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These 1-bowl Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies are a chewy and delicious cookie packed with equal parts chocolate chips and chopped pecans. They’re complete with a soft center and perfectly crisp edges. Vegan.
If you’re looking for new cookie recipes to impress this season, look no further than these Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies! They’re filled with sweet chocolate chips, buttery pecans, and warm cinnamon for a cozy, nutty, aroma in every bite. Have these treats ready in 30 minutes or less!
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Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Buttery Pecan Crunch!
These cookies combine two of my favorite things – a chewy chocolate chip cookie and buttery pecans! They’re the perfect cookie when you’re craving something classic, but want an additional wholesome crunch from the raw pecans. And the best part? This pecan chocolate chip cookie recipe requires no chill time or hard to find ingredients. It’s truly one of my most simple cookie recipes that’s still rich, buttery, and gooey in the center. Bake your family and friends a batch this holiday season and curl up with a tall glass of almond milk!
Ingredients for Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
Baking the best chocolate chip pecan cookies requires just 12 basic ingredients and 20 minutes to prep. Here are a few notes on the essentials you won’t want to bake without:
- Flax egg: My go-to egg replacer in many of my dessert recipes. Make it at home with a simple combination of ground flaxseeds and a few tablespoons of water.
- Dairy-free butter: I have had success using Country Crock, Earth Balance, and Violife plant-based butter sticks. I typically use salted butter sticks, but if you are using unsalted butter, increase the kosher salt from 1/2 teaspoon to 3/4 teaspoon.
- Sugar: These pecan chocolate chip cookies combine granulated white sugar and brown sugar for the best chewy center and crispy edges – the best cookie texture in my opinion!
- Cornstarch: Helps to create a more delicate, tender chewy cookie. Cornstarch also helps to bind the dough together and prevents overspreading. If you are allergic to corn, substitute arrowroot powder.
- Leavening agents: Baking soda reacts to the acidity in the brown sugar and helps the cookies rise and brown until lightly golden. Baking powder reacts with the moisture and leads to lighter, chewy cookies!
- Chocolate chips: Use any semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips of choice. If desired, chocolate chunks, vegan white chocolate chips, or peanut butter chips are also great here!
- Pecans: Chopped raw, crunchy pecans are my pecans of choice for these cookies. If you prefer a sweeter, crunch, try using my Stovetop Candied Pecans!
How to Make Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
- Make the flax egg, then combine the chocolate chips and pecans in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Cream the softened butter and sugar in a large bowl or stand-mixer until smooth, light, and fluffy.
- Add in the remaining wet ingredients and beat again until creamy.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until a non-sticky dough forms. Finally fold in the chocolate chips and pecans.
- Scoop the cookies into 12 even-sized cookies, about 3 tablespoons each.
- Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips and pecans, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until puffy and golden brown around the bottom edges.
- Cool on a wire rack until room temperature. Sprinkle the top of the cookies with flaky sea salt, then enjoy immediately as desired.
Caitlin’s Cooking Tips
- Please use buttery sticks, not buttery spread. Plant-based buttery sticks have a higher fat content and lower moisture content compared to buttery spreads. This is essential to creating the desired texture and well-structured cookie. If you choose to use buttery spreads, your cookies will spread much more, and be less chewy in texture.
- Set your butter out to soften 1-2 hours in advance. It is essential to use softened butter when baking these chewy chocolate chip pecan cookies. If the butter is too hard, it will not cream well with the sugar. If the butter is melted, the cookie batter will be too wet and will spread into oily puddles when baking. To test if your butter has softened properly, use the finger test. Simply press your finger gently into the room temperature butter. If it leaves an indentation without resistance, the butter is ready.
- Use multiple baking trays, if needed. These cookies are a bit on the larger size and require a couple of inches between each cookie dough ball to prevent spreading into one another. If needed, use multiple large baking sheets or bake in batches to prevent this.
Serving Suggestions
Chances are, you won’t need help figuring out how to enjoy this chocolate chip pecan cookie recipe 😉 But you can’t go wrong with dunking these cookies in a glass of non-dairy milk or sandwiching a scoop of ice cream between two cookies for homemade ice cream sandwiches.
If you’re looking for more chocolate chip cookie recipes, you’ll also love these Healthy Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies, these Banana Almond Pulp Cookies, and these Double Chocolate Chip Cookies.
How to Store Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
Leftover cookies will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container at room temperature. Alternatively, you can store the baked cookies in the freezer for up to 2 months, but I would recommend freezing unbaked cookie dough balls to bake from frozen when desired 🙂
If baking from frozen, adjust the baking time and add an extra minute or two to compensate for the colder dough.
Substitutions and Variations
- Gluten-free option: I have not tested a gluten-free version of this cookie recipe, but it may work with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend, such as Bob’s Red Mill. If you choose to give it a try and have good results, please share with us in the comments!
- Corn-free option: Use arrowroot powder in place of the cornstarch.
- Vegan butter substitute: Using vegan butter sticks is best, but softened coconut oil (refined or unrefined) may work well.
- Brown sugar substitutes: Replace the brown sugar with an equal amount of coconut sugar. Note that coconut sugar is slightly less moist, so your cookies may be slightly less chewy. Alternatively, make your own brown sugar at home using a simple combination of granulated cane sugar and molasses.
Recipe FAQs
The chewiness of cookies is due to the amount of moisture content in the cookie dough. Higher moisture levels from using ingredients like brown sugar, flax eggs, dairy-free butter, and vanilla leads to chewier cookies. Additionally, it’s important to underbake the cookies – overdoing it will dry out the dough and make a crispier cookie instead.
If desired, you can add shredded coconut to the batter for a cowboy-esque cookie, but I wouldn’t recommend adding oats. Doing so would require an alteration of other ingredients and would need additional recipe testing. If desired, you may enjoy this Vegan Cowboy Cookies recipe!
It is important to lightly press the extra chocolate chips and pecans into the top of the cookie dough balls, but be careful not to flatten the cookie dough balls too much. They will naturally spread on their own without becoming flat and crispy.
Over-baking or over-mixing leads to hard cookies. To keep the cookies soft, take them out when they’re still pale in the center, yet slightly golden around the edges, and mix the dough until just combined.
Using old baking soda can lead to cookies spreading excessively and becoming flat. If you are worried your baking soda is no longer active, use this Simple Baking Soda Test!
Enjoy! If you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I would also love it if you could leave a comment below with a recipe rating! Thank you for the support 😊
Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 2 1/2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup salted vegan butter softened to room temperature (1 stick)
- 1/2 cup cane sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch or sub arrowroot powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup dairy-free chocolate chips or chunks
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans
- Flaky salt for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray or line a large baking sheet and set aside. Prepare the flax “egg” by mixing the flaxseed and water well; set aside for at least 5 minutes to let thicken. Combine the chocolate chips and pecans together in a small bowl; set 1/4 cup of the mixture aside, to top the cookie dough before baking.
- Cream the Butter: Add the softened butter, cane sugar, and brown sugar to a large mixing bowl or stand-mixer. Use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar together on low speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until the butter is smooth, light, and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary.
- Wet Ingredients: Add the flax “egg” and vanilla to the bowl and beat again, until the mixture is smooth and combined.
- Dry Ingredients: Add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon (if using), and salt. Mix well until a thick, non-sticky dough forms. Add the chocolate chips and pecans to the batter and fold into the dough using a spatula.
- Form the Cookies: Use a cookie scoop or spoon to form 12 cookies with ~3 tablespoons of dough per cookie. Roll each cookie into a smooth ball and space evenly across the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate and pecan mixture across the top of each cookie dough ball, pressing it in slightly so it sticks.
- Bake: Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 10 to 12 minutes; the cookies will look puffy and pale, but the bottom edges should be golden.
- Cool: Take the cookies out of the oven and carefully “drop” the baking sheet onto the counter a few times to help them deflate. Sprinkle with flaky salt, if desired. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for another 10 minutes, where they will deflate fully. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
- Serve & Store: Enjoy the cookies immediately, or store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can also store the baked cookies in the freezer for up to 2 months, but I would recommend storing the cookie dough balls instead and baking when desired 🙂
Recipe Notes
- Vegan Butter: Different vegan butters will spread differently during baking. I have had success using Country Crock, Earth Balance, and Violife plant-based butter sticks (not spread).
- Other Substitutions: The sugar can be swapped for coconut sugar, but the cookies will be darker and color and more dry. I have not tested this cookie with any flour substitutions, but I imagine a gluten-free all-purpose blend would work well!
These cookies are the perfect amount of sweet and nutty. The flaky finishing salt balances out the chocolate. I brought these to work and they were a hit! I had a few people ask me for the recipe! I will make these again!
Thank you for sharing it, Kimberly! Glad everyone loved them!
Probably my favorite of the 2023 cookies! The pecans elevate them from simple chocolate chip.
Thank you, Caitlyn, for such a wonderful recipe. This was my first time to make cookies from scratch and I appreciate all of the tips and notes you included in this recipe (and all your other recipes). I had to substitute walnuts for pecans because I didn’t have any in the pantry but plan to make these cookies over and over again and will have pecans for the next round. After making these, there is no way I can go back to making ‘boxed’ cookies since I get to control the quality of ingredients that go into it. Thank you, again, as I’m excited to start this cookie-making-tradition with my kiddos and especially try all of your other cookie recipes!
Honored to be part of the tradition you’re starting with your kids, Rena!
these were so good!!
Thank you!
i absolutely LOVE making these! so quick and easy and turn out delicious everytime
Literally just took two batches out of the oven for a party and am struggling to not eat more than the two I’ve already eaten – they are so good! I used the flaky salt topping on one batch and left it off on the other and I honestly can’t decide which a prefer. Will absolutely make again for a quick and delicious treat!
So happy you loved it, Caitlin!
I had a bag of pecans I wasn’t sure what to do with until you posted this recipe. I made a double batch for Christmas to share with family and friends and everyone LOVED them. I’m already planning to make them again because they’re requesting more! Thank you for another great recipe
You’re so welcome, Kellie! I’m glad you found a good use for the pecans and love it!
I love making vegan cookies for my non-vegan family and this recipe did not disappoint! These cookies were delightfully chewy and packed full of chocolatey pecan goodness. I also loved the size and they turned out great when I pulled them out of the oven just a little earlier than I normally would have. I’m definitely going to make them again!
So happy you loved it, Stacey!
I just made these tonight and they turned out amazing! I wouldn’t have thought to add pecans to chocolate chip cookies but they were incredible!
Glad you liked them, Victoria!
Great chewy texture, buttery nuttiness from the pecans, and pockets of gooey chocolate from chopped chocolate. This was my first time using homemade brown sugar and it worked well for these (very tasty) cookies.
Thank you so much, Caroline!