Butter Pecan Cookies
These Butter Pecan Cookies live up to their name. They are buttery and chock full of pecans. They are crisp, sweet, and are the perfect sweet bite after supper. Whether you need keto cookies or not these are divine.
These are one of my favorite cookies ever. I made them for the first time as a newlywed almost 13 years ago when this recipe came in my little Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazine. I’ve made them countless times since. I loved those little Everyday Food recipe books when I had a subscription. As a new bride cooking for 2 for the first time, I needed a bit of help.
I’ve always enjoyed cooking. My best friend and I used to destroy our moms’ kitchens regularly with our experiments. Like typical teenagers, we did things like put Twizzlers into pancakes to see what would happen. They melted and made a mess.
Meg and I had a blast but between crazy experiments and spending my teenage years as a vegetarian, there were many things I needed to learn how to cook correctly. In the early 2000s, Food Network wasn’t around that I remember so I resorted to cookbooks and magazines. I still have a folder of dozens of recipes I cut from magazines or jotted down on scraps of paper from cookbooks from the library.
A few of my favorite recipes have been inspired by the Everyday Food books. Like this Cranberry Upside Down Cake.
When I perfected my shortbread cookie dough early this month I knew that adding pecans to it would change it into the special sweet known as Butter Pecan Cookies. My husband has always loved this butter pecan cookie recipe as well. He’s not a huge sweets guy but he has a special place in his heart for nut cookies.
Ingredients
Pecans – You can use raw pecans or toast them and cool them first to enhance their flavor. To toast pecans place them on a baking sheet and bake for 6-7 minutes at 400. Watch them closely and check them often. They can burn easily.
Almond Flour – Almond flour has a mild flavor so you don’t taste it in these cookies but it gives keto recipes a great texture.
Coconut Flour – I add a bit of coconut flour to balance the oiliness of the almond flour. You cannot taste it.
Salted Butter – When baking I always use salted butter. If you have unsalted butter just add a pinch of salt.
Sweetener – I use a blend of granular sweeteners with stevia. You will roll the cookie dough balls in the sweetener as well as add it to the dough. I do offer alternatives in the recipe card like monk fruit sweetener.
Gelatin – This is my secret ingredient in keto cookies. It acts as a binder, replacing eggs. It keeps them crisp whereas eggs can make cookies made with alternative flour cakey.
Vanilla Extract – Vanilla enhances the other flavors naturally.
How to Make Butter Pecan Cookies
If you loved pecan sandies growing up I’m sure you’ll love this recipe too. They are ready before you could even put on your coat and head out to the store to buy a package. And with healthy ingredients, my pecan cookies recipe is the better choice.
Step One: Using a food processor to mix up the dough for these is the way to go. If you don’t have a food processor you can finely chop the nuts by hand and then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until the dough looks like my dough in the below photo.
Step Two: Scoop the dough with a medium cookie scoop. Place each of the dough balls in the sweetener and press down. Rolling the dough in sweetener and pressing them out helps to create a crisper cookie.
It can be tricky to get cookies with almond flour to firm up like a traditional shortbread. The method paired with my eggless cookie dough creates the perfect shortbread texture!
Step Three: Bake until golden brown on parchment paper lined baking sheets.
Variations
Nuts – Swap out the pecans for cashews, hazelnuts, peanuts, walnuts, or almonds.
Pecan Flour – Swap some or all of the almond flour for pecan flour to double down on the pecan flavor.
Chocolate Chips – Make these into a pecan chocolate chip cookie recipe by adding your favorite chocolate chips. Make sure to use sugar free chocolate chips or keto chocolate chips, if needed.
Browned Butter – If you want to make these with brown butter you will have the brown the butter ahead of time and chill it until it is cold before proceeding with the recipe.
Brown Sugar Sweetener – You can swap in a light brown sugar sweetener if you prefer.
Regular Sugar – I think that regular granular sugar would work in this recipe but I have not tested it.
Ice Cream Sandwiches – Sandwich two of these with some Keto Butter Pecan Ice Cream for an amazing treat.
Common Questions
How do I make Crisp Keto Cookies?
Using gelatin in place of eggs in recipes is the trick I’ve found to crisp up keto diet cookies made with alternative flours like almond flour and coconut flour.
I use gelatin in place of eggs in my other eggless cookies too.
How do I store Butter Pecan Cookies?
This recipe makes 16 medium-sized cookies perfect for dunking into a glass of reduced carb milk to serving alongside a cup of steaming coffee. I always add them to my cookie trays at Christmas and have frequently gifted them to family and friends. I store all my low carb baked goods in the fridge so they last longer but these are fine on the counter for a few days. And they freeze really well!
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Video
Butter Pecan Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 oz cold salted butter cut into pieces
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/3 cup coconut flour
- 2/3 cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes) divided
- 2 tsp gelatin
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine the butter, almond flour, coconut flour, 1/3 cup of the sweetener, gelatin, and vanilla in a food processor. Pulse until wet crumbs form. Add the pecans. Pulse until they are chopped. The dough will come together into a ball as the pecans are chopped.
- Divide the dough into 16 pieces. Put the remaining 1/3 cup sweetener in a shallow bowl. Roll each piece of dough into a ball. Put in the sweetener and press it into a disc. Flip it over and press again so both sides are dusted with sweetener. Put on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the edges are golden. (Begin checking these around the 8-10 minute mark, they seem to bake fast in some ovens).
Notes
Nutrition
All of these low carb keto cookie recipes are eggless!
Jam Thumbprint Low Carb Cookies
English Toffee Cappuccino Cookies
Healthy Fruit Pizza Cookies with Keto Cream Cheese Frosting
Almond Crunch Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Please let me know which low carb cookie recipes you try in the comments.
Originally Published December 18, 2016. Revised and Republished July 20, 2023.
These are excellent. I’ve never made cookies with gelatin before and I’m really pleased with the result. I will be making many more of these – and adding choc chips to some of them! Now I just need to find the perfect, crisp cracker for cheese. My husband will definitely be a keto convert then – all his favourite food groups covered!
My daughter in law adds sugar free pudding to her cookie recipes and they puff up!!
Just a question before I start baking these yummy biscuits. Two teaspoons of gelatin? Excuse my stupidity but I’ve only ever seen it in leaf form, so do I crush up two tsp worth or melt some and measure that any? Help please.
Gelatin also comes in a powder form. That would work better for this recipe. I think you could crush up the leaves but I’m not sure how many. Here is the powdered gelatin: https://amzn.to/2R6urEi
You can buy knox gelatin in the grocery store near the Jello. many use it to make finger jello.
I just made these after enjoying them in the past. However, they turned out way too dark. I double checked the temperature (350) and baking time, only 17 minutes of the 17-19 time suggested. Have you changed the baking time or did I miss something? After they’ve cooled I hope they taste as good as they did the first time.
Hi Sharon, I have not edited the recipe. Could your oven be running hot?
I made these the other night and they tasted wonderful….but mine didn’t turn out crispy……I don’t know what I did wrong but I will try again….They kinda fell apart when I picked them up….Any suggestions? It didn’t stop us from eating them, though because they tasted so good.
Hi Charlotte, did you substitute any ingredients? Did you bake them on parchment?
So I don’t usually comment but I couldn’t help it. I bake not only for the food but because it evokes memories of family and warmth. Tonight, I made regular “off-plan” chocolate chip cookies for the family and was craving something sweet to snack on for myself. I found your recipe and decided to give it a try. I was so pleased with the results, it was easy, and I rejoiced in the success of a phenomenal cookie (which I’ve had trouble making on Thm). THANK YOU FOR THIS RECIPE!!!!!
Would using just xylitol, or erythritol, and not a blended sweetener work out the same ? I don’t care for anything with stevia in it. Thanks !
It should but you will need to add more. The sweeteners with stevia are stronger.
Thanks so much !
This is my husband’s favorite cookie! Pecan Sandies were his favorite store bought cookie. When I make them I sneak a couple for me too! They are so yummy! 😀
The best! Scrumptious & a plus they’re also easy. Most delicious LC cookies I’ve made. Yes, better than Pecan Sandies. Brilliant to add gelatin. Going to add to my never crisp cookie recipes. Thank for a major treat.
So glad you liked them! The trick is subbing gelatin for eggs. If the other recipes are egg heavy just adding gelatin probably won’t crisp them up.
Just made these not baked yet but the batter tastes amazing had to clean the bowl lol
What gelatin do you use?
I use knox. Any unflavored powdered gelatin will work.
I can only have Stevia as a sweetener. Would just stevia work in this recipe instead of the blend?
I don’t think so, sorry. I think this needs the bulk of the sugar alcohols.
Just tried these yesterday and loved them! I also gave some to the skeptics in family and they all said they were really good. I don’t usually leave comments but this one deserved one. I’m always impressed with all of your recipes, there is not one I have not liked, you are great at what you do, keep going!
Would THM Baking Blend work in this recipe?
I don’t think they would get the same crispness with baking blend.
Made these today, they were AWESOME! My husband and I both really like pecan sandies, however I gave up refined sugars and flours a couple years ago so we have missed the… till now! Couldn’t have been easier to make and we both agree that they taste better than the pecan sandies ever did. Thank you so much for sharing this great recipe..
can you use xanthan instead of gelatin?
I’m not sure that would work in this recipe. The gelatin is the binder since these cookies do not have eggs.