Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
Chewy, soft and filled with chocolate and nuts, these simple Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies have all the classic chocolate chip flavor you love with a little extra pecan goodness. This recipe is a perfect go-to for the best chocolate and pecan combo!
My Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe is so very perfect. It’s quick and simple and no chill and so fluffy. And with something that perfect, I need to make it as often as possible. But sometimes with variations 😉
For the last couple of weeks I have been working making different variations of my Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe by adding other additions. So far, I’ve made Chocolate Chip and Walnut Cookies, Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Lucky Charms Cookies.
And now we’ve arrived at our newest variation: Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies.
Chocolate and pecan come together seamlessly inside these chewy, soft cookies. They’re the perfect classic chocolate chip, with a subtle nutty flavor that takes the edge off some of the sweetness.
I love chocolate chips and pecans. The buttery flavor of this dough goes perfectly with the pecans and the chocolate makes it a cookie everyone is sure to love.
Why Make This Recipe
- No Chill: There’s no waiting between making this dough and baking the cookies. You can get soft, chewy cookies without the wait. Just scoop and bake!
- Perfect Bite: If you love the extra crunch of nuts, these cookies are perfect! They have all the chewy, delicious texture of a chocolate chip cookie with the addition of pecans.
- Great Flavor: Pecans go great with chocolate and both are perfect in this buttery, soft cookie.
Ingredients for Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
- Unsalted Butter: Unsalted butter gives you the most consistency for baking but you could use salted butter if that’s what you have. Just skip adding the salt later on. Allow your butter to come to room temperature before you begin (between 68-72 degrees F). This helps your ingredients mix more evenly and combine seamlessly.
- Light Brown Sugar: Brown sugar adds great flavor but it also has the ability to hold onto moisture, making your cookies soft and chewy.
- Granulated Sugar: A little granulated sugar helps balance all the flavors.
- Egg: The egg keeps all of the dough together.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract provides balance and also enhances the flavor of the cookie
- All-Purpose Flour: All purpose flour gives the best texture for these cookies. Be sure and measure carefully. You can substitute 1:1 Gluten Free flour if desired.
- Baking Soda – Leavening agent to give your cookie height.
- Salt: The dough requires a pinch of salt but I also add a pinch of flaky salt on top to really bring out all the flavor.
- Semisweet Chocolate Chips: Feel free to substitute dark chocolate, milk chocolate or white chocolate chips. You can use a chocolate bar for this recipe if you prefer large chunks of chocolate. Just chop about 12 ounces to the size you prefer instead of using chips.
- Chopped Pecans: Half or chopped work fine. You can toast them in the oven for a few minutes to bring out even more flavor.
Recipe Variations
This recipe provides a classic chocolate and pecan flavor, but this dough is so versatile! You can easily swap out the chocolate chips or the pecans for another ingredient. Try this recipe with:
- White chocolate chips
- Peanut butter chips
- Walnuts
- Cranberries
- Dried Cherries
- Macadamia nuts
- Cashews
- Almonds
- Pistachios
For even more flavor you could also try browning the butter. If you do decide to brown the butter be sure and give it time to cool before using it in your recipe, just like in my Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting!
How to Make This Recipe
Step One: Cream the butter and sugar
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the room temperature butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and creamy and one consistent color throughout.
Beat in the egg and vanilla until just combined.
Step Two: Add the Dry Ingredients
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and add to the wet ingredients. Beat until just combined. You do not want to over mix.
Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to mix in the chocolate chips and pecans by hand until evenly distributed.
Step Three: Scoop and Bake
Scoop about 2-3 tablespoons of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. I use a #24 cookie scoop.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12–15 minutes or until the edges turn brown but the centers are still soft.
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Serve and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- For the softest, chewiest cookies, mix your ingredients until just combined.
- Be careful when you are measuring flour. The proper way to measure flour is to fluff up the flour, scoop and level the top with the back of a knife. You don’t want to pack your flour into the scoop. This will make your cookies crumbly and dry.
- Toasted pecans add even more flavor to this recipe. Just sprinkle your pecans on a cookie sheet and place them in the oven for about 5 minutes until they are fragrant.
- For a beautiful cookie, reserve some nuts and chocolate for the top of each cookie ball. A sprinkle of salt also adds to the elevated look!
FAQs
Once completely cooled, these cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to one week. You can also freeze the cookies for up to three months.
Yes, this dough freezes very well. I recommend scooping your cookies onto a cookie sheet and placing the whole sheet in the freezer until the cookies solidify. Once solid you can move them to an airtight container and store for up to three months.
When you are ready to bake you can thaw the dough slightly or reduce your cooking temperature.
This recipe produces soft, chewy cookies in part thanks to the brown sugar. Brown sugar does a good job of holding onto moisture so it’s a key ingredient for chewy, delicious cookies.
You can also make your cookies chewier by chilling your dough. Chilled dough won’t spread as far which makes your cookies thick and chewy.
My final suggestion is to not over bake your cookies. In fact, you may want to under bake them ever so slightly. You want your cookies to just barely be browning on the edges, but still soft in the center. They will continue to solidify as they cool.
If your cookies spread too thin you may not have added enough flour or your butter may have gotten too warm during your mixing.
You can try refrigerating your dough before baking again, to help the fats in the butter solidify slightly. If that does not work, try adding just a quarter cup of flour to your mix
Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1 stick, softened
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ¾ cup pecans, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the 1/2 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1/4 cup granulated sugar until light and creamy.
- Add the 1 large egg and 2 tsp vanilla into the cookie dough and beat again until just combined.
- Add the 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/4 tsp salt and beat until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to mix in the 3/4 cup chocolate chips and 3/4 cup pecans until evenly distributed.
- Scoop the cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet using a #24 cookie scoop (about 2 ½ Tablespoons each).
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12–15 minutes or until the edges turn brown but the centers are still soft.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes. After 5 minutes, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool the rest of the way.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Unsalted Butter: Unsalted butter gives you the most consistency for baking but you could use salted butter if that’s what you have. Just skip adding the salt later on. Allow your butter to come to room temperature before you begin (between 68-72 degrees F). This helps your ingredients mix more evenly and combine seamlessly.
- Light Brown Sugar: Brown sugar adds great flavor but it also has the ability to hold onto moisture, making your cookies soft and chewy.
- Granulated Sugar: A little granulated sugar helps balance all the flavors.
- Egg: The egg keeps all of the dough together.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract provides balance and also enhances the flavor of the cookie
- All-Purpose Flour: All purpose flour gives the best texture for these cookies. Be sure and measure carefully. You can substitute 1:1 Gluten Free flour if desired.
- Baking Soda – Leavening agent to give your cookie height.
- Salt: The dough requires a pinch of salt but I also add a pinch of flaky salt on top to really bring out all the flavor.
- Semisweet Chocolate Chips: Feel free to substitute dark chocolate, milk chocolate or white chocolate chips. You can use a chocolate bar for this recipe if you prefer large chunks of chocolate. Just chop about 12 ounces to the size you prefer instead of using chips.
- Chopped Pecans: Half or chopped work fine. You can toast them in the oven for a few minutes to bring out even more flavor.
- For the softest, chewiest cookies, mix your ingredients until just combined.
- Be careful when you are measuring flour. The proper way to measure flour is to fluff up the flour, scoop and level the top with the back of a knife. You don’t want to pack your flour into the scoop. This will make your cookies crumbly and dry.
- Toasted pecans add even more flavor to this recipe. Just sprinkle your pecans on a cookie sheet and place them in the oven for about 5 minutes until they are fragrant.
- For a beautiful cookie, reserve some nuts and chocolate for the top of each cookie ball. A sprinkle of salt also adds to the elevated look!
