative if anyone is looking for a gluten-free option! …oh, and sometimes the pecans are already roasted, so check before roasting them again. PS: fun fact… Did you know that pecans have more vitamin E than any other nut?
L says
Question: is it.possible to substitute 1T of heavy cream for the egg yolk?
Thank you.
Sam says
Hi Loren! Unfortunately, I don’t think that will work here.
Tiara says
Amateur baker here! I just made these (getting a head start on christmas cookies and practicing to get them perfect), they’re really good but I feel like they need something else. Maybe cinnamon? I divided the dough in half and made 1 half following directions, and the 2nd half I added chocolate chips! I think I like the chocolate chip ones better! It’s a really great recipe and I hope my boyfriends family loves them!
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so happy that you enjoyed the Butter Pecan Cookies, Tiara! Adding Cinnamon would work perfectly. I hope that your boyfriends family enjoys them. 🙂
Sharon says
Those would be chocolate chip cookies with pecans. 🙂
Z says
Hi,
Lovely recipe!
Do you measure the butter then melt it?
Thanks!
Z
Sam says
Hi Z! Yes I always measure first. Enjoy!
Steven says
I made these for Easter and they’re fantastic. They are a nice change from regular chocolate chip cookies but they’re not dry like pecan sandies. I got about 30 good-sized cookies from the recipe. It also helped to flatten the dough balls a bit because they don’t spread much in the oven.
Sam says
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed, Steven! Thank you for commenting, I appreciate it 🙂
Rose says
What can you use instead of cornstarch ? Can the cornstarch be omitted ?
Sam says
Hi Rose! You can use flour, but the cookies won’t be quite as soft and chewy. 🙂
Angie says
Something must have went wrong because mine stayed in the form i dropped them on the pan. They didnt spread out at all. I figured this was going to happen because the cookie dough was kind of dry in texture. I measured everything out very carefully. I might add that i am expierenced baker. Wondering if anyone else had this expierence?
Sam says
Hi Angie! Did you see my notes in the post and in the Notes section? If they didn’t spread it’s most likely over-measured flour, it’s very easy to accidentally over-measure the flour and I recommend using a scale.
Angie Speer says
Yes i did read that, when i measure flour i never scoop because of how that packs the flour.
Sam says
Hmm, I’m really not sure why they didn’t spread for you then, Angie, I’m sorry! I hope they still tasted good anyway but am disappointed they didn’t turn out for you as in the picture 🙁
Sophie says
Delicious!! Toasting the pecans takes these cookies to another level! A friend loved them so much he said it’s his new favorite cookie after a classic choc chip!
Sam says
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Sophie! 🙂
Lynn says
These look so delish! I’m definitely making these soon! 😋 Thank you, for the recipe.
Sam says
I hope you love them, Lynn! 🙂
Sophie says
Another one added to my ‘must bake’ list! Might make some of these as Christmas gifts! LOVE that you include weight for the ingredients, not just cups!
Sam says
I hope you love them, Sophie! Glad the weights are helpful to you, too! It really makes baking so much easier that way! 🙂 Merry Christmas!