Easy Recipe For Pecan Cookies

Thick, chewy, and insanely delicious Butter Pecan Cookies! Made with brown butter, brown sugar, and plenty of toasted butter pecans, these cookies are so flavorful. A must bake cookie recipe for the holiday season!

Do you follow me on Instagram? If yes, you may have seen me make this recipe on Instastories last week. I posted a couple of pictures of these pecan cookies when they came out of the oven and within just a few hours I had 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!

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.

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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.

Better. Warm from the oven, these cookies basically melt in your mouth. But after an hour or so, they firm up and are chewy in the middle and crunchy at the edges. If you’re a butter pecan fanatic (like me!) I highly suggest buying some butter pecan ice cream and making homemade ice cream sandwiches with these cookies

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!

Ingredient Pecan Sandies

To brown butter you’ll need a saucepan, butter, and a little patience. You’ll melt the butter as normal, then continue to cook it over medium heat – swirling the pan 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?

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, ate 3 of these chewy pecan cookies for dessert. Oh, and he took a few home, too!

If you try this recipe for Brown Sugar Pecan Cookies, let me know! Leave a comment below and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it # on instagram! Seeing your kitchen creations makes my day.

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Tried it and loved it? Snap a picture and share it with me on Instagram @ and by using the hashtag #Browned Butter Pecan Cookies are packed with buttered pecans, nutty browned butter, and caramely brown sugar - with crisp edges and rich, chewy centers. If a pecan praline were to turn itself into a cookie, this is exactly what it would taste like!

With crisp, caramelized edges and rich, chewy centers, these Butter Pecan Cookies are irresistible! Brown sugar and melted butter make them extra chewy.

Butter pecan isn’t just an ice cream flavor – although it is one of my faves. Butter pecans can also be found in cakes and cookies.

Pecan Sandies Recipe: How To Make It

Browned butter adds a wonderful depth of flavor to these Butter Pecan Cookies. Because they’re not loaded with chocolate or other strong flavors, the nutty flavor of the browned butter really shines through.

Using browned butter in these Butter Pecan Cookies is perfect, because melted butter in cookie dough gives chewy, dense, and fudgy interiors.

I like to use a light colored pan so that I can see exactly what’s happening on the bottom. It’s much harder to see the milk solids turning golden brown in a dark pan.

Easy Pecan Cookie Recipe

Melt the butter over medium-high heat and let it come to a boil, stirring occasionally. After it boils for a few minutes, you will see the milk solids on the bottom of the pan start to turn golden. I often notice this on the sides of the pan first.

When it starts turning golden in color, turn the heat lower and let it cook until the solids are a golden brown. This takes less than a minute and it burns fast so keep an eye on it. Pour the browned butter into the mixing bowl, scraping in all the yummy browned bits, so that it stops browning.

There is no one correct way to measure flour other than weighing it. If you don’t have a scale, or if the recipe you are following doesn’t give weight measurements, it’s important to measure the flour the same way the recipe writer measured. Hopefully the author provides either a weight or a method.

Perfect Coconut Cookies With Pecans

Two ways of measuring flour are the dip and sweep method and the spoon and level method. One is not more correct than the other, however there is a significant difference in weight between the two.

In the dip and sweep method, dip the measuring cup into the flour and scoop it out. Run the flat edge of a butter knife over the top to level off the flour.

My weights correspond to the dip and sweep method because that’s the method I learned from Cook’s Illustrated, Julia Child, and other cooks and cookbooks.

Pecan Shortbread Cookies With Chocolate Chips

For the spoon and level method, fluff the flour in the top of the bag, then spoon the flour into the measuring cup. Run the flat edge of a butter knife over the top to level off the flour.

In another large mixing bowl – the one you’ve poured the browned butter into – whisk together the browned butter, sugars, vanilla, and eggs.

I’m all for shortcuts, but this dough will need to be chilled for at least two hours or overnight. If the dough chills for longer than 4 hours, let it rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes so the dough is more workable.

Chewy Brown Butter Pecan Cookies

When the dough has chilled, roll it into balls. You can make them as big or small as you want. 3 tablespoon dough balls (60 grams) yields about 18 cookies.

Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet until the edges are set and just turning golden, about 9-12 minutes. The tops of the cookies should still be quite soft when you remove them from the oven, and may even appear slightly underbaked in center. They will firm up while cooling.

Do you ever have trouble with your cookies spreading out too far or not far enough? The temperature of the dough and the temperature of the oven plays a role it this.

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First, always weigh your ingredients carefully. Too little flour can make them spread too far, too much flour can prevent them from spreading enough. While there are differences in measuring methods, weighing the ingredients is exact.

Second, make sure your oven has had time to preheat. If your second batch comes out differently than your first batch, your oven may not have fully heated when you started.

Since some ovens run hot and some ovens run cold, an oven thermometer is the best way to keep track of the actual temperature.

Easy Recipe For Butter Pecan Cookies

Once you know your ingredients were measured correctly and your oven is at the correct temperature, let’s take a look at how the temperature of the cookie dough effects the spread of the cookie.

Flat, too spread out cookies: Cookie dough that is too warm and hasn’t been chilled long enough will spread out too far making a flat cookie. The butter in the cookie melts before the cookie has a chance to set. A lower oven temperature also allows the dough to spread out.

Puffy mounds that didn’t spread out: Cookie dough that is too cold will set before it has a chance to spread out resulting in a puffy mound. A too hot oven also causes the cookie to set quickly.

Butter Pecan Meltaways

To help you get the cookie that’s perfect for you, here are 3 different sets of cookies with varying dough and oven temperatures:

The 70° F cookie dough baked in a 350° oven had a medium spread and are the cookies in the photos in this post.

The 73° F cookie dough baked in a 350° oven had the most spread, however it was just slighter than the 70° cookie dough.

Pecan Shortbread Cookies

You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow to set at room temperature until the dough is workable or at the desired temperature, then roll into balls and bake.

Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Let the dough ball thaw while preheating