pecan sugar cookies

These pecan sugar cookies combine brown sugar, toasted pecans, and a hint of cinnamon to create a flavorful upgrade to traditional cut-out sugar cookies. The rich and flavorful brown butter icing requires zero decorating skills—just slather on and enjoy! Be sure to chill the rolled-out dough before cutting into shapes and baking.

Pecan Sugar Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

(150 grams) pecan halves

baking powder

cinnamon

salt

(1.5 sticks

(150 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar

egg,

vanilla extract

Tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter

Tablespoons (45 milliliters) milk

Toast the pecans

Spread the pecans on a lined baking sheet and bake for 8–10 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, then chop, either with a knife or a food processor. You&#8217;ll use 3/4 cup (about 90g) in the dough, and save the rest for garnish. You can turn off the oven for now.

Make the cookie dough: 

Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, and vanilla, and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Stir in 3/4 cup (90g) toasted chopped pecans. Dough will be relatively soft. If the dough seems too soft and sticky for rolling, add 1 more Tablespoon of flour.

Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Place each portion onto a piece of lightly floured parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use more flour if the dough seems too sticky. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is evenly 1/4-inch thick.

Lightly dust one of the rolled-out doughs with flour. Place a piece of parchment on top. (This prevents sticking.) Place the second rolled-out dough on top. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then refrigerate for at least 1–2 hours and up to 2 days.

Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2–3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Carefully remove the top dough piece from the refrigerator. If it&#8217;s sticking to the bottom, run your hand under it to help remove it. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used. Repeat with second piece of dough. (Note: It doesn&#8217;t seem like a lot of dough, but you get a lot of cookies from the dough scraps you re-roll.)

Arrange cookies on baking sheets about 3 inches apart. Bake for 12–13 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. If your oven has hot spots, rotate the baking sheet halfway through bake time. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating. No need to cover the cookies as they cool.

Make the brown butter icing

Slice the butter up into pieces and place in a light-colored skillet. (Light colored helps you determine when the butter begins browning; I love this one.) Melt the butter over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once melted, the butter will begin to foam. Keep stirring. After 5–8 minutes, the butter will begin browning—you&#8217;ll notice lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan and it will have a nutty aroma. Once browned, immediately remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes. (See How to Brown Butter for photos and tips.) Whisk in the remaining icing ingredients until smooth.

Immediately dip the top of each cookie into the icing, or wait 10–15 minutes for the icing to thicken at room temperature. (The thickened icing is what you see in these photos.) Then, spread on with a knife or icing spatula. Do not use piping tips because this icing thickens and they will clog. Garnish with remaining toasted chopped pecans right after applying the icing.

Icing sets after a few hours at room temperature, so you can easily stack and transport these cookies. Cover and store decorated cookies for up to 3 days at room temperature or up to 10 days in the refrigerator.

One of the best  cookies I have ever eaten.  These will be a main go to in my holiday cookies!  The preparation was easy and the brown butter icing is a next level icing. Thank you for your recipes. I look forward to the emails!

Everything I bake comes from your site, and I’ve made many of your cookies. These have to be the best I’ve made yet. I haven’t been a huge fan of some of your other sugar cookies, but these will be made every year. The icing ties it all together. Absolutely delectable.

By far my new favorite cookie...100% recommend.

The cookie itself is delicious!  The icing is good but mine got darker from the browned butter. I ended up adding green food coloring.

Great recipe! I wish it made more because they will be such a pretty addition to our cookie platters! Always great recipes here!!
Thank you!

These are wonderful, not too sweet, wonderful to eat with coffee or tea, and the browned butter icing puts it in first place for an "updated" Christmas cookie. I served it to my bridge group instead of having them for lunch, which I wanted to do but life interfered with my plans. It was still a special treat for everyone, a memorable interlude in a busy holiday season. Everyone loved them, and I passed on Sally's website broadly. A tip: chop the pecans quite small so they don't get in the way of your cookie cutting, and choose your cookie cutters that are simplest in design so the cookie doesn't come apart when you remove your cutter away from the dough. Thank you, Sally!

These cookies are simply delicious! The brown butter icing really makes these a special treat! Thank you so much for the recipe!

Finally a cut out dough that worked for me! I have been baking for decades and had given up on cutouts. These are easy, delicious and cute. I was so surprised to 45 cookies out of the dough! I can't wait to take them to work tomorrow!

I’m not a huge fan of sugar cookies, they’re usually sickeningly sweet. These, however, are amazing! They’re not too sweet; the nutty/savory flavors from the pecans and brown butter, and the pinch of salt in the icing, help to cut the sweetness! They’re definitely one of my all time favorite cookies after making them just one time. Brown butter is amazing; I’d love to see Sally make a brown butter cake frosting! If anyone else wishes this, the best brown butter cake frosting recipe I’ve found is at sugarspunrun.com! Thanks Sally for another winner!

These cookies were delicious! Will definitely make them again!

I just made these and oh my word they are delicious!! They taste just like sticky buns!

I made these cookies as the alternate recipe for the December 2022 Baking Challenge. I like softer cookies, so I would probably take them out of the oven a little bit sooner next time - but they are very tasty! The pecans and brown butter add a wonderful flavor!

Such a delicious recipe! I subbed maple extract for the vanilla in the icing, which I highly recommend.

I’m OBSESSED with this cookie recipe. Decided to give it a try this weekend and it is PERFECTION.

A beautiful combo of crunchy on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside. The brown butter icing is the perfect pairing. 

The recipe is pretty straightforward and easy to follow. It’s a new go-to for me. Will definitely be making them again!

Simple, not too sweet and delish. I used SBA’s thicker icing from her gingerbread oatmeal cookie recipe instead - worked well!

I love how festive these look and they were pretty wavy to make. They tasted amazing! It’s a unique take on a sugar cookie and the icing is magic. I will definitely be making these again!

I made this recipe today, and it got rave reviews from my son! The cookies themselves are yummy to eat, but when you add the frosting and sprinkle of chopped nuts, it takes them to the next level! But I have a question about the frosting: I notice the frosting in the photo is WHITE. So do you try not to add the browned solids to the frosting mix? My frosting came out brown, but since it still tastes so good, I don’t mind. What did you do?

The cookies tasted great but they were too sticky to roll out no matter how much flour I continued to add.  I made them as regular shaped cookies and they tasted delicious!

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Top 2 pecan sugar cookies recipes from across the web

The most viewed pecan sugar cookies recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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Pecan Sugar Cookies with Brown Butt...

Pecan Sugar Cookies with Brown Butt...

The most viewed pecan sugar cookies recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine