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.
Cannot use coconut flour or oil. What do I use.
You can use all almond flour.
Can I use xanthan gum as a substitute for gelatin? If yes, how much?
I have not tested this with xg. I’d suggest using 1 teaspoon if you want to try it.
Husband approved! His new favorite cookie!
Have you ever used agar powder instead of gelatin? Agar is vegetarian sub for gelatin.
Thank you! Love your recipes!
Taryn, this recipe is magic–so much better than a pecan sandie! I don’t have an egg allergy, but sometimes it’s just nice to bake a cookie without eggs. Plus, the gelatin makes a nice, non-crumbly cookie that travels well. It is one of my husband’s favorite keto cookies… and I like that it’s so simple to make. Thank you!
Loved them. Would use a little less sweetner
These look delicious but I cant have almonds or coconut. I figure I can substitute the almond flour with cashew flour but what about the coconut flour, any ideas?
I’ve never baked with cashew flour but I think it would work to just use all cashew flour. If the dough seems too wet just add a little extra.
Saving up to buy the cookbook series! Yum!!
Best cookie recipe EVER!! Thank you for sharing!
Hi
I am Australian.
How much is a stick of butter?
Susan
4 oz which is 113 grams. I just added metric conversions within the recipe card.
Hallo Taryn! I baked the Butter Pecan Cookies few times already and there so amazing and so easy to bake. I love your recipes, I cooked and baked lots of your recipes already and there so good and healthy. And even my husband enjoyes you recipes. Keep up the good and healthy ways. Especially since I found out that I’m allergic to lots food items now. Thank you and Happy Halloween, sincerely, Gabriele
Sorry if this question is dumb, do you just at the two tsp of gelatin powder, or do you add water to gelatin ?
It’s ok! You just add the gelatin powder.
Can you use eggs if you don’t have gelatin?!
The gelatin is what makes them crisp. If you want you can sub in an egg but they will be cakey instead of crisp like shortbread.
In this recipe – could butter be substituted with coconut oil? I need to make a batch that is dairy free
I have not tested that but I’m pretty sure it would work. Please LMK how they turn out!
How would using honey as the sweetener replacement affect the cookies? I am looking for more natural sweetener for my daughter SCD diet.
I don’t think liquid honey would work. Granular honey or maple sugar should be ok.