My soft and chewy butter pecan cookies are made with toasted pecans, brown sugar, and plenty of butter. They are incredibly easy to make with NO mixer and NO chilling required! Recipe includes a how-to video!
The BEST Butter Pecan Cookies
Fans of my recent butter pecan cake will be thrilled to discover these equally buttery, rich, and flavorful butter pecan cookies! These cookies make a great treat year-round (I love bringing them to parties and potlucks!), but I especially love them during the fall when pecans are in-season. Definitely save this one for your holiday baking!
What’s to love:
- Quick: No chilling required and just 25 minutes of prep including the scooping and rolling (if you decide to roll them!).
- Easy: Since we start with melted butter instead of softened, there is NO MIXER REQUIRED! Melted butter also really infuses the butter flavor throughout the dough, which is important since these are butter pecan cookies!
- Incredible flavor: Toasted pecans, toffee bits, plenty of vanilla, and a sprinkle of sea salt…are you swooning over these cookies yet?!
- Soft & chewy results: My carefully chosen ingredients (melted butter, dark brown sugar, and an extra egg yolk) and baking technique (slightly underbake) ensure these cookies stay soft and chewy for days. On the other hand, if you’re looking for crunchy, buttery cookies, try my butter crunch cookies!
If you are a pecan lover (have you tried my Italian cream cake?!), you are absolutely going to love these cookies. I can’t wait to hear how you like them!
What You Need
All of these ingredients are pretty basic (okay, toffee bits might not be basic) and should already be in your pantry. Here are a few key players in today’s recipe.
- Toasted pecans. Toasting your pecans first is optional, but it will give your cookies the best flavor. I always recommend toasting your nuts and then chopping them; this helps them toast evenly and minimizes the chance of burning in your oven.
- Melted butter. Let your butter cool to the touch before adding your sugars, or you could melt the sugars and ruin your dough. No amount of chilling will fix this, unfortunately.
- Dark brown sugar. Dark brown sugar contains more molasses, which complements the flavors of the pecans.
- Egg + egg yolk. An extra yolk creates tender, moist, and chewy cookies. Adding a full extra egg would make the cookies spread more and would require a chilling step, which I wanted to avoid here. Save the leftover egg white for candied pecans!
- Toffee bits. These are optional, but I love the extra flavor and texture they add. Feel free to crush up some homemade toffee, or use toffee bits sold in the baking aisle at your grocery store. If you grab the store-bought version, you can even use the kind that is coated in chocolate–yum!
SAM’S TIP: Measure your flour properly, or you could end up with a difficult, tough dough. This dough is already stiff, so adding extra flour could make it VERY hard to work with. I also recommend you add your flour gradually for this very reason.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Butter Pecan Cookies
- Stir the sugars into the cooled melted butter until combined.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and stir well, then set aside.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually add them to the wet ingredients. I like to do this in three parts and recommend you do the same.
- Add the toasted chopped pecans and toffee pieces (if using) and stir until incorporated. The dough will be stiff–this is normal!
- Scoop the dough into rounded 1 ½ tablespoon balls and roll between your palms, if desired. Place 2″ apart on parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes at 350F. Let the cookies cool completely on their baking sheets before enjoying.
SAM’S TIP: Do not over-bake your cookies! 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
This will happen if your butter is too warm when you add your sugars. Just like when making brown butter toffee cookies, you must let the butter cool to the touch (don’t let it re-solidify though) before adding the sugars, or the sugars will melt and the dough will be ruined. No amount of chilling will fix this unfortunately, so the best thing to do is prevent it from happening in the first place!
This is a stiffer dough, but if yours is overly dry and won’t come together, you may have accidentally added too much flour. I recommend using a kitchen scale to prevent this.
Dry dough can also be caused by adding the dry ingredients all at once instead of gradually, which is why I recommend doing this step in a few parts. Lastly, if your cookies are so stiff they won’t spread, just flatten them on the baking sheet before baking them.
Yes! These butter pecan cookies freeze well. Just follow the instructions for drop cookies in my how to freeze cookie dough post.
Just look at that perfect soft and chewy texture! My favorite 🥰
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Butter Pecan Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ (175 g) heaping cups pecan halves
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled until no longer warm
- 1 ¼ cup (250 g) dark brown sugar tightly packed
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups (375 g) all purpose flour**
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (120 g) Heath Toffee bits optional, but recommended!
- Flaky sea salt for sprinkling, optional
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
Toast Pecans (optional)
- 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.
Cookie Dough
- In a large bowl, combine melted butter and sugars. Stir well.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 ¼ cup (250 g) dark brown sugar, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- Add eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir until well-combined.1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.3 cups (375 g) all purpose flour**, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients until completely combined.
- Coarsely chop your pecans then stir in the pecans and toffee bits until combined.1 ½ (175 g) heaping cups pecan halves, ½ cup (120 g) Heath Toffee bits
- 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. Sprinkle with sea salt while warm.
- Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet and they will finish baking through as they cool but will stay nice and soft!
Notes
**How to measure flour
If you are using cups, the best way to measure out your flour is to stir it in its bag/container then spoon it into your measuring cup and level off the measuring cup. Packing in your flour (over-measuring it) will leave you with a dry/crumbly cookie dough.Storing
Store any leftover, cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Related Recipes
Recipe originally published December of 2018. Post has been updated with new photos and a new video, but recipe remains the same.
Lib
The are delicious! Thanks for the measurements in grams 😊.
Liv from Holland
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the butter pecan cookies, Liv. Thank you so much for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Heather
These came out fantastic! I added some white chocolate chips and they were to die for! Thank you for recipe!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the cookies, Heather! Thanks for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Wendy Nesbitt
when I rolled my cookie dough in a ball..halfway through I noticed they were not flattening..so I had to flatten myself.. they were not soft and chewy they were very dry…the cookie dough it,self didn,t seem moist enough…Please Help! thanks Wendy
Sam
Hi Wendy! Typically if the dough isn’t soft enough it means the flour is over-measured. I would check out my post on how to measure flour and see if that helps, I hope it does!
Wendy Nesbitt
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
Hello, Wendy! You can use a hand mixer to combine the ingredients, but it’s not necessary since the butter is melted. As far as heavy cream, that is not needed in this recipe. I hope that you enjoy the cookies! Happy Baking. 🙂
Janice
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
Thank you, Janice! I am so glad that you enjoyed the butter pecan cookies and even happier that they were husband approved. 🙂
Caitlyn
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
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
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
Question: is it.possible to substitute 1T of heavy cream for the egg yolk?
Thank you.
Sam
Hi Loren! Unfortunately, I don’t think that will work here.
Tiara
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
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
Those would be chocolate chip cookies with pecans. 🙂
Z
Hi,
Lovely recipe!
Do you measure the butter then melt it?
Thanks!
Z
Sam
Hi Z! Yes I always measure first. Enjoy!
Steven
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
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed, Steven! Thank you for commenting, I appreciate it 🙂
Rose
What can you use instead of cornstarch ? Can the cornstarch be omitted ?
Sam
Hi Rose! You can use flour, but the cookies won’t be quite as soft and chewy. 🙂
Angie
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
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
Yes i did read that, when i measure flour i never scoop because of how that packs the flour.
Sam
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
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
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Sophie! 🙂
Lynn
These look so delish! I’m definitely making these soon! 😋 Thank you, for the recipe.
Sam
I hope you love them, Lynn! 🙂
Sophie
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
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!