Thick, chewy, and insanely delicious Butter Pecan Cookies! And they’re freezer friendly, too!
Do you follow me on Instagram? If you do, you may have seen me make this recipe on Instastories last week. I posted a couple of pictures of the cookies when they came out of the oven and within a few hours I had received over 100 requests for the recipe! So while I wasn’t planning on posting these until Fall, I decided to shuffle around my editorial calendar and share them with you today. Because I love giving you what you want! And according to my inbox… you definitely want these butter pecan cookies!
So as I mentioned earlier, I was originally planning on sharing these cookies with you in October… when my first book is released! I’ll be sharing 5 recipes from the book with you, so that you can get a sneak peak and see if it’s right for you. Of course this recipe will be in the book, along with chapters and chapters more! I’m pouring my heart and soul into this project. And I’m really excited to share more details about it with you soon.
But for now, let’s focus on these cookies. Because they’re incredible! Each bite is super chewy, perfectly crunchy, and so flavorful. The flavor comes from brown butter, a pinch of cinnamon, and plenty of toasted pecans. Pecans toasted in BUTTER, that is. Because when it comes to butter pecan cookies, more butter is always better.
Tips and Tricks for Recipe Success:
- First of all, let me ask you a question: do you know how to brown butter? If you do, feel free to skip this lecture. But if you don’t, I’ve got you covered! Browning butter is insanely simple and I’m going to walk you through each step! To brown butter you’ll need a skillet or saute pan, butter, and a little patience. You’ll melt the butter as normal, then continue to cook it over medium heat – stirring occasionally – until it reaches a golden brown color. Watch your butter closely as it browns, because it can burn easily! Once it’s nice and golden brown, remove it from the heat and pour it into a heatproof bowl – being sure to scrape all of the golden bits off the bottom of the pan. And that’s it! Easy, right?
- Make sure you finely chop your pecans before toasting them.
- Because the butter is in a liquid form when we add it to the cookie dough, this recipe does require chilling. But just for 2 hours! Of course you can chill it longer, or scoop it and freeze the cookie dough balls until needed.
- For decoration, you can press a pecan on top of the cookie dough before they bake. You can also sprinkle the cookies with a little granulated sugar right when they come out of the oven for a sparkly effect!
- Finally, be sure you don’t over bake these cookies! They only need 9 minutes in the oven, and will firm up quite a bit as they cool. Over baked cookies will be dry and crumbly… not chewy like we want!
I had my family over for dinner last night and everyone loved these cookies! Even my brother who typically refuses anything that doesn’t involve chocolate. In fact, he took the last 2 home with him! Which was actually a bummer, because I’d love to dunk one in my coffee right now.
Time to preheat the oven…
If you try this recipe for Butter Pecan Cookies, let me know! Leave a comment below and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it #bakerbynature on instagram! Seeing your kitchen creations makes my day.
And next, try my Overnight Pecan Pie French Toast! It’s so easy and delicious.
Butter Pecan Cookies
Prep
Cook
Inactive
Total
Yield 16 large cookies
Thick and chewy Butter Pecan Cookies... made with brown butter! YUM.
Ingredients
For the Buttered Pecans:
1 and 1/2 cups pecan halves, finely chopped
1 and 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
For the Butter Pecan Cookies:
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 and 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, melted until browned
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
16 pecan halves, for decoration, optional
Instructions
For the Buttered Pecans:
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in chopped pecans and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Set aside until needed.
For the Butter Pecan Cookies:
- In a large bowl combine flour, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda; whisk well to combine then set aside until needed.
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat; continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Remove pan from heat and pour butter into a large, heatproof mixing bowl. Add in both sugars and whisk well to combine. Add in vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating until eggs are just combined.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour, stirring until just combined. Fold in the buttered pecans.
- Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, and up to 2 days. If you refrigerate for more than 4 hours, you'll need to let the dough sit at room temperature until it's scoopable.
To Bake:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop 3 tablespoon sized rounds of dough onto the prepared sheet, leaving 2 inches in between each cookie for spreading. Firmly press a pecan half on top of each ball of cookie dough, if desired, then bake in preheated oven for 9 minutes, or until edges are set and the center is still a little jiggly. Sprinkle warm cookies with a little granulated sugar, if desired. Allow cookies to cool on the pan for 15 minutes, then carefully transfer to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
Notes
- Cookies will stay "fresh" for 3 days when stored in an airtight container.
- Cookie dough will keep in the fridge for 48 hours. Alternatively, you may scoop and freeze the cookie dough for up to 2 months. You will need to add an extra minute or two to the bake time if baking frozen dough.
- You can make smaller sized cookies, but you'll need to decrease the bake time by a minute or two.
- For decoration, you may sprinkle granulated sugar on the cookies right when they come out of the oven.
Hey! Can I use almonds or other kind of nuts instead of pecans ?
I think that should work just fine 🙂
Hi! Yum! I’m going to make these right way! After browning the butter, do you wait a for it to cool before adding the sugars, vanilla and eggs?
Thanks,
Ann
No need to wait 🙂 Just be sure to add the sugars first, then quickly whisk in the eggs!
Hi Ashley!
My name is Anna and I’m from Barcelona. First of all let me tell you that I’ve done several of your recipes and they are all fantastic!! So for sure I will include your book to my Xmas Wishlist this year. Just a small suggestion about your recipes… Have you ever thought about the possibility to write some of them also on “grams”?? cups, sticks, tbs and ts are a chaos for me… thanks for reading!
Hi Anna! Thanks so much for the kind comment 🙂 The book will include weight measurements for all recipes, and we may make that switch on the blog soon too!
Will u leave the cups and teaspoon measurements also?
Of course! Those will always be included 🙂
How many cookies does this recipe make? I see you have 16 pecan halves for the tops. Hoping the recipe makes more than that.
Hi Anna, these sound delicious. I’d love to incorporate maple into these cookies some how. Would you omit the vanilla and add in maple flavoring ? Or would you toast the pecans in pure maple syrup in place of the butter amount required to toast them? ThAnks so much
Domino makes a maple flavored pourable sugar, try using that instead of brown sugar
Hi Ashley, i’d like to add maple to these cookies. Would you suggest omitting vanilla and adding maple flavoring in its place? Or would you feel that using pure maple syrup to toast the pecans? Using the same amount of syrup instead of butter ? Thanks so much. I can’t wait to try these.
I read your recipe, I live in Australia and we don’t get sticks of butter, so how much butter would I use?
One cup
Hi I live in Australia, your recipe sounds fab. question how much butter as we don’t get sticks of butter? is it Just 8oz or 16oz
1 stick equals 1/2 cup so you’ll need 1 cup for this recipe
In the U.S. a stick of butter is 1/2 cup
8 oz
4oz stick is a quarter pound
Can’t wait to make these
Thank you Ashley for sharing – these look absolutely delicious! I can’t wait to bake some! I have one question, it appears you may have something sprinkles on top of the cookies, like sugar, but I didn’t see anything mentioned about this on your blog or recipe?
She mentioned at the end to sprinkle granulated sugar on top if you choose, to give a sparkly effect. Made these and they are dangerously delicious.
When does the cornstarch get added in? With the flour?
Hi Anna. Yes, please see step one for making the cookies. It’s included in the list of dry ingredients that are combined 🙂
Hi there, just wondering why you use cornstarch in this recipe. 🙂
Hi Laura! It makes the cookies extra thick and chewy.
Can you out the corn starch if you don’t want the thickness
Hello. These look fantastic. I was wondering if these could be made with almond flor. I am a celiac and have to stay away from gluten. Thanks
Hi Penny. Unfortunately I do not think this recipe would work with almond flour. However a gluten free cup for cup flour replacement could!
I’ve been looking for a great pecan cookie recipe! I finally found it! I made the dough a day ahead and baked the cookies the next morning and…wa la….they are to die for!!!! I will be making these cookies again and again. I guess it’s time to delete all the other cookie recipes. No need to hang on to them. Thank you for posting this recipe! On a scale from 1 to 10. These cookies are a 10!
Hi,
Did you turn out 16 cookies when you made them?
In the photo, it looks like there is sugar sprinkled on top of the cookies. Is the true?
Yes! It’s just granulated sugar, but you could use fine sea salt, or leave them as is 🙂
Hi I have made several of your recipes just would like to know can these cookies be frozen and if so how long?
Hi Ashley,
These look AMAZING!!
I’m kind of new to this, quick question.
If I use my medium cookie dough scoop, which holds 1.5 TBSP of dough, I’m assuming that effectively will make double the amount of cookies, is that correct? Because 3 TBSP of dough is a really large cookie? I’m sorry, I’m trying to picture it in my head.
I noticed you said to shorten the bake time by one or two minutes. Does that apply to the size I’d get when using a 1.5 TBSP cookie dough scoop?
Thank you!!
I made these last night and everyone loved them took some that I left at home to work the next day and they want more!. My cookies turned out more flat then the picture. I would probably test bake a couple. I might have messed up measuring I will definitely try again
Hi Kristi! The longer you chill the dough, the thicker the cookies will come out 🙂
Made these today and the flavor is amazing, but they cookies spread waaaaayyy too much. Next time I will either add more flour or just add the chopped, buttered pecans to a brown butter cookie base that’s consistently worked.
Hi Emily! I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor. These cookies bake up super thick… so I’d love to help troubleshoot why yours spread so much. Did you chill the dough? Another possibility could be your oven runs low. The high heat helps keep the cookies from spreading too much. If you have any questions, just let me know 🙂
I had the same issue. I even froze the dough balls and baked them straight from the freezer. Every last one was like a pancake.
Hi Meghan. Was your cookie dough thick and scoopable?
I have made these like 7 times because the flavor was so good, but I had trouble getting the texture too. For me it was a combination of things. One was that the pecans were still a little to buttery/wet when I added them to the batter. I cook them for a little longer now, and make sure my pecan pieces are chopped really well to absorb the butter.
My other problem was that I was pressing the cookies into a cookie shape (when I added the pecan), now I make them into weird little towers, and they turn out perfectly.
In the photos, its look like there is salt on top of the cookies, yet the recipe says. What did you use in the pics that is not in the recipe?
Hi Stacey. It’s just plain granulated sugar, which is mentioned in the notes section 🙂 However you could sprinkle sea salt on top; I’m sure that would be delish!
These are exactly what I expected- they taste so much like Pecan Pie. Yummy! They are fantastic cookies. A new favorite. Thank you for sharing your recipe. My family is grateful.
OH MY GOD
these cookies look out of this world-so thick and I lovelovelove pecans and brown butter in cookies, always!
I’m confused about the scooping of dough onto the cookie sheet. Am I suppose to scoop 1 tablespoon at a time and STACK two more on top of the first scoop? or is it only 1 scoop to make one cookie????
Hi! Just scoop it for your liking! I would do 1 spoon at a time. Just take a table spoon. It’s depends on what size of cookie you want! Be creative!
These sound wonderful! I always associate pecans with fall, so I’m glad I found these now that the weather’s cooling off. I’m looking forward to trying them!
Can I bake these cookies in a moon pie pan? My cookies never look uniform size.
Do I put it on the top or bottom inside the oven?
I always bake cookies on the middle rack 🙂
I made these cookies for dinner night with the in laws and they were delicious. My husband has the idea of next time putting a Hershey kiss on top instead of a pecan. We can’t wait to try that!
I only have salted butter, will that work for these cookies? Or is it a must I use unsalted butter. Well it affect the taste?
Even though it’s not recommended by professional bakers, I always use salted butter. Honestly I can’t taste a difference!
Why only 3 at a time
To make the scoop of three tablespoons of dough, use a measuring spoon. Measure one tablespoon of dough at a time. Take the three lumps of dough and mold them together. This should be the size of the scoop mentioned in the recipe, right?
Yes!
I just prepared these last night and so excited to try them! Right now they are in the fridge. How long should I keep them out to be scoopable?
Usually 30 minutes will soften it up enough 🙂
I made them yesterday. Delicious!
Yay! Happy holidays 🙂
Would using Vegan butter and vegan egg still work I. This recipe?
I made these vegan successfully. Earth Balance doesn’t “brown,” but I melted it and heated it up to develop some flavor. I used Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer. Very delicious and they are out very thick and chewy as described.
Hi! Can you freeze the baked cookies?
Hi Ashley from deep East Texas!! My great Grandmother baked a cookie every Xmas almost exactly like this and it was an absolute FAVORITE!! I can’t wait to make them!
I have just one question. I have gone to using raw coconut sugar and this is a very dark and damp sugar all alone. Would you suggest using it in place of Only the brown sugar and using a stevia baking blend for the white or using it for the total amount?? What are your suggestions?? I have MS and have to stick primarily to a very regimented “no refined sugars” diet” however , we do make exceptions when absolutely necessary……!!
For a while I’ve been seeing all kinds of recipes using brown butter but I haven’t tried it. Today seems like the perfect time!! I’m using large pecan pieces simply because they’re more affordable and I have them. Thanxabunch for sharing!!
Love the cookies Thank you for sharing I made them can they be frozen after they have been baked?
Can you use lite brown sugar and lite brown syurp?
I love to cook and bake and share so when I saw these cookies I decided that was what I was going to make for husband’s co-workers and him. I go make it and my “cookies” came out flat! Really flat. So I read comments and re-read the recipe multiple times and I believe I found the error I committed. Others may have done this as well. When it came to the butter, I read 2 sticks (8 ounces). I must of misinterpreted this as meaning 2 sticks 8 ounces each instead of total. I believe this is the error I made. I believe when I try again they will be delicious. Unfortunately hubby and co-workers will have to wait.
These cookies are excellent!!! The browned butter provides a rich and savory flavor that pairs well with the sweetness of the brown sugar. The crunchy exterior and chewy interior is what makes this cookie a perfectly delectable treat. Highly recommended!
These look amazing!! They will be added to my wedding baking list! Do you think they will work to slice and bake? I am hoping to stock pile some cookies before for easy baking! I can not wait to try them!!
Hi Taylor! I honestly don’t think they’ll work as slice and bake, but I can’t say for sure as I haven’t tried. If you do try, I would suggest dividing the dough in two logs and placing them in the fridge to chill for at least 6 hours.
I made these gluten free with America’s test kitchen blend. They turned out delicious. I stacked two 1 1/2 scoops. Still came out flatterthan I would like. I will try less butter next time. I used the 8oz specified. I know gluten free sometimes uses less butter I chilled them 2 1/2 hours.
Hello. Found your pecan browned butter cookie recipe yesterday and made them right away. Followed your recipe exactly and the cookies turned out perfectly! They look just like your photos! I baked half of the dough and froze the remaining dough balls. This recipe is very adaptable because it is such a great foundation. Next time I’m going to add dried cranberries and I might add chocolate chips to a batch. Might be my favorite cookie recipe yet! Thank you for sharing!
Mine was a success! They’re just like the pictures (although I must say mine a bit thicker…lol) . I have no problem making this, only need lots of patience making the melted butter. I made gumbo last time, making the melted butter and gumbo roux almost similar… gotta have patience to do it. Thank you for the recipe, I like it a lot!
I plan to try these very soon. If you put a slice of fresh bread into a sealed container along with your cookies, they should stay moist longer than three days. They would not last in my house that long due to all of the little grand babies..lol!
Can you please clarify the butter amount? Is it two 8-ounce sticks, or a total of 8 ounces? Thank you
There are 4 ounces in a US stick of butter. So 2 sticks of butter would equal 8 ounces.
I just finished making these cookies and they are sooooo good! They are chewy and nutty from the butter and pecans. I found a new cookie recipe.
Just made the dough for the cookies. You forgot to say when to add the toasted Pecans so I added them to the butter / sugar. / egg mixture. Then folded the dry ingredients into the wet. Seems to have worked, It is now chilling less the “Samples” of the DELICIOUSNESS in the bowl. Remember to have a close friend try each recipe to make sure steps are not left out. I am a savvy cook so it didn’t throw me. Great flavor on this one. Can’t wait to try a cooked cookie!
Hi Ellen. Folding in the pecans is in step 3 🙂 Hope you love them as much as we do!
These are AMAZING!!!! Hard to stop at just one. Definitely will make again.
Did you use a regular oven or convection? These look so delicious! Can’t wait to try them!
I made the cookies exactly to what your recipe called for. Mine turned out flat too. In looking at your raw scoops, it looks like you stacked the three Tablespoons of dough (1 on top of the other). My scoop is a 3 tablespoon scoop and I filled it and then scooped it out on the baking sheet. Also at 9 minutes mine weren’t near done, not even that brown so I gave them an extra minute and a half and took them out. I also think my oven is baking too low at 375 degrees. Im goin to make another batch tomorrow and put my oven up a tad and see if the cookies come out thicker. Otherwise they are delicious but don’t look as pretty as yours!
I’ve got the dough in the refrigerator chilling but the dough did not seem stiff. Is this typical? If not, what can I do to save it? Thank you.
It will firm up in the fridge 🙂 If it still seems too thin, try adding a 1/4 cup of flour to the batter, but it shouldn’t be needed!
Best cookie ever and I made them gluten free.
Yay! So happy to hear it, Dan 🙂
I’d like to know your recipe if you don’t mind sharing. I eat gf also.
1.What Do you mean when you say 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, melted until browned
2.what if I only have salted butter
what if i only have salted butter
Do you have to brown the butter? What will the cookies taste like without browning the butter?
Would it work to make as a sheet cookie?
Really good cookies. Think next time I might sprinkle finishing salt instead of sugar on top. Also considering rolling dough into a log in plastic wrap before chilling since it would make portioning much easier.
Hi! These look amazing!! I wanted to know if there’s any way to make this a eggless recipe and replace with flax sees, applesauce, etc? Sorry if I missed your response to any similar question above. Thank you!!
How fragile are these? Wondering if they would survive travel to my deployed son-in-law in a desert climate?
They’re not extremely fragile, and packed properly I think they would last up to 5 days.
New to baking so please forgive the elementary question
1-1/2 cups of pecans, finely chopped.
I want to make sure you measure out the pecan halves and then chop or do you measure out 1-1/2 cups of finely chopped pecans.
Without a doubt this is the very best cookie I’ve ever made! My husband says this is a seriously good cookie. Anyone who has tried one can’t get enough. I have to double the recipe every time and people still fight over them. They freeze well but my frozen ones only made it a week in the freezer.
Made these this afternoon, the only change I made was adding butterscotch chips. Aaaaamazing, thank you!!!
Hi Ashley – I have been baking for eons ( I’m a senior) and have so many recipes. However, this recipe is fantastic!!! I have made it many times for family and they gobble them all up right away. When I want a special treat to take to someone these are the cookies I make. As I write this comment I have a batch chilling in the fridge ready to be baked for gals in a office as a treat. Thanks for this recipe and so many of your other ones.
Hi Elaine! Thank you so much for this kind message 🙂 And I’m thrilled you love these cookies as much as we do! xo
Easy to make, and tasty!
So happy to hear it, Laurie!
My cookies came out tasting amazing! But they were thin. They were chewy in the middle though. What did I do wrong??
I made these today. 4-24 hours of chill time is overkill. I chilled 1 hour and 30 mins to becone plyable.
They were delicious. Out of pecans and uaed walnuts.
OHHH Mmmmmm Gosh….. these are the best cookies I have EVER eaten and nof difficult to make ! Thank you for sharing this recipe! Definitely going to bake them again! YUM!!!!!!!
This recipe is a keeper. I would emphasize the need to chill the dough. If I can, I chill my dough overnight. Also, I substitute bread flour for part of my flour, usually 20- 30%, spending on how much fat is called for. if the recipe can adapt to it, I use brown sugar, add an extra egg yolk, and bake the cookies at a slightly higher oven temp and make sure they don’t over bake. These things should help to keep cookies from flattening. Thanks for the great recipe. I’ve been baking for almost 50 years and my feeling is that there is always a good recipe around the corner!
This looks like a great Fall recipe!
I am considering making these as a bar cookie in a sheet pan and adding chocolate chunks.
I know I will have to adjust the cook time.
Have you tried this, and does it work?
I just made this cookie. Because I am GF I subbed GF flour for the regular flour. Other than that I followed the recipe. I think I overlooked by 1 minute but they still came out great. Love the taste.
These cookies are incredibly delicious! They don’t spread a lot, so size is close to how they are originally shaped. Will definitely make again!