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Butter Pecan Shortbread Cookies. These tender and buttery shortbread cookies are loaded up with toffee bits and pecans. These easy to make cookies will soon be a family favorite!
These butter pecan shortbread cookies are loaded up with buttery goodness. Bits of sweet toffee. And crunchy bits of chopped pecans. These pecan cookies are so easy to make. Plus you can make them ahead of time, keep the dough wrapped in the fridge, and just cut off what you want and bake it at the time!
How to Make Butter Pecan Cookies:
I based this recipe off of the internet famous Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies by Alison Roman that appeared in her cookbook Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes (affiliate link)
Cream the butter and sugars. This recipe calls for SALTED butter. I never use salted butter in baking. Because I like to control the amount of salt in my baking, and salted butter can vary so much. But again, I’m basing this off of Alison’s recipe and she swore that salted butter was a must. The salted butter adds a deeper butter flavor to the cookies.
Use light brown and white sugars. This will help to give a deeper flavor to the cookies also. Which pairs so well with the toffee and pecans.
F.AQ’s about Butter Pecan Cookies:
Q: How long can I store this pecan cookie dough in the fridge?
A: This butter pecan shortbread cookie dough can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days, as long as it is wrapped in the plastic wrap completely. You can cut the cookie dough as desired and bake the cookies as needed. IF you need the dough to last longer, then you will need to freeze it.
Q: Can I freeze this pecan cookie dough?
A: Yes! Wrap the pecan cookie dough logs tightly in plastic wrap. Place them in plastic freezer bags. Then place in freezer. When ready to use, remove the cookie dough from the freezer, allow to sit out at room temperature for several minutes until easily able to be cut through and bake according to directions.
More cookie recipes to try:
- Brown Butter Toffee & Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Cinnamon Sugar Cookies
- Maple Cookies with Brown Butter Frosting
Butter Pecan Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter room temperature
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 2½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup toffee bits
- ½ cup pecans chopped
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl add the room temperature butter and sugars. Beat or mix together until combined.
- Add in the vanilla extract and egg. Mix to combine.
- Stir in the all purpose flour. Fold in the toffee bits and chopped pecans.
- Divide the cookie dough in half. Lay a piece of plastic wrap on the counter. Place one half of the cookie dough on the plastic wrap. Using the plastic wrap, roll the dough into a long round shape. Roll it against the counter to get the dough compact and round. Make sure the cookie dough is completely wrapped in the plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill. Do the same with the second half of the shortbread cookie dough.
- Chill the cookie dough for at least 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Using a large knife slice the cookie dough into 1/2 inch rounds.
- Place the shortbread cookie rounds on a large baking sheet that is lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Press the edges of the cookies in to smooth out from cutting.
- Bake the cookies for about 12-14 minutes until cooked through. Cookies will be slightly golden on the outside. They will not spread much or rise.
- Store the cookies in sealed containers at room temperature.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
thanks for the recipe, I have put them in the over yet. They are in the fridge and they smell really good. I only made one change and that was to add vanilla butternut flavoring along with the vanilla to bring out the toffee more.
If I omit the toffee, should I increase the nuts?
There’s no need to. You can just use the same amount of pecans.
Why isn’t there a place that tells you at what degrees to bake these cookies
Hi there,
I am from Malaysia and I just made these today. Absolutely delicious! I made some changes though (due to my parents dietary requirements and just experimenting too). I used 1/4 white and 1/4 brown sugar, 1 full cup of chopped pecan, whey protein + milk to sub egg. Outcome was superb!!
Thanks for the recipe
I was wondering if we could use cookie cutters for this recipe?
I haven’t tried to use cookie cutters on it. It’s so easy to roll and cut as shown. I’m not sure how well the dough would hold up to rolling with a rolling pin for cookie cutters. It’s thicker than a cut out sugar cookie dough. But if you try it, please let me know how it turns out!
These are lovely ! I didn’t have the toffee bits on hand so I just doubled the pecans and they are scrumptious. I will definitely have to try these again with the toffee! Thank you!
I made these today. Mine took a bit longer in oven, the taste is incredible, my family loved them!
Thank you for this recipe. It was very well written and easy to follow. I did not add, change or remove anything from the ingredients and I followed the written directions exactly as stated.
These cookies are addictive to say the least, each time someone walks by the container on the counter, one more cookie disappears.
Thanks for sharing
Definitely addictive! So glad you enjoyed 🙂
Hello, I was wondering if you can use all pecans instead of adding toffee pieces. Thank you.
Absolutely!
I made these last week and they are so good! I am making them for our annual cookie exchange this year.
I’m so glad you like them Natalie!