Pecan Shortbread Cookies

These pecan shortbread cookies are made with just butter, sugar, flour, vanilla extract, and toasted pecans.  It’s a great recipe for Christmas and the holiday season.

The pecan shortbread cookies are so buttery, light, crumbly, and full of pecan flavor.  You will have a hard time restraining yourself from eating the whole batch (or two) too fast.  If these cookies do disappear quickly from your kitchen, you can always make other delicious Christmas cookies, such as almond shortbread cookies with Amaretto or hazelnut shortbread cookies.

Using toasted pecans is very important in this recipe! Toasting pecans in the oven really brings out their flavor and makes the pecan shortbread cookies the way they are meant to be: nutty, melt-in-your-mouth, delicate.

If you love cookies rich with the flavor of toasted nuts and the butter – this is the recipe for you.

Pecan shortbread cookies have been my faithful companions over the last several days. They are the reason I look forward to coming home from work every day. They are the reason my husband almost finished a gallon of milk in a matter of 3 days.

You see, cookies (such as almond crescent cookies or cranberry noels) and milk – those go well together. As well as cookies and hot tea. Or, cookies and coffee. Or, cookies and movies, on the couch.  These shortbread pecan cookies are perfect.  For everything! Especially for Christmas and for the holiday season.

The pecans are first lightly toasted in the oven, then they are finely ground in the food processor, and then they are added to the cookie dough.  The cookie dough is shaped into logs, chilled, thinly sliced, and then baked!  Super easy!

I can’t believe I’ve never made pecan shortbread cookies before! What has stopped me until now? Maybe, it was the price of pecans: why would I use expensive nuts for some basic shortbread cookies instead of saving the pecans for something more sophisticated, such as a pecan pie. That could’ve been my train of thought.  And now, back to the recipe.

Important tips and tricks

• Use toasted pecans.  Toasted pecans add a rich nutty flavor to the cookies.  If you don’t toast the nuts, the cookie won’t taste the same.  It’s way better with toasted nuts!
• Place the cookie dough in the freezer for 30 minutes before baking.  Placing the cookie dough for a short time (30 minutes) in the freezer allows the cookie dough to thicken and to chill. It ensured the cookies keep their perfect round shape when baking.  If you intend to bake the cookies right away, don’t freeze the cookie dough longer than 30 minutes.  You don’t want the cookie dough to be actually frozen, just chilled and thickened.  You can, however, freeze the cookie dough (shaped in logs and wrapped in plastic wrap) for up to 3 days before baking.  If you freeze the cookie dough for that long (3 days), allow it to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before slicing the cooking dough log into slices.

How to toast pecans

1. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.  Place the pecans on the baking sheet.
2. Toast the pecans in the preheated oven at 350 F for about 5 minutes.
3. Note: pecans burn easily so watch them carefully to make sure they don’t burn.

How to store pecan shortbread cookies

• Store cookies, covered, at room temperature for up to 1 week.
• Freeze cookies, covered in an air-tight container, for up to 2 months.

Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipes

Pecan shortbread cookie is such a classic holiday cookie!   It’s a great addition to your Christmas cookie box.   Here are my other favorite Christmas cookie recipes:

• Almond Crescent Cookies
• Almond Shortbread Cookies with Amaretto
• Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies
• Cranberry Noels
• Chocolate-Dipped Pecan Shortbread Cookies
• Chocolate-Covered Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies
• Browned Butter Pecan Sandies

4.67 from 3 votes

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Pecan Shortbread Cookies

Prep Time

40 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Total Time

55 mins

 

Basic pecan shortbread cookies made with just butter, sugar, flour, vanilla extract, and finely ground toasted pecans.  It's a great recipe for the holidays: Christmas and New Year's Eve. The cookies have a rich flavor of toasted nuts and butter! 

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 20 cookies

Calories: 93 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 oz unsalted butter room temperature
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup pecans toasted, finely ground
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

How to make finely ground toasted pecans:

1. Toast pecans at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes. Watch carefully to make sure they don’t burn – they burn easily. Cool them off completely. 

2. To make finely ground nuts, place toasted pecans into the food processor and process until finely ground.

How to make pecan shortbread cookie dough:

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar until creamy. Add vanilla and continue beating. 

2. Add 1/2 cup finely ground pecans and beat to combine.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt, then add mixed flour and salt to the creamy butter-sugar mixture. Do not overmix, just enough to combine all ingredients and form a cookie dough.

How to shape cookie dough:

1. Shape dough into 4 logs of different thickness (to make cookies of different radius – large and small). 

2. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and put wrapped cookie dough in the freezer for 30 minutes, then in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

How to bake pecan shortbread cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 325 Fahrenheit. 

2. After cookie dough has been in the freezer and in the refrigerator, unwrap the plastic wrap and slice each log into thin cookie slices. 

3. Place cookie slices on a parchment-lined ungreased baking sheet, spacing 1 inch apart. 

4. Bake for about 15 minutes, don’t let the cookies get brown. 

5. After about 15 minutes of baking, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Recipe Notes

The recipe is adapted from Epicurious

Nutrition Facts

Pecan Shortbread Cookies

Amount Per Serving

Calories 93 Calories from Fat 54

% Daily Value*

Fat 6g9%

Saturated Fat 3g19%

Cholesterol 12mg4%

Sodium 15mg1%

Potassium 16mg0%

Carbohydrates 8g3%

Sugar 3g3%

Vitamin A 140IU3%

Calcium 4mg0%

Iron 0.4mg2%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.