Treat yourself to the perfect fall treat with these Pumpkin Butter Pecan Cookies, where rich pumpkin spice meets buttery pecan crunch in every bite. Easy to make and irresistibly flavorful, they’re sure to become your seasonal favorite!
About These Chewy Pumpkin Cookies
I always want to know more about a cookie before I try making it. What is the texture, flavor or how hard or easy is it to make. This is how I describe these cookies which I first made for my daughter last Fall. My plan is to make them again for her when she visits from college at Thanksgiving since she loves them.
- Super lofty, chewy, and with a moist cake like texture: The pumpkin butter keeps these cookies so moist. These cookies have a moist cake like texture and are loaded with pecans in each bite.
- Crisp cinnamon sugar coating: The outside cinnamon sugar coating is amazing on these cookies. It is crunchy and reminds me of the coating on cinnamon sugar roasted pecans (not quite as crunchy) I used to buy from street vendors in Boston when I lived there.
- Super Easy: These cookies require no chilling. So this is a mix, scoop and then bake kind of recipe. You can whip this up quickly and in time to watch your favorite movie at home.
- Will taste like the pumpkin butter you use: This may seem obvious but I like to remind folks to taste their food before baking or cooking with it because that is the final flavor you will end up with. If you love lots of spice in your cookies, and the pumpkin butter is not overly Fall spiced, then you should add more Fall spice to your cookie dough.
Key Ingredients And Substitutions
- All-purpose flour
- Pecans: Coarse chopped. Save yourself the money and buy them already this way. The less perfect they are in the package, the cheaper they are at the stores.
- Store-Bought pumpkin butter: Use a good quality brand that is already sweetened. I have shared some tips below on this.
- Unsalted butter: Room temperature. I use unsalted butter so I can control how much salt is in the cookies.
- Kosher salt: The salt elevates the sweet and buttery flavors.
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar: This helps with the chewy texture.
- Vanilla Extract
- Large egg: At room temperature.
- Cream of tarter: If you are in a pinch and do not have this, you can substitute baking powder. To do this, leave out the cream of tarter and leave out the baking soda and use baking powder in their place.
- Baking soda
- Ground cinnamon
- Pumpkin Spice (optional- see note below): If you need more spice flavor than what your pumpkin butter has in it, this is a great all around Fall spice blend to use. You could also use ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg or ground all spice.
Choosing The Right Pumpkin Butter For These Cookies
Not all pumpkin butter is created the same. Some is made using apple cider, some with sugar (or another sweetener) and spices, some only has spices and is unsweetened. The more common Pumpkin butter brands like the ones found at Trader Joes or Williams Sonoma are perfect for this recipe.
This recipe works best with pumpkin butter that uses sugar and spices because the recipe omits some sugar in the cookie dough because of this. If you are working with an un-sweetened pumpkin butter or lightly sweetened one (just check the ingredients list to find out), you will need to add a little sugar to the recipe. I have included my recommendations in the recipe at the bottom of the page.
If it is not pumpkin butter season in stores (usually, September through November) you can make your own. I have had great success with this recipe for pumpkin butter from the website Fifteen Spatulas.
You will just have to remember to make it ahead of time so it has time to cool fully.
How To Make Pumpkin Butter Cookies
- Mix Dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tarter.
- Cream: In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugars, and vanilla and egg by mixing on medium speed with a hand mixer or stand mixer until creamy then mix in the pumpkin butter until well combines.
- Combine: Combine the creamy pumpkin butter mixture with the dry ingredients and mix until a dough forms.
- Scoop: With a medium cookie scoop, scoop out the dough then add it to a small bowl of cinnamon and sugar and coat all sides. Place on a lined baking sheet about 1 inch apart.
- Bake: Bake the cookies for 14-15 minutes or until they are a golden brown all over.
- Cool: Allow the cookies to cool completely since they will firm up some during cooling.
More Ideas For These Pumpkin Cookies
- Add chocolate chips to the dough.
- Use walnuts instead of pecans.
- Omit the pecans. If you do this, they will not be as tall since there are no pecans giving them their lofty shape.
- Add butterscotch chips to the dough.
- Make a delicious cream cheese frosting to go on top. I sometimes make the cinnamon cream cheese frosting from my chewy chocolate cinnamon cookies and spread those on top for a more indulgent cookie.
Storing And Making These Cookies Ahead Of Time
These cookies will stay nice and chewy for as long as they last, or up to one week). Store them in an air-tight container to keep them fresh.
The counter is fine for storing for the first couple days but after that, they should be stored in the fridge.
They also freeze really well, both the dough and the already baked cookies. To freeze the cookie dough, roll the scooped dough in the cinnamon and sugar then place on a sheet pan. Let the dough freeze fully then transfer to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. To bake, place the frozen dough on a cookie sheet and allow the dough to come to almost room temperature. Bake according to the directions below in the recipe.
To freeze the baked cookies, allow them to fully cool then place in freezer bags side by side. Freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw the cookies on the counter in the sealed bags.
More Fall Cookie Recipes
Pumpkin Butter Pecan Cookies Recipe
Equipment
- medium cookie scoop about a ⅛ scoop
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 ¾ cups All-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups Pecans Coarsely chopped
- 1 Large egg
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoon of Pumpkin butter stirred well
- ⅛ cup Light brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract optional
- 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon Cream of tarter
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt If using regular table salt, make sure to half the amount.
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- ½ cup Granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
Cookies
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tarter, cinnamon and salt then set aside.1 ¾ cups All-purpose flour, ¾ tsp Cream of tarter, ½ tsp Baking soda, ¼ tsp Kosher salt, 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- In a separate large bowl with a hand mixer or stand mixer, add butter and both sugars and mix on medium speed for 1 minute.½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup unsalted butter, ⅛ cup Light brown sugar
- Now add vanilla, pumpkin butter and the egg and mix until combined.1 Large egg, 1 tsp Vanilla extract, ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoon of Pumpkin butter
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until it comes together.
- Fold the pecans into the batter so they are evenly distributed.1 ½ cups Pecans
- Add parchment paper to a baking sheet. If you do not have this, just omit this step.
- Using a medium cookie scoop or a ⅛ measuring cup, scoop out the dough then add it to a small bowl of cinnamon and sugar and coat all sides. The dough is very sticky so just push it around in the cinnamon sugar mixture carefully. Place on a lined baking sheet making sure they are about 1 inch apart.½ cup Granulated sugar, 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- Do this with all of the cookie dough until it is all used up.
- Bake cookies for 14 minutes, or until a very light golden color all over.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet. They will firm up while cooling.
Notes
- ½ cup light brown sugar (packed)
Nutrition
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
See full nutrition disclaimer hereTried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!
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