Chewy Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies (no chill!)
These chewy chocolate chip pecan cookies are SO easy to make and are absolutely delicious – for the holiday season or any time of year! You don’t have to chill the dough, so you can whip up a batch really quickly!
This chocolate chip pecan cookie recipe is just a slight variation of my classic chocolate chip cookies. That recipe produces my absolute favorite cookie, so I knew adding pecans to it to give it a slightly different texture and flavor would be delicious!!
Whether you pronounce this nut “pee-CAN” or “puh-cahn,” I think we’ll all agree that these pecan chocolate chip cookies are absolutely delightful and really need to show up in the cookie jar on your counter.
Maybe even on a regular basis. I really don’t think anyone will be disappointed about that.
FYI: it’s definitely pronounced “puh-cahn.” 😉
Here’s why you’ll love this chocolate chip pecan cookie recipe:
- I mean, they’re just really, really good. Each cookie has crispy edges, a soft center, and a delightfully chewy texture with crunchy pecans and melty chocolate chips in every bite. You’ve probably just gained a few pounds reading that sentence, haven’t you? (It was worth it, wasn’t it?)
- The ingredients are simple! You may even have everything already on hand.
- They’re quick to make! Especially since you don’t have to chill the dough! (See my notes below!)
How to keep cookies from spreading:
There are lots of reasons that cookies might spread (I know, so annoying) – I’ve tested this so. many. dang. times. and here are the biggest culprits that are 100% fixable:
- The brand of flour you use matters. I’ve tried and tested SEVERAL common brands of flours, and they all bake a bit differently. I’ve definitely discovered that King Arthur is the most reliable, and now I’m very loyal to that brand until I’m convinced otherwise. 😜 Some other flours have the tendency to spread – a friend of mine who is always my “phone a friend” for culinary questions told me that flour thresholds for gluten/protein content can fluctuate, so she always gets King Arthur because they always publish their protein content on the bag, so you know you’re getting a consistent product that’ll behave the same way every time. Ever since I’ve started using King Arthur, I haven’t had cookie spreading problems and get a perfect cookie pretty much every time.
- Your butter is too warm. Some recipes call for melted butter or super soft butter, but most of the time, you’re going to need to chill that dough before you bake it to prevent spreading. There are some cookie recipes worth chilling (like my triple chocolate chip cookies) or that you really have to chill (like these cutout sugar cookies), BUT, you can get away without chilling chocolate chip cookies for a few different reasons, one of them being the butter temperature. As long as your butter is cool but is a little soft, you should be good! The mixer is going to really soften it up when you cream it with the sugars.
- You need more flour. It all depends on the recipe. I have tested this base chocolate chip cookie recipe dozens and dozens of times, and this ratio of flour to the other ingredients is pretty much perfect every single time. BUT, I also always add in 2 T of flour right at the end – right after I add in the chocolate chips and any other add-ins – which usually helps “top off the dough” and keep it from spreading.
- Baking soda or baking powder are expired. Just check them beforehand!
Ingredients you’ll need:
Just a few simple ingredients and you’re on your way to delicious, chewy cookies!
- 2 sticks of unsalted butter (they can be room temperature, but I prefer mine to be a little cooler, just because I think it helps prevent spreading) – don’t tell professional bakers this, but I usually take sticks straight out of the fridge, put them in the microwave for about 12 seconds, and they’re usually the perfect consistency after that. (NO melted butter – just slightly softened!)
- Brown sugar – you can use light brown sugar, “regular” brown sugar, OR dark brown sugar – I usually use just regular brown sugar, but for a little richer flavor, you can go with dark!
- Granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- Vanilla extract – any good quality vanilla will do!
- All-purpose flour: I’ve switched to using EXCLUSIVELY King Arthur flour over the last several months. Nope, not a sponsor – they definitely don’t know little ‘ole me. 😜 I’ve found that my baked goods, especially my cookies, come out much more reliably and consistently from the oven.
- Baking soda – for chewy cookies with a little lift
- Salt – don’t skip this in cookies! REALLY helps to bring out the flavor!
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips – I usually go between my store brand (H-E-B) or Hershey’s. Hershey’s is my favorite non-store brand of chocolate chips out of all the ones I’ve tried. I’m probably making some chocolate aficionados twitch a bit to make that recommendation, but I’ve tried lots of different chocolate chips and they’re just my fave along with HEB’s. 🤷🏻♀️ I would use either semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips in this recipe. (I’ve made lots of chocolate chip cookies with dark chips – they’re SO GOOD.) Milk chocolate might make them a bit too sweet, but if you love milk chocolate, go for it!
- Roughly chopped pecans – I like larger pecan pieces in my cookies!
How to make chewy chocolate chip pecan cookies:
Go ahead and preheat your oven to 375.
>> Before you get started, an optional first step would be to lightly toast the pecans on the stovetop. You don’t have to do this, but it does help bring out a slightly richer flavor. If you’d like to do this, simply pour your pecans into a skillet over medium heat. Stir regularly with a spatula or wooden spoon and cook for about 5-7 minutes, and then remove from heat and set aside.
- Step 1: Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter & sugars together for about 2 minutes. Creaming them together like this helps eventually produce a super soft, chewy cookie.
- Step 2: Add in vanilla & then eggs, one at a time, and mix until just combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
- Step 3: In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Step 4: With your mixer on low, slowly pour in the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated. (You don’t want to overmix!) Scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Step 5: With the mixer on low, fold in chocolate chips & pecans.
- Step 6: If you’re not going to chill the dough, gently mix in – just until incorporated – an additional 2 T of flour. I gently sprinkle it in with the mixer on low, allow the mixer to go a few revolutions, and then turn it off. It’s just enough flour to help keep the cookies from spreading, and then I don’t have to chill the dough!
- Step 7: Roll dough into about 1.5-2′ cookie dough balls and place 12 on a large baking pan. I ALWAYS bake cookies using my USA Pans – they bake evenly, the cookies never stick, and they help produce super chewy cookies. I can’t more highly recommend them. If you want, press in a few extra chocolate chips and pecan pieces on the tops of the cookie dough balls. This just helps them look even more textured when they come out of the oven. 🙂
- Step 8: Bake one pan at a time at 375 for 9 min. Cookies should have a slightly golden brown tint to them.
- Step 9: Remove from oven, allow to cool on the pan for about 5-10 minutes, and then remove with a spatula and allow cookies to cool on a wire cooling rack.
- Step 10: Repeat with remaining dough.
If you love hot, gooey cookies, enjoy them right away! 🙂
Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days (they’ll be best within the first 48 hours of making them) or freeze them for eating later. If you freeze them within a day or so of making them, they’ll maintain their chewiness and freshness and taste GREAT thawed out of the freezer!
Tips for making this recipe:
- Make sure your butter isn’t too soft. When I make cookies, unless I’m making browned butter cookies, I always use butter that’s soft but is still pretty cool compared to room temperature. (Like I mentioned above, I almost always just pull mine right out of the fridge, zap it in the microwave for about 5-7 seconds for 1 stick and about 12 for 2 sticks, and it comes out perfect.) Butter that’s too warm will have the tendency to spread the cookies. (Which is fine, you can always chill the dough, but if you don’t want to do that, then just make sure your butter isn’t too warm!)
- If you’re not using USA Pans and your cookie sheet has the tendency to stick, you may want to lay down parchment paper before you put your cookie dough balls down on the sheet.
- For freezing: place baked cookies in airtight container or in a gallon freezer bag. I don’t bother placing wax paper between cookies – if I know I’m going to freeze them, I usually just put them in the freezer about 5-8 hours after I make them. That gives them time to set and stiffen up a little bit, and then they don’t stick to each other at all.
- You can easily halve the recipe if you want! It cuts in half nice and neatly – I make half batches of chocolate chip cookies ALL the time.
- Use an oven thermometer. I never rely on my oven display to tell me the oven temp – I just use an oven thermometer that hangs inside my oven all the time. This way I know the cookies go in at the exact temperature I want them to bake!
Other cookie recipes you might like:
- Super chewy & soft chocolate chip cookies – a recipe I tested dozens and dozens of times before officially landing on this one!
- Triple chocolate chip cookies – won my daughter a 1st place ribbon at our county fair!
- Brookies – basically a combo of those two cookie recipes in one cookie and they are SO GOOD.
Chewy Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
These chewy chocolate chip pecan cookies have crispy edges, gooey centers, and lots of flavor! Easy recipe & no need to chill the dough!
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Servings: 24 cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (1 c)
- 1 1/2 c packed brown sugar
- 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 c + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 c semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 c roughly chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Optional: if you want toasted pecans for a richer flavor, pour the pecans in a skillet and saute them over medium heat for 5-7 minutes. This will help release some of the oils and the flavors. The recipe will be delicious without toasting them, but they'll be a little more flavorful if you do! 🙂
- Cream butter & sugars together on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
- While the butter & sugars are creaming together, pour 3 c flour (leave that other 2 tbsp for later!), baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl and gently mix together with a whisk, and then set aside.
- Add in vanilla & egg to the creamed butter and sugar until egg is combined, scraping the bowl to make sure everything evenly mixes together.
- Slowly add in the flour mixture to the creamed butter, and mix together until just combined.
- Gently mix in the chocolate chips & pecans.
- Now, for a silly-but-always-works trick for helping those cookies not to spread: sprinkle in the remaining 2 tbsp of flour into the cookie dough and quickly mix together - just a couple of rotations around the bowl! (You don't need to do this if you decide to make the dough ahead of time and chill it.)
- Roll out your cookie dough - the dough balls should be about 1.5-2 inches in diameter. Once you've rolled out 12 and placed them on your baking pan, bake on the center rack in the 375 degree preheated oven for 9 minutes.
- Remove the baked cookies from the oven, and allow them to sit on the baking pan for 5-10 minutes before placing them on a cooling rack.
- Repeat with remaining dough.
- Enjoy those cookies with your friends & fam!
Notes
1. It's TRUE! You really don't have to chill this dough before baking the cookies! But, that's why I created this recipe the way I did. So, just follow this recipe & you should end up with thick, soft, chewy, melty-on-the-inside, not-spready, delicious chocolate chip cookies in a snap!
2. If you are making this dough ahead of time and don't plan to bake the cookies right after you make the dough, you don't need to bother adding in the extra 2 T of flour at the end. The additional flour helps prevent the fresh dough from spreading, but if it ends up being chilled, they shouldn't need that extra flour.
2. These cookies stay super soft the following day, but I think pretty much all chocolate chip cookies lose a lot of their goodness in texture & flavor by Day 3-4. So, if you're wanting to make these ahead of time, just make the dough ahead of time and store it in the fridge, and then bake the day of or the day before you're wanting to eat them! Nothing yells "DELICIOUS!" like a fresh chocolate chip cookie!
3. Yep, you can freeze the dough AND the baked cookies! Standard for cookie dough is up to 3 months. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in freezer. If you want to freeze the baked cookies, place them in an airtight container or a gallon bag in the freezer once they've completely cooled and set a bit. (Let them sit out for a few hours after baking them before freezing them.)