Buttery, soft ‘n chewy cookies exploding with toasted pecans and brown sugar flavor.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think butter pecan is an underrated ice cream flavor. Quite often overlooked and running with the “boring” pistachio and rum raisin ice cream crowd. For the record, I love all three of these ice cream flavors! And that’s exactly why I made today’s cookie recipe. They’re salty, they’re sweet, and they’re rich with butter flavor.
If it’s not their chewy edges, soft centers, and buttery flavor—it’s the toasted pecans that make these cookies so incredible. The toasty, nutty flavor of these pecans is crucial to their flavor. If you’ve never toasted nuts before adding them to a recipe, you are missing out. I love using them in my pecan sugar cookies and pecan pie cheesecake, too. With toasted nuts, the flavor is 84573849% better. I actually did the calculation yesterday; it’s really that much better.
Behind the Recipe
Butter is where most cookie recipes begin. It has several jobs, including keeping the cookies tender and also imparting flavor. As today’s butter pecan cookies bake, the milk proteins inside of the butter begin to brown—giving these cookies a nutty flavor. Which is intensified with the toasted pecans. A win win butter pecan situation.
Not only this, how butter is mixed into cookie dough affects a cookie’s texture. In my favorite chocolate chip cookies recipe, I use melted butter. Melted butter provides a denser, chewier texture. But with today’s cookies, I chose to cream the butter and sugars together. During this creaming process, air is incorporated into the dough which, in turn, helps leaven the cookies as they bake. The cookies rise up, the centers stay soft, and the edges slightly crisp and become chewy.
This cookie dough is supremely soft and a little sticky. And you know what’s best for soft, sticky cookie dough? Chilling it in the refrigerator before baking. Chill this dough for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Chilling allows the cookie dough to thicken and the brown sugar, butter, and toasted pecan flavor to enhance.
These butter pecan cookies are perfect for your platter of Christmas cookies because they’re slightly more complex in flavor than traditional chocolate chip cookies or Christmas sugar cookies. Everyone will love their chewy edges, toasty flavor, and soft centers.
If you want to go overboard, and you definitely should, use two of them to make a sandwich with salted caramel frosting in the center.
Print
Butter Pecan Cookies
- Prep Time: 3 hours, 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 30 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Buttery, soft ‘n chewy cookies exploding with toasted pecans and brown sugar flavor. This cookie dough requires chilling—at least 3 hours and up to 3 days.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (195g) chopped pecans
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (200g) packed dark or light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 and 1/2 cups (313g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Optional
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar, for rolling
- sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- In a 300°F (149°C) oven, toast the chopped pecans on a large parchment paper or silicone mat-lined baking sheet for 15 minutes. Stir twice during this time. Turn oven off and set pecans aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat on medium high speed until fluffy and light in color. Beat in eggs and vanilla on high speed. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt together until combined. On low speed, slowly mix into the wet ingredients until combined. The cookie dough will be quite thick. Add the toasted chopped pecans, mix on low for about 5-10 seconds until evenly distributed. Cover dough tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory for this cookie dough.
- Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes—if the cookie dough chilled longer than 3 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. This makes the cookie dough easier to scoop and roll.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Once chilled, the dough might be slightly crumbly, but will come together if you work the dough with your hands as you roll into individual balls. Scoop and roll balls of dough, about 1 Tablespoon of dough each, into balls. You may roll the cookie dough balls into the 1/3 cup of granulated sugar listed under the “optional” ingredients. It’s optional because I merely did this for looks—the sugar gives them a pretty sparkle. Or you can bake the cookies without the sugar rolling and sprinkle with a little sea salt when they come out of the oven. If you love salty/sweet, do the sea salt.
- Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes (13 minutes for crispier cookies), until slightly golden brown around the edges. My oven has hot spots and yours may too- so be sure to rotate the pan once during bake time. The baked cookies will look extremely soft in the centers when you remove them from the oven. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. If the cookies are too puffy, try gently pressing down on them with the back of a spoon. They will slightly deflate as you let them cool. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week. You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 5. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
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- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
How will the cookies come out using salted butter? We are waiting for a hurricane and I cannot go to the store to get unsalted butter.
Hi Diana, salted butter will work just fine here. You can reduce the salt if you wish, but that’s not necessary here. Let us know how you like the cookies!
This recipe was absolutely AMAZING! I opted for topping the cookies with salt at the end and it balanced the flavor out really well. They’re so gooey and savory-sweet! Will definitely be making again.
Hi! Been enjoying your recipes! Though, for this particulae one, would it be a mandatory chill for at least 3 hours or can I get away with it for 1 hour?
Hi Ann, we highly recommend sticking to 3 hours. Anything less and the cookies may over spread. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
I loved this recipe, the cookies turned out great ! Toasting the pecans made a res
I loved this recipe, the cookies came out great ! The toasting of the nuts made all the difference .
I have butter pecan extract as well as vanilla. How much butter pecan extract would you use along with the vanilla extract?
Hi Albert, we haven’t tried adding it here, but you could start with 1/2-1 tsp. Let us know how they turn out!
Could I substitute almond flour for the all purpose? If so what amount?
Hi Shaelah, We don’t recommend almond flour as it has very different baking properties and is not a 1:1 swap with all-purpose. We haven’t tested it, but you might have success experimenting with a gluten-free all-purpose flour like Bob’s Red Mill or Cup4Cup. If you give anything a try, we’d love to know how it goes for you!
Where is the nutritional information for this recipe? I can’t see it anywhere
Hi Jill! We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
I love this one. Do you think you could do a slice and bake with it? I’m kind of interested in rolling it in chopped pecans next time.
Hi Erin! Here’s our pecan slice and bake cookies recipe – happy baking!
I made these and rolled them in the cinnamon sugar coating that is used for the pumpkin snicker doodles (which are also awesome). The cinnamon gave these cookies a nice complimentary flavor.
These cookies are fantastic! What a great flavor combination. I loved dipping them in my coffee!, a great treat!!!
Success! My husband’s first response was “this is a delicious cookie” I changed nothing. Followed the recipe exactly. Refrigerated over night and used a medium ice cream scooper. Perfection! Love everything I’ve ever made from Sally’s Baking Addiction
We’re so glad they were a hit, Linda!
Recipe looks delicious. One question: May I bake with convection or do you suggest traditional bake. If convection, do I reduce time or temp or do the cookies dry out more. Thanks for your advice
Hi Suzan, I recommend conventional. All of my recipes are tested with a conventional oven. If using convection, the general rule is to reduce the temperature down by 25°F.
This is second time to bake these cookies… my absolute favourite! Full of buttery goodness and with the toasted pecans these cookies are at another level. Thank you Sally for sharing your recipes with the world. Your website is my go-to for tested recipes. I’ve made several of your recipes and they never disappoint.
This recipe makes delicious cookies & is easy to follow. It reminds me of the butter pecan cookies my great grandmother in the South use to make
Perfection in a cookie. Yes, make these. Yes, take 5 minutes to toast the pecans. Yes, hide a stash in the cupboard just for you, because these will be gone in a blink.