These vegan and gluten-free thin and chewy pecan cookies are nutty, buttery, bendable, warm, and chewy. Oh yes, and they have crisp edges to book. Basically, they're a pecan force to be reckoned with.
To make them, you'll whip up a simple homemade pecan butter. Then, you'll cream the pecan butter with coconut sugar, brown rice syrup (to up the chewiness factor), and vanilla. Once the mixture is creamed together, you'll add in oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and a pinch of sea salt. Once the dry ingredients are added, you'll pour a bit of almond milk over top and mix until just incorporated. Then, stir or mix in some chopped, toasted pecans before popping the entire bowl in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes.
Once the dough has chilled, you'll scoop out 2-tablespoon mounds and drop them onto two lined baking sheets. This is a runny, sticky dough and not one that you want to handle, so don't worry about creating perfectly formed balls of dough; just drop the dough on the pan and don't fret if it spreads out a bit. These cookies are about taste, not looks.
Then, bake the cookies for a quick 10 to 14 minutes or until they've spread out, taken on a golden-brown hue, and have crisp edges. Let the cookies cool completely before enjoying or moving. Then, enjoy with a glass of cold almond milk.
These are not the tidiest looking cookies; however, their flavor is seriously special. The buttery pecan flavor pops through the caramel notes of the coconut sugar, and the crisp and chewy texture combination is addictive in all the right ways. The perfect cool-weather cookie to welcome crisp fall weather.
📖 Recipe
Thin & Chewy Pecan Cookies (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup raw pecans
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup brown rice syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups oat flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- â…› teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup unsweetened plant milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line 1 small baking sheet and 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Spread the pecans out over the small baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until wafting a rich toasted scent. Let cool slightly. Then, add ¾ cup of the toasted pecans to a food processor. Process for 4 to 5 minutes or until smooth and glossy, stopping to scrape down sides as needed. Meanwhile, chop the remaining ½ cup pecans and reserve.
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat together the pecan butter, coconut sugar, brown rice syrup, and vanilla extract for 1 minute using a hand or stand mixer.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt. With the mixer off, add the dry ingredients to the creamed pecan butter mixture. Then pour the almond milk over the flour mixture and turn the mixer on low. Increase speed to medium-low and beat for 30 seconds or until just incorporated. Stir in the chopped pecans. Place the entire mixing bowl in the freezer and chill the dough for 30 minutes or until it reaches a scoopable consistency.
- Use a cookie scoop or two tablespoons to scoop out approximately 2 tablespoons of dough. Drop on baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches in between each mound of dough. You should have about 15 cookies, and no more than 8 cookies per baking sheet. It's okay if the dough starts to spread out before baking. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until just turning golden-brown, rotating pans at the 5-minute mark. They will spread out thin, and this is what you want.
- Cool completely on the pan before moving or enjoying.
- To store: place single layers of cookies between sheets of parchment paper.
Honey's Quilling says
yum, those look fantastic! I love using nut butters in cookies instead of oil, but I've never tried pecan butter. I was thinking of picking up pecans for another recipe this week, I'll need to get a bigger bag so I can make these as well!!
Sarah | Well and Full says
I can't believe how short the ingredients list is!! And it's game changing that the actual cookie "flour" is made with roasted ground pecans. It really is a pecan force to be reckoned with :D
Ashley says
Thanks so much, Sarah! The pecans are transformed into a pecan butter which takes the place of butter/oil, but I like where your head is at with that idea... might have to give that one a whirl too! :)
Celeste says
Oooh...these look delicious! Going on my my grocery list this week. Can't wait to try them.
Karissa @ Vegan À La Mode says
OMG Ashley! I need these cookies now! They look absolutely amazing! And wow these photos are so stunning! You are quite the skilled food photographer! Can't wait to try this recipe :)
Ashley says
Thanks so much, Karissa! I think I have the cookbook to thank for any photography skill improvement; shooting so many recipes over the last few months has really taught me what I know and don't know about photography. It's been a challenging but really rewarding process to say the least! :)
bara says
omg they taste like speculoos! so yum! but they didn't spread out :/
Ashley says
Hi, Bara! I agree about the speculoos flavor! So glad you're enjoying them. Also, so strange they didn't spread out and kind of funny because I was just replying to another comment (see below) because the cookies spread too much! How long did you chill the dough?
Elodie says
Just made them and they are sooooooo good! but they spread like crazy on the first batch, it looked like I had a maxi giant cookie. I learnt my lesson for the second batch and put less cookies and more space between each! Thank you so much for the recipe Ashley!
Ashley says
Hi, Elodie! I'm so glad you're enjoying the cookies! They do spread like wild! Do you remember how much space you ended up putting between each on the second round? Mine tend to do just fine with the 2 inches of space noted in the recipe, but I'm happy to add a note suggesting more space if it might help others.
When I first tested the recipe, I thought for sure they were a flop because of how much they spread and thinned out, but I fell in love with the flavor and texture. They're definitely not the prettiest cookies, but one of my favorites in terms of texture and flavor! A giant cookie sounds like both a blessing and a curse, haha. So much cookie, so little time! :) Thanks for sharing your feedback!
Bun says
Just made these today. They're hands down my new favorite cookies! Incredibly delicious and the texture is just divine. My kitchen smells like early Christmas!
Ashley says
I am so, so happy to hear that they're your new favorite cookies! I swear, they're not the most gorgeous looking cookies, but they are a total surprise in terms of taste and texture. Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback!
Helen says
Didn't have pecans but did this with walnuts and added some chopped dark chocolate and they turned out just like picture. Very yummy! Thank you for the fabulous recipe. I'm eager to give this a try with macadamia nuts as well. :-)
Deryn @ Running on Real Food says
Well these are just perfect and beautiful and simple! Getting excited for your book! Your photos are just beautiful and recipes are always winners :)
Ha Mi says
Unfortunately, I don't have any brown rice syrup. Do you know a good substitute for that? xx
Ashley says
Sadly, I don't know of a good substitute for it in this recipe. I'm sorry!