These butter pecan toffee cookies are chewy, buttery, nutty, and just the right amount of sweet-with crispy edges and soft centers that practically hum a lullaby when you pull them out of the oven.
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🗝️ Why these should be in your cookie jar today
- They taste like the best parts of a Southern church potluck… without the small talk. Golden brown edges, buttery chew, a little crunch from the toasted pecans, and melty bits of toffee that'll glue your soul back together. It's the kind of cookie that makes grown women close their eyes and say, "Mmm" like they just found Jesus in a bite.
- You don't need to chill the dough, but you will need to chill once people start begging for the recipe. No waiting. No fussy ingredients. Just a simple recipe that turns out like you spent the day channeling your inner 1950s housewife-minus the girdle and the cigarettes.
- They freeze like a dream-so you can stash a batch away from your family and pretend they never existed. Hide them in the freezer behind the frozen peas. Label them "liver casserole." Smile smugly. You're welcome.
🧾Ingredients for butter pecan toffee cookies
- Butter - Real butter. Not margarine. We're baking cookies, not sad memories.
- Sugar - For sweetness, structure, and the inevitable addiction.
- Brown sugar - Adds that deep, caramelized vibe like it's been through something.
- Eggs - Just a couple of overachievers holding it all together.
- Vanilla - The classic. The reliable. Like your favorite cousin who doesn't judge.
- Butternut flavoring - Optional, but if you know, you know. It gives everything that old-school bakery magic.
- Flour - All purpose. The foundation. The stage all the drama happens on.
- Baking soda - Just enough to give these cookies a little lift.
- Baking powder - Backup dancer to baking soda. Still important.
- Salt - Because sugar without salt is like a Southern aunt without gossip.
- Butterscotch chips - Sweet, melty pockets of pure joy.
- Toffee pieces - The crackly golden bits that make you feel like you're getting away with something.
- Pecans - Toasted and nutty, just like your favorite relative. Adds crunch, class, and that Southern signature.
For tips, FAQs, storage ideas, and more be sure to download the free printable butter pecan toffee cookies kitchen cheat sheet.
📖 Recipe
Butter Pecan Toffee Cookies
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoons vanilla
- ½ teaspoon butternut flavor, optional
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon boiling water
- 1 ½ cups butterscotch chips
- ½ cup toffee pieces
- 1 ½ cups pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- Place silpat or parchment on the baking sheet
- Cream the butter and both sugars together until well blended
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one
- Beat in the vanilla and butternut flavorings
- Dissolve the baking soda and salt in the boiling water. Yes, boiling water. Just trust the process. It wakes up the baking soda and salt so your cookies rise and behave.
- Beat it into the butter mixture
- Mix the baking powder with the flour
- Stir into the butter mixture
- Fold in the butterscotch chips, toffee, and pecans
- Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheet
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until set but still slightly soft in the middle
- Let cool for 10 minutes on the pans before removing to the counter to finish cooling.
To Toast Pecans
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Spread pecans over cookie sheet and bake on 350F for 3-5 minutes. Watch carefully.
Notes
- Pull them out when the edges are set but the centers still look a little soft.
- Use parchment or a silicone mat.
- Toast the pecans.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
🔪 How to make butter pecan cookies
- Cream butter and sugars; add eggs and flavorings. Add baking soda and salt dissolved in water.
- Mix dry ingredients and add.
- Stir in the pecans, butterscotch chips, and toffee pieces.
- Drop on prepared cookie sheets and bake.
Marye's Tip
Toast the pecans. You could skip this, but then your cookies will taste like a mere ghost of their former selves. A few minutes in a dry skillet wakes them up and makes everything taste 100% fancier than it actually is.
📚 More recipes like butter pecan toffee cookies
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Soft, chewy, and unapologetically classic. These are the cookies your grandma swore by-and probably used to bribe neighbors into returning her casserole dishes.
🍪 Butterscotch Buckaroons
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Whether you're baking for the church bake sale, a cranky neighbor, or just yourself and a good book, these butter pecan toffee cookies are here to make life a little sweeter-and a whole lot more delicious.
They're easy enough for a Tuesday night craving, but fancy enough to pass off as "homemade with love" at any gathering (even if you baked them in a state of mild emotional collapse).
So go on. Toast those pecans. Brown that butter. And claim your rightful spot as the person who "just happens to make the best cookies ever."
Just don't forget to stash a few for yourself before the vultures descend.
Debbie Isham says
My family loved this! Thanks for the recipe!
Belinda Gallogly says
Easy and vvery yummy
Sue M. says
These are delicious and everyone I've given them to love them as well. I did not have butternut flavoring but I had Watkins Butter flavoring so I used that instead. The last time I made them, out of habit, I added the baking soda and salt to the flour so I eliminated the teaspoon of boiling water altogether and they came out just fine. I'm not sure why that's in the recipe but perhaps it makes them rise more. In any event, the cookie turned out just fine and rose just like normal. Delicious.