These delicious butter pecan cookies are the perfect combination of salty and sweet, with crispy edges and a chewy center loaded with chopped chocolate and toasty pecans.
Like my vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe, they are perfect for the holiday season.
Jump to:
Note:
🧾 Ingredients Needed
As promised, you only need simple ingredients to make these chocolate chip and pecan cookies. Here’s what to grab:
Ingredient Notes
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Vegan Unsalted Butter: Use block-style butter sticks and not spreadable margarine from a tub, and don’t forget the extra tablespoon to toast your buttered pecans!
- Pecans: Pecan pieces are perfect here rather than more expensive pecan halves - save those for showstoppers like my caramel pecan cheesecake!
- Brown Sugar: You can use light brown sugar, or dark brown sugar for a more pronounced molasses flavor. You’re also welcome to use muscovado sugar for a less-processed alternative.
- Granulated White Sugar: If you live in the US, make sure to reach for organic cane sugar to ensure it’s vegan-friendly.
- Vegan Greek-Style Yogurt: This acts like eggs, helping to bind the batter while imparting some fat into the dough. You can swap in vegan skyr, vegan sour cream, or unsweetened soy or coconut yogurt.
- Vanilla Extract: For rich, aromatic warmth. You can use an equal amount of vanilla paste if you prefer.
- Cinnamon: I love the warmth of cinnamon in these cookies, but you’re welcome to omit it.
- Vegan Chocolate: Chop a chocolate bar into pieces for melty chocolate pools. I use vegan milk chocolate, but you can use white, semi-sweet, or dark if you prefer.
- Pretzels: While optional, pretzels add another layer of texture and saltiness to these pecan and chocolate chip cookies.
🥣 Instructions
Here are step-by-step images showing how to make this chocolate chip pecan cookie recipe. Please refer to the detailed printable recipe card at the end of this page for full measurements and written instructions:
Step 1: Brown the vegan butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Constantly stir until the butter turns a golden brown color and there is a nutty aroma.
Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together the browned butter and brown sugar. Set aside for 5 minutes.
Step 3: Toss the pecans in the same saucepan over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until lightly toasted. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Step 4: Add the other wet ingredients (granulated sugar, vegan yogurt, and vanilla extract) to the brown butter and sugar mixture and whisk to combine.
Step 5: Fold in the dry ingredients (all purpose flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and sea salt) using a spatula until almost mixed through but there are still some streaks of flour.
Step 6: Fold in around ¾ toasted pecans, chocolate chunks, and pretzels until just combined. Cover the bowl with the cookie dough with plastic wrap or a plate and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Step 7: Use a cookie scoop to separate the dough into 9 portions. Place the cookie dough balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper - be careful to leave at least 2.5 inches of space between each ball of dough as they will spread while baking!
Step 8: Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Then use a large cookie cutter or glass to carefully round off and shape the edges of the hot cookies before transferring them to a cooling rack.
🥨 Variations
- Pecan White Chocolate Cookies: While I prefer milk chocolate next to pecans and pretzels, dairy-free white chocolate is a fun substitute!
- Swap Your Nuts: Try using chopped walnuts, hazelnuts, or even peanuts for a different experience.
- Add-Ins: Feel free to go full kitchen sink with these chewy chocolate chip pecan cookies. You could add raisins, dried cranberries, sultanas, cereal, pumpkin seeds, or dark chocolate chips.
💭 Recipe Tips
Measure with a kitchen scale. Using a measuring cup won't give as accurate results and even a tad too much flour can throw off the texture of the cookies. Using a digital scale also means less washup!
Don’t skip the rest. Allowing the flour some time to rehydrate by resting the dough in the fridge will yield better textural results.
Use a spring-loaded cookie scoop or ice cream scoop for evenly sized large cookies. Go a step further towards creating bakery chocolate chip cookies by rounding off the edges. Use a round cookie cutter that’s larger than the baked cookies, then place it around each baked chocolate chip pecan cookie while it’s warm and make a swirling motion.
Stud the tops. Reserving some of your mix-ins to add to the cookie tops right before and after baking will result in extra indulgent treats.
Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack before digging in. If you eat them while they’re still warm, you'll have lovely gooey cookies but the pretzels and pecans may be a little soft.
💬 FAQs
These cookies are on the chewier side due to their higher moisture content. This comes from using ingredients like brown sugar, and Greek yogurt, and a higher ratio of wet to dry ingredients. Additionally, underbaking cookies slightly can also contribute to a chewier texture.
Once cool, transfer the cookies to an airtight container, cookie jar, or ziplock bag. They will keep well at room temp for about 5 days. If you’d like to extend their life, they freeze well for up to a month.
Alternatively, feel free to freeze balls of cookie dough in a freezer bag to bake off whenever you get a homemade cookie craving! The dough should keep well for up to a month. Bake them from frozen, adding an extra minute or two to the baking time.
🍪 More Vegan Cookies
📖 Recipe
Description
Ingredients
- 150 g (5.3 oz) vegan butter (block-style), + 1 tbsp for frying *see note 1
- 110 g (½ cup) soft brown sugar
- 130 g (1 ⅓ cups) pecans
- 135 g (⅔ cup) granulated sugar
- 40 g (2 tbsp) vegan Greek-style yogurt or skyr, or regular unsweetened soy or coconut yogurt
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 200 g (1 ½ cups + 2 tsp) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 120 g (4.23 oz) vegan chocolate , I use "milk" style, cut into chunks
- 40 g (½ cup) pretzels, optional
Instructions
- Brown butter: Add 150g of vegan butter to a saucepan over medium heat. Constantly stir the mixture for approximately 5 minutes, until the butter turns a golden brown color and there is a nutty buttery aroma. Do not leave it on the heat any longer as it will burn very quickly.
- Add the brown sugar to a large mixing bowl and pour the browned butter on top of it while still warm. Whisk well and set aside for 5 minutes. There's no need to wash the saucepan.
- Toast the pecans: Add another tablespoon of vegan butter to the saucepan and add in the pecans. Toss them over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until lightly toasted. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
- Make the cookie dough: To the bowl with the brown butter and brown sugar, whisk in the granulated sugar, followed by the yogurt and vanilla.In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients so that they are mixed evenly.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold them together using a spatula until there almost mixed through but there are still some streaks of flour. Then fold in around ¾ toasted pecans, chocolate chunks, and pretzels until just combined. Reserve the other ¼ of the mix-ins for topping the cookies.Cover the bowl with the cookie dough with some clingfilm or a plate and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 175°C (347°F) while the cookie dough is chilling. Line 2 large baking trays with some parchment paper.
- Use a 2.4"/6cm cookie scoop or ice cream scoop to separate the dough into 9 portions. Place the cookie dough balls on the lined sheets - be careful to leave at least 2.5 inches of space between each ball of dough as they will spread whilst baking! Stud the cookies with most of the remaining chocolate chips and chocolate chunks (saving a few pieces for when they come out of the oven).
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes. Then use a large cookie cutter or glass to carefully round off and shape the edges of the hot cookies. Let the cookies sit on the baking trays for 5 minutes to cool slightly. If you want big chocolatey pools, you can add more chocolate chunks to the tops of the cookies while they are warm.
- Carefully slide the sheet of parchment paper with the cookies off of the tray and onto a cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
- Storage: Once cool, transfer the cookies to an airtight container. They will keep well at room temp for about 5 days. If you’d like to extend their life, they freeze well for up to a month.
Notes
- Vegan Butter: Use block-style buttery sticks such as Violife block or flora plant butter, not spreadable margarine from a tub.
- Swap Your Nuts: Try using chopped walnuts, hazelnuts, or even peanuts for a different experience.
- Add-Ins: Feel free to go full kitchen sink with a combo of nuts, chocolate, pretzels, dried fruits, cereal, or seeds.
- Stud the tops: Reserving some mix-ins to add to the cookie tops right before and after baking will result in extra indulgent treats.
Nutrition
© addictedtodates.com. All content and images are protected by copyright. If you want to share this recipe, please do so using the share buttons provided. Do not screenshot or republish the recipe or content in full. instead, include a link to this post for the recipe.
