Chocolate chip pecan cookies are delightfully chewy, packed with chocolate chips and chopped pecans, and is an easy 1-bowl recipe. Perfect for holiday baking, bake sales, and everyday snacking.
(Love pecans? Try this tender and delicious banana bread with pecans. So good!)
These chocolate chip and pecan cookies are crispy around the edges, chewy in the center, and wonderfully chunky. It’s packed with chocolate and pecans in every bite.
They’re great additions to your cookie recipe collection.
Let’s get to it.
Chocolate chip cookies are great (like these brown butter chocolate chip cookies), but have you tried adding pecans?
- You don’t need to chill the dough. This recipe is simple and easy to follow and the cookies go straight to the oven. No chilling necessary.
- Only uses 1 bowl. Makes for an easy cleanup!
- Less than 10 ingredients. And most of what you need you most likely already have in your pantry.
- Done in 10 minutes. The cookies only need 10 minutes of baking time in a 350F preheated oven.
- Great texture. With semi-sweet chocolate chips and chopped pecans on a brown sugar dough, these cookies have all the right ingredients for that perfect chunky and chewy bite.
- Packed with flavor. Most important of all, they’re so good! Buttery pecans, not too sweet, they’ll disappear from your cookie jar before you know it!
How to make
This pecan cookie recipe is very easy to make. Fifteen minutes of prep time plus 10 minutes of bake time and you’re done.
Ingredients
You’ll need pantry staples like all purpose flour, unsalted butter, baking soda, and vanilla extract. A few things to note about the other ingredients:
- Brown sugar — brown sugar is one of those secret ingredients to chewy cookies. Dark or light works. I mostly use dark.
- Cornstarch — also helps in making the cookies wonderfully chewy.
- Pecans — I don’t toast my pecans but you can absolutely add that additional step for an extra depth of flavor.
- Chocolate chips — I use semi-sweet chocolate chips. Dark chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips will work too. Just remember that the kind of chocolate you use will affect the level of sweetness of the cookies.
Baking tools
I like using my stand mixer when making these cookies, however an electric hand mixer will work, too.
I also use a medium cookie scoop for evenly sized cookies.
Step-by-step photos
Preheat your oven to 350F and line a baking pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper. This recipe makes 18 cookies and I use a commercial-sized baking pan.
In a large bowl using an electric hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
About 2-3 minutes on medium speed.
Add the egg and vanilla extract.
Continue to beat until incorporated.
Sift dry ingredients into wet ingredients.
Stir on low speed until combined and no more streaks of flour remain.
Add chocolate chips and chopped pecans.
Stir until evenly distributed.
Drop or scoop your cookie dough (a heaping tablespoonful) into your prepared pan.
Bake for 10 minutes or until they start to brown on the edges. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and allow to cool.
Expert baking tips
Easy, right? Here are more tips for a perfect batch of chocolate chip pecan cookies every time.
- Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature. They are easier to combine and results to better cookies.
- Measure flour correctly. Using the incorrect amount of flour can lead to crumbly cookies or cookies that will spread too much. I always use a kitchen scale but if you don’t have one, fluff up your flour before using it then spoon it into your measuring cup.
- Use cookie scoop. A cookie scoop helps you get evenly sized cookies.
- Space cookies properly. Make sure to leave about 2 inches of space around each cookie to give them space to spread, and to avoid them from sticking to each other during baking.
- Don’t over-bake the cookies. As soon as the edges start turning golden brown, even if the middle still looks a little under-baked, you can take the cookies out of the oven. They will continue cooking in the pan. Over-baking these cookies will make them dry and crumbly.
- Re-shape cookies with a cookie cutter. Are your cookies not perfectly round? No worries, you can easily re-shape them with a cookie cutter or a glass. Simply place over the cookie while it’s still warm and gently swish it around in a circular motion until the cookie is round. That’s it!
Troubleshooting guide
Here’s a guide to the most common cookie baking questions.
| Issue/s | Possible Cause/s | Possible Solution/s |
| Cookies spread too thin | Too little flour | Make sure to add the correct amount of flour; ideally, use a kitchen scale |
| Butter too warm | Use butter that’s room temperature but don’t let it get too warm or too soft. | |
| Chill the dough for 30 mins before baking to allow the butter to firm back up | ||
| Cookies didn’t spread enough | Dough too cold | Did you chill your dough? It might have been too cold when you put it in the oven. What you can do is gently press each cookie while still warm with the bottom of a glass or spatula to help it flatten. |
| Cookies are not chewy | Butter too cold | Cold butter creamed with sugar won’t create enough air bubbles for a chewy cookie |
| Cookies over-baked | It’s better to underbake than over-bake cookies because they will continue to cook in the pan. Over-baking cookies will lead to dry and crispy cookies. |
Recipe FAQs
Some cookie recipes require chilling (example: ube crinkles) to help the dough firm up and easier to manage.
This recipe doesn’t require it.
However, you can chill the dough if you want to make it ahead.
Just place in a covered container in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. Chilling the dough longer than this may dry it out.
When ready, scoop the dough into your baking pan. It should be firm but not rock hard.
If it is, allow to soften a little on the counter.
Yes! You’ll want to scoop the dough first, place on a pan, then freeze until each cookie dough ball is firm. Then transfer to a freezer-safe container.
Frozen cookie dough will keep for up to a month.
When you’re ready to bake, remove from freezer as you’re preheating your oven then bake like normal, though you may need to add a few minutes to baking time.
You can store freshly baked cookies in an airtight container for up to a week on your counter.
More recipes using pecans
Love baking with pecans? Here are more recipes you’ll enjoy:
We hope you enjoy these chocolate chip pecan cookies. They’re one of our favorites and they’re sure to become yours, too!
Add to your Christmas cookie tray, make them for your holiday cookie swap, or just bake a batch and make your afternoon snacking extra special.
Make some of these ginger spice cookies and chocolate chip marshmallow cookies too, another must-have for the holidays.
Happy baking!
Did you make these pecan chocolate chip cookies? I’d love to hear all about it! Leave a comment or a star rating below. You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook. I’d love to see your creations!
You can also find me on Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube.
Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup brown sugar packed
- 1 piece large egg room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1¼ cup all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 5 oz roughly chopped pecans about 1½ cups
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a large bowl using an electric hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes on medium speed).½ cup unsalted butter, ¾ cup brown sugar
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and continue to beat until incorporated.1 piece large egg, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Sift dry ingredients into wet ingredients.1¼ cup all purpose flour, 2 tbsp cornstarch, ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt
- Stir on low speed until combined and no more streaks of flour remain.
- Add chocolate chips and chopped pecans. Stir until evenly distributed.
- Drop or scoop your cookie dough (a heaping tablespoonful) into your prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until they start to brown on the edges.
- Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Video
Notes
- The yield/number of cookies depends on how big or small you scoop your cookie dough. I use a medium cookie scoop and make 18 cookies. The estimated nutrition information is based on this number.
- Do not over bake the cookies. Once the edges start to brown, even though the center still looks a little underbaked, remove from oven. They will continue to cook in the pan while cooling.
- See post for more baking tips, FAQs, a troubleshooting guide, and step-by-step photos.
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only.
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