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
- 1 ½ heaping cups pecan halves (175g)
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled at least 10 minutes* (226g)
- 1 ¼ 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 1 ½ 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!
Lin
These sounded so good I wanted to get it right. I browned the butter which gave a really good caramel flavor. I weighed ALL the ingredients instead of just measuring. After measuring out 375g of flour I just poured it all in – rookie mistake. It was too much and they are really dry. The dough won’t even hold together to form the cookies. And after browning the butter the toffee chips seemed to distract instead of adding anything. If I make them again I will add flour slowly and stop when it’s enough, and I’ll brown the butter and skip the toffee chips.
Sam
Hi Lin! I definitely recommend adding the flour gradually, it allows the liquid ingredients to absorb it properly and gradually and you shouldn’t have such a crumbly dough if added gradually.
Joanne
Hi Sam, I made your beautiful biscuits, they were so easy and delicious, thank you. The second time I made the recipe, I added the sugar to the butter and made a thick toffee. They kept their shape and had a lovely flavour. Thank you for sharing. I am looking forward to trying more of your recipes. Warm wishes, Joanne from Australia
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much for trying my recipe, Joanne! I am glad that you enjoyed the cookies. I look forward to seeing what recipe you try next! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Patricia Gibson
Hi Samantha. I prepared these last week and they were absolutely delicious. Taste was amazing. I really enjoyed these cookies. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that the cookies were enjoyed, Patricia! Thank you for commenting. 🙂
Robert
Your recipe turned out great! Very chewy and flavorful! I didn’t need to chill the dough just like you said and man do these taste like heaven.
They did take quite a lot longer to bake than the 10-12 minutes. Maybe I made them too big but it doesn’t matter because they were worth the wait.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the cookies, Robert! 🙂
Rebeccca
Hi Sam,
I don’t have access to pecans right not, but I do have lots of walnuts. Would this be a suitable substitution? Also, I can’t get a hold of Heath Toffee Bits. If I replaced these with say Walker’s Nonsuch English Toffees (cut up into pieces), do you think that would be okay?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Rebecca! I think if you cut your walnuts up that will work fine. I have never tried Walker’s Nonsuch English Toffees but you most certainly can try adding it in. Keep me posted on how the cookies turn out. 🙂
Rebeccca
Hi Sam,
Thanks for replying^^ I will keep you posted should I try this out. I have just discovered your oatmeal cookies as well as brownies, so I’m thinking of trying maybe 3 of your recipes this weekend! haha
Samantha
Can I add chocolate chip morsel
Sugar Spun Run
Absolutely, Samantha! Enjoy! 🙂
Deborah
Just made these this afternoon. I didn’t have the toffee bits in the pantry so used butterscotch chips instead and used slight less pecans than called for. What a wonderful cookie recipe! Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Deborah! Thank you for trying my recipe! 🙂
Jessica
Hi!
I really want to make these but I’m missing corn starch. I was wondering how necessary the ingredient is and what would happen if I chose to skip it?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Jessica! The cornstarch helps softens the flour and makes the cookies soft and chewy. You can skip it and the cookies will still be delicious. Keep me posted on how they turn out. 🙂
Phyllis
Can you use margarine in this recipe?
Sam
I haven’t tried it but think that should work. I hope you love them, Phyllis!
Irina
Hi!!
Amazing cookies! Loved them!
Although they did melted too much in the over and ended up being thin and too big 😄.
No idea why this happened, used scales and followed the recipe exactly 🤷🏻♀️.
Still happy with the taste!
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Irina! I am sorry that your cookies spread. By any chance was your baking soda or baking powder expired or old? If so this could have caused the cookies to go flat. Regardless, I am happy that they tasted delicious. 🙂
Brada
Should I chill dough before baking?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Brada! You can, however, it is not needed for this cookie recipe. 🙂
Brada
Hello it’s Brada . Thank you. Mine turned out perfect , I used two eggs and an egg yoke . Dough perfect . Are they freezeable?
Brada
Are they freezable?
Sam
Yup!
angela
Help. My dough is crumbly. I must’veAdd too much flour. What can I add to the batter to make it a little moisture right now so I don’t have to throw everything out. Help
Sugar Spun Run
Oh no, Angela! I am so sorry that you are experiencing issues. I am not positive how this will work but I would try adding in 1 Tbsp at a time of melted butter until the dough is no longer crumbly. You want to make sure that it is well combined within the dough. Finger crossed that this helps. I would hate for you to have to start over. 🙁
Brada
Should I chill dough before baking?
Kerri S
Hey! Could you please clarify one spot on your recipe? It calls for 1 cup of butter or 226g, but 1 cup of butter weighs 460g. Thanks!
Sam
Hi Kerri! 1 cup of butter is 226 grams. 460grams would be 1 pound or two cups, so just use the 226 grams indicated. I hope that helps!
JC Heiberg
I was wondering if you can help me. I have not tried this recipe (wish I would have) but tried one and it came out very dry and too crumbly. What can I add to the recipe to make the pecan cookies more moist?
Sam
Hi JC! This recipe is a soft and chewy one. I would make sure the flour is measured properly, here is a guide on how to do this. This is the easiest way to make sure your cookies don’t come out dry and crumbly.
Wendy
Can I use light brown sugar?? Don’t have dark or molasses…
Sam
Yes that will be fine! Hope you love the cookies 🙂
Wendy
I made the cookies n the whole family loved them..I had to make kids stop eating them so I could eat some…lol
Thanks for ur reply n for the best ever recipe.
Sugar Spun Run
I love it, Wendy. I recommend making a batch just for yourself. lol 🙂