Coconut Pecan Cookies

These Coconut Pecan Cookies are incredibly soft, chewy and so delicious. The chopped pecans and shredded coconut add texture and flavour. I have a feeling these are going to be one of your new favourite cookies ever!

Why you need to make these cookies

I have always been a chocolate lover and have naturally leaned to classic chocolate chip cookies, if I had the choice. But as soon as I made these coconut pecan cookies, I was rethinking everything about my cookie preferences.

These cookies are incredibly soft, chewy, and delicious. The pecans add an enjoyable crunchy texture but the cookie itself is so doughy. Plus, the shredded coconut gives these cookies such a decadent flavour.

Of course, you always have the option of adding chocolate chips if they are mandatory in your baked goods.

They are super easy to whip up and in less than 30 minutes you’ll have a full batch of cookies warm and ready to eat!

 

Ingredients needed

Here’s what you need to make these tasty pecan coconut cookies:

• All purpose flour
• Salted butter
• Light brown sugar
• White sugar
• Egg
• Unsweetened shredded coconut
• Chopped pecans
• Vanilla extract
• Baking soda
• Salt

 

Substitutions and add-ins

If you don’t have some of the ingredients or you would prefer to make some substitutions, here are my recommendations:

• Gluten free flour
  • To make these cookies gluten free, use gluten free all purpose 1:1 flour in the same amount that’s recommended for the all purpose flour. You may not get the same chewy texture with the gluten free flour but the flavour will be very similar!
• Unsalted butter
  • I use salted butter in most of my baked goods because I feel like a little extra salt goes a long way in amplifying the flavour. However, you can use unsalted butter if that’s what you have or if you’re being mindful of your sodium intake.
• Coconut oil
  • This can be used instead of the butter and for extra coconut flavour. Just make sure that it’s at room temperature before mixing it with the brown sugar.
• Other types of brown sugar
  • Any kind of brown sugar will work in this recipe.
• Sweetened shredded coconut
  • This can also be a way to adjust the sweetness of the cookies. If you want them extra sweet, use sweetened shredded coconut.
• Flaked coconut
  • If you want larger pieces of dried coconut in the cookies, use flaked coconut instead of shredded!
• Almonds or pistachios
  • Either of these nuts could be used instead of pecans in this recipe. Just make sure to buy the unsalted version.
• Chocolate chips or chocolate chunks (white, milk, semi-sweet or dark chocolate)
  • Add some chocolate and extra sweetness with chocolate chips!

How to make Coconut Pecan Cookies

Here’s how to make these chewy coconut pecan cookies:

1. First, make sure to preheat the oven to 350ºF so it has time to heat up. Next, prepare your baking sheet. You can either grease it with butter or coconut oil or line it with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Set this aside while we prepare the dough!
2. In a large bowl, add the room temperature butter and brown sugar. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, mix on medium-high for 1-2 minutes or until the butter and sugar are creamed together. Add the white sugar to this and mix it again until everything is well incorporated and fluffy.
   1. TIP: If you forgot to take the sticks of butter out of the fridge in time for it to warm up, I actually place the wrapped stick of butter in my pant waist band for several minutes. The body heat will warm up the butter without melting it. Just rotate it every few minutes so it warms it up evenly.
3. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix again.
4. Next, it’s on to the rest of the dry ingredients! Add the all purpose flour, salt and baking soda and mix again.
5. We can’t forget about the stars of the show: coconut and pecans! Using a wooden spoon or spatula, fold in the shredded coconut and chopped pecans until they are just incorporated. Try not to overmix the batter!
6. Using a cookie scoop or spoon, distribute about 1-2 tbsp of dough onto the prepared or lined baking sheet. Make sure the cookie dough balls are all evenly spread apart on the tray. You can even add some pecan pieces on top of each cookie to be extra fancy!
7. Place them in the oven for 10-12 minutes. The cookies may look slightly underbaked but this is what we want! Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for 5-10 minutes. As long as the bottoms of the cookies are a light golden brown, they’re done! Enjoy!

 

Toasted or untoasted pecans?

Save yourself the time and effort and stick to untoasted pecans. It’s easy to burn nuts really quickly so let’s not worry about overcooking them and just add them, as is, to the cookie dough.

If you have store bought toasted pecans, you can still use these in this recipe.

Should the cookies be hard or soft?

Everyone has their own personal opinion on how soft, chewy or crunchy a cookie should be. There is no judgement from me on your preference, but this Coconut Pecan Cookie recipe creates the most perfectly soft and chewy cookie that will have you coming back for more!

If you prefer your cookies to be hard and crunchy, I recommend flattening the cookie dough on the baking sheet before placing it in the oven. You may also want to bake the cookies for 2-3 minutes longer to achieve that texture.

 

Why did my cookies spread so much?

There are a few baking mistakes that could make your Coconut Pecan Cookies spread too much and end up flat. The most common is that there is too much fat in the dough. The fat element in this baked good is the butter (or coconut oil). Make sure you follow the recommended ratio of butter to dry ingredients!

Another reason why the cookies could spread is because there isn’t enough flour or there is too much liquid. Melting the butter could cause the batter to be liquidy, which we want to avoid. Use room temperature butter and add the suggested amount of flour.

As long as you follow the instructions step by step, these Coconut Pecan Cookies should come out of the oven perfectly fluffy and chewy!

More cookie recipes that you’ll love!

• Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Almond Pistachio Cookies
• Brown Butter Shortbread Cookies
• Papa’s Classic Oatmeal Cookies

 

If you make these Coconut Pecan Cookies, I would love to see your comment and rating below. It also makes my day seeing your creation of my recipes on Instagram- don’t forget to tag @allnutrition.rd!