Crispy and delicious, these low carb butter pecan cookies are one of my most popular keto dessert recipes. They’re so buttery and sweet, and so easy to make. And they’re egg free!
I am delighted to be re-introducing you to one of my most popular keto cookie recipes. Now, for those of you who love these butter pecan cookies, don’t panic. I haven’t changed the recipe at all.
I’ve just taken some new photos and added in even more tips and tricks to get the best low carb cookies imaginable! Because you deserve success in your keto baking.
Popular low carb cookie recipe
This recipe was first published in my cookbook, The Everyday Ketogenic Kitchen, and I was amazed at how popular it was right off the bat.
But really, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that these unassuming little cookies took the keto world by storm.
While they aren’t fancy looking, and they don’t have frosting or sprinkles or beautiful drizzles of chocolate ganache, they pack a huge flavor punch.
They’re shortbread-style cookies, with no eggs and no baking powder. Just like traditional shortbread, they are the perfect marriage of flour, butter, and sweetener. Crispy, buttery, and absolutely melt-in-your-mouth.
Have I sold you yet?
Ingredients for butter pecan cookies
Just like conventional shortbread, you don’t need a lot of fancy ingredients for this recipe. You simply need:
- butter
- sweetener – must be erythritol based for a crisp cookie
- flour – a mix of almond and coconut flours gives the right consistency
- vanilla
- salt
- chopped pecans
Tips for keto butter pecan cookies
The method is ridiculously simple but I have a few extra tips for you!
- Use softened butter. The butter should be soft enough for you to press a finger easily into it. If not, warm it up ever so slightly before proceeding, otherwise the other ingredients won’t beat in as well.
- Beat in the sweetener. It is absolutely imperative to use an erythritol based sweetener such as Swerve here. Erythritol is the only sweetener that allows cookies to get crisp. Even a small amount of allulose or BochaSweet will make them too soft.
- Add the flour, vanilla, and salt. The dough should be very uniform and well combined.
- Stir in the chopped pecans. I find it easiest to do this by hand, as the nuts can get caught in the beaters.
- Roll into balls and flatten slightly. Don’t push them down too much yet, as the edges crack when you do. Bake for 5 minutes.
- Flatten again. This is a trick I developed to get nice flat keto cookies. After a few minutes of baking, the dough is softer and more cohesive, so you can press them down thinly with a flat bottomed glass.
- Finish baking and enjoy! Remember, they will continue to crisp up as they cool so, as hard as it might be, leave them alone for a bit.
Slice and bake method
I want to give you one additional tip for these low carb cookies that I think you will appreciate, and that’s the slice and bake method. It’s ideal for making them in advance and baking a few cookies at a time. Here’s what you do:
- Divide the dough in half and roll each into a log about 1 1/2 inches thick.
- Wrap each log tightly in waxed paper and freeze for 1 hour.
- Use a sharp knife to slice the dough into 1/4 inch slices.
- Bake 5 minutes, then flatten with a glass.
- Proceed as directed.
You can freeze the dough logs for up to 2 months, but they will be very hard right out of the freezer. Let them soften for about 20 minutes before slicing. You can just cut a few and return the rest of the dough to the freezer, or you can make the whole batch.
Frequently Asked Questions
As mentioned above, these are shortbread style cookies. The recipe works as written and trust me, as long as you are using finely ground almond flour, they hold together just fine!
Please be sure to read the How To section. If you want a crisp cookie, the sweetener MUST be erythritol based, with no allulose or xylitol in the blend. As long as the main ingredient is erythritol, other sweeteners such as Lakanto should be fine.
Absolutely! Many readers have enjoyed these as low carb chocolate chip cookies too.
I have not tested this myself but palm shortening or coconut oil will probably work.
Storage information
Once baked, simply keep these low carb cookies in a covered container on the counter for up to 5 days. You can also refrigerate them for up to 10 days or freeze them for several months.
If you would prefer to freeze the raw dough, please refer to the “Slice and Bake” method outlined above.
Other keto pecan recipes you might like
- The Best Keto Pecan Pie
- Keto Maple Pecan Scones
- Sugar Free Pecan Turtles Candy
- Keto Biscotti with Pecans and Cranberries
- Pecan Crusted Salmon
- Brown Butter Pecan Muffins
Keto Butter Pecan Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (91 g) Swerve Sweetener
- 1 3/4 cups (182 g) almond flour
- 2 tbsp (14 g) coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
- 1/2 cup (49.5 g) chopped toasted pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sweetener together until lightened and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the almond flour, coconut flour, vanilla extract, and salt until well combined. Stir in the chopped pecans.
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place a few inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.
- Bake 5 minutes then remove from the oven and use a flat-bottomed glass to flatten again to about ¼ inch thick. Return to the oven and bake another 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.
- Remove and let cool completely. Store on the counter for 4 days and in the refrigerator after that.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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I ran out of vanilla extract but used caramel extract instead. Absolutely Devine!! Thank you
I also made mine with powered and it turned out great…. MY new favorite cookie!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! These are the best low carb cookies I’ve ever tasted! I know I’ll be making these on a regular basis because my hubby loves having something sweet!! needed to watch them a little closer, one batch got a little too brown, but my hubby liked them too! The recipe was so easy to put together and I loved that it used ingredients that I keep on hand now!
I am so glad to hear it!
They came out perfect and since it was snowing here on the Arizona desert, where it seldom snows, I got busy and whipped up a batch. They were so simple to throw together and bake. They are awesome!! Just like the snow!! I’ll be looking at the pictures I took today, when our Summer temperatures are in the 110 degrees F. in June..
Thank you~~
Delicious! I made them today on a snow day and enjoy them with hot cocoa : )
The only they didn’t hold together very well ? (no that I mind ) perhaps needed more time in the oven ? Or freezing the dough before baking them? Love your feedback!
The taste was perfect !
You shouldn’t need any of that. If they didn’t hold together well, it makes me think your almond flour was too coarse.
Oh my heavens…I just made these today and they are by far one of my favorite low carb cookies. So quick and easy to make and they made the house smell incredible! Thank you so much!
These are my go to cookies!!! BEST by far!!!! I always make a double batch because everyone loves them. I keep them in the freezer for a crisp and crunchy treat!
So glad to hear it!
Wow!!! Wow!!! Wow!!! I came across this recipe a few weeks ago, but just filed it in my to-do-one-day recipes. I was looking for a keto pecan short bread recipe, so since the name of this recipe didn’t contain the word shortbread, I just moved on and tried another, which was tasty, but texturally disappointing. Then the other day I actually read through your recipe and the comments and realized that even though this isn’t called shortbread, it is essentially that. So I made these cookies, and was completely blown away!!! They are EXACTLY like the regular ones I used to make every Christmas!! Thank you so much for your brilliance!! I’ve now made three batches!! They don’t last long in our house. Lol!!
So when I made them, I roasted the pecans at 350 for 8 minutes (check at 7 to make sure they don’t burn), and let them cool before putting them in the dough. Also, I roll the dough into a log on parchment paper, and then freeze it for 30 minutes to an hour. Then I cut them into discs. In my last batch, I was able to cut 26 cookies from the log! For anyone reading this- it is a MUST MAKE!!!! For the people whose dough was sandy, it may be the brand of coconut flour you’re using. Or perhaps you mis-measured? Or could altitude affect this somehow?
Carolyn, you are BRILLIANT!!
So glad you liked it. Yes, they are very much like shortbread. And i’ve done the slice and bake method too.
Can you use monk fruit packets to sweeten?
I don’t know, I don’t use them or even know what brand we are talking about here.
Not sure how to store these cookies. Recipe says on counter top for R days. Do you mean open or can I put them in a tight seal tin for four days
Covered container is best so they don’t dry out too much.
Made a batch with coconut oil for my daughter (vegan) very good, no problem.
My wife and I love these cookies, she is Celiac.
Glad they met with approval!
Hi Carolyn,
Made these and they are every bit as delicious, or more, than their sugary cousins!! Everyone I gave them to, thought they were, too!! They were very surprised that they were sugar-free and agreed that they were worth making again and again!!
Btw, the sugar substitute I used was Sola. From what I can tell, it works just like sugar and I really love using it. Also, the cost is comparable to Swerve. Have you had any experience with it?
From what I can read on the very blurry image of the back of the package, this is really just another erythritol blend sweetener. However, if I am reading it right, it also contains maltitol, which spikes most people’s blood sugar. So it’s probably not something I would use often, if at all, if that’s the case.
Yes, it is a blend that was “crafted by a trained chef, not a scientist” according to the back of the package.
The ingredients are as listed in order on the package: erythritol, tagatose, maltitol, monk fruit extract, xanthan gum, stevia leaf extract, and natural flavors.
I don’t have diabetes but do watch my carbs, so I’ll be switching to Swerve. I’m new to your site, but see now that you’ve written about maltitol and its effects in numerous posts. Thanks for the info on it!!
The reason I like the Sola is that it has the mouth feel and depth that real sugar has, but that sucralose and stevia don’t. I was assuming that it’s the tagatose or monk fruit, but could it really be the erythritol? Does Swerve have that same mouth feel and depth to it?
It’s the maltitol that gives me pause. While you may not be diabetic, if it’s spiking me, it’s causing an insulin response in most “regular” people.
Now the thing about Swerve… people love it or hate it. I LOVE it because it’s one of the few sweeteners that has no aftertaste for me and it bakes like sugar. However, some people experience a strong taste with it. Every palate is different so it’s hard to know unless you test it!
Can I use Confectioners Swerve instead of the granulated?
I am not entirely positive that it will result in the right texture but it it’s all you have it will still be good!
I haven’t made these—yet????
Whenever I’ve made baked goods with Swerve, the cooling taste of the erythritol puts me off. Suggestions? Do you get used to it?
So the problem with sweeteners is that each of us experiences them a little differently. I do not get ANY cooling sensation from Swerve but I do from most other Erythritol sweeteners. You have to find what works for you. Combining two sweeteners often works too.
Hi. Can these be frozen before they are cooked?
Yes! the dough can be wrapped up tightly and frozen or you can freeze in balls ready to be baked.
I made these to take over for Thanksgiving and even my picky youngest daughter who balks at keto LOVED them! She also refuses to eat eggs, which is how I got her to try them! Holy crap I love your recipes!!
So glad she (and you!) liked them!