I’m not a huge cookie person (I’d rather have a chunk of cheese 🧀), but I looooove pecan sandies! I think I love them because they’re not too sweet. They’re rich, buttery, and nutty, with just a little hint of sweetness. The perfect cookie for savory food lovers, like myself. But this time, I decided to go one step further and make my pecan sandies a little extra cozy by swirling in a heavy dose of warm cinnamon. Dipping these Cinnamon Pecan Sandies into a hot mug of cocoa or coffee, while wrapped in a cozy sweater might actually make me like winter. Maybe. We’ll see. I might have to make a second batch just to make sure.
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
What are Pecan Sandies?
If you’re not familiar with this nutty cookie, they’re basically shortbread filled to the brim with chopped pecans. They’re also very similar to Mexican Wedding Cookies. Pecan Sandies are a little crumbly, but melt in your mouth with their buttery flavor. They’re not very sweet, making them a perfect contrast to other super sweet cookies on holiday cookie platters.
Can I Make the Dough Ahead of Time?
Yes, you can prepare the dough for these Cinnamon Pecan Sandies ahead and store it in the refrigerator, wrapped tightly in plastic, for a few days, or freeze the dough for longer storage.
Can I Substitute the Pecans?
Yes. While pecans are the classic choice here, I think there are several other nuts that would also be delicious. Walnuts, pistachios, and macadamia would all be awesome.
Cinnamon Pecan Sandies
Servings 24 cookiesIngredients
- 1 cup butter, room temperature ($0.72)
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar ($0.05)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.30)
- 2 Tbsp water ($0.00)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 2 cups flour ($0.10)
- 1 cup pecans ($3.52)
- 1.5 tsp cinnamon ($0.15)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Add the room temperature butter and powdered sugar to a mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat the two together until light and creamy (start on low speed to prevent spraying powdered sugar, increase to high once the sugar and butter are combined).
- Add the vanilla extract, water, and salt and beat until combined.
- Finally, begin to add the flour, beating on low speed, adding 1/2 cup at a time, until all of the flour is incorporated.
- Finely chop the pecans, then briefly mix them into the cookie dough. Finally, sprinkle the cinnamon over the cookie dough and use your hands to fold the dough onto itself 3-4 times, or just enough to create swirls of cinnamon throughout the dough, but not have it evenly mixed.
- Divide and shape the cookie dough into 24 balls, about 2 Tbsp each. Place the shaped dough onto the cookie sheets then use the palm of your hand or the bottom of a glass to press the dough balls into thick discs.
- Bake the pecan sandies for 22-25 minutes, or until the cookies are barely golden on the edges. The appearance of the cookies won't change much after baking. Allow the cookies to cool slightly before serving.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Cinnamon Pecan Sandies – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Beat together 1 cup room temperature butter (two 8-Tbsp sticks) and 3/4 cup powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Make sure to start your mixer on low speed until the powdered sugar is worked into the butter, or else you’ll spray sugar everywhere!
Add 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp salt, and 2 Tbsp water to the creamed butter and sugar, then beat again until combined.
Begin beating in the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until 2 cups have been incorporated. Again, use a lower speed to prevent spraying flour all over! :)
This is what the cookie dough looks like after all the flour has been added. It’s soft, but not sticky.
Finely chop 1 cup pecans.
Mix the chopped pecans into the cookie dough.
Sprinkle 1.5 tsp cinnamon onto the cookie dough.
Use your hands to fold the dough onto itself 3-4 times or just until there are swirls of cinnamon throughout the dough, but the cinnamon is not yet evenly mixed in.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide and shape the cookie dough into 24 ping pong sized balls. Place the shaped balls on the cookie sheets, then use the palm of your hand or the bottom of a glass to press the balls into thick discs.
Bake the Cinnamon Pecan Sandies for 22-25 minutes, or until they are just slightly golden on the edges. The appearance of the cookies won’t change much as they bake. The above photo is AFTER baking!
Let the cookies cool at least five minutes before serving!
Love cinnamon? Try my Cinnamon Nut Swirl Mug Cake!
I usually love there recipes from this site, but these cookies were not good at all. They were very dry, very bland. I was very disappointed. I will not be making these again!
I didn’t expect this to be so good. Thanks!
I wanted to love these cookies but was a bit disappointed. The pecan flavor comes through, but they also taste really flour-y. They’re all right, but no one in my family will eat them but me.
I’ve looked at this recipe several times through the years, and this weekend while looking for a small batch not terribly sweet cookie recipe, it was time. So delicious, so easy, and with butter having been on sale lately, relatively inexpensive for a nut based cookie.
Some people have asked about subs for the pecans. Hickory nuts–not usually commercially available–are pecan’s smaller cousins. They can be found in wooded areas in much of the US. With very hard shells, they are a pain to crack, but if you have hickory trees in a local park or wooded area, they are free–and delicious. They taste much like pecans. As children in Iowa, we collected them every fall from trees around our schoolyard, and they’re plentiful here in NC. Crack them while watching tv and you will be hard pressed not to eat them all.
Although I haven’t used them in this recipe I often use hazelnuts in recipes–even “pecan” pie–as one of my grandsons is allergic to most tree nuts but can eat hazelnuts and almonds. They have more taste than almonds and are excellent in cookies. I’ve also tossed the shells in the smoker when smoking meats. Trader Joe’s always has them, and they are cheaper than some nuts.
Scrambled my sentence order above–I toss hickory shells in the smoker, not hazelnut shells. Have to watch the edits more closely!
These were delicious! So buttery and cinnamon-y. I got 18 cookies from scooping 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie. I liked them so much that I’m going to make these again for my family Christmas lunch!
Delicious and easy!! Happy with how they turned out.
All I can say to this recipe is YES. I have never had these in this form – only with the powdered sugar coating and shaped round. Either way, these are just the best. Thank you for bringing the sweetness on this one!
Delicious! I added two shakes of nutmeg because it is my favorite fall flavor.
Also for a half cup of the flour I used home-ground whole wheat.
These turned out so amazing! I had walnuts on hand so I used those, and used almond extract instead of vanilla. Phenomenal!
These are goooooood. And, easy and quick to make. My butter was rock hard and I was too impatient to wait for it to get to room temp, so I just “defrosted” it in the microwave for a minute, and thankfully it did not ruin my results. They are somehow both crisp and melt-in-your mouth soft, and just sweet enough to satisfy my dessert craving.
Also, my guy insisted that he hates this kind of cookie, but after trying one he had to admit these are an exception.
I cooked them for less time so they would come out a little on the chewy and softer side and they worked perfectly!
A great recipe!
These turned out perfectly. Mine never really turned golden so I finally took them out after 30 minutes, but they were fine.
I’ve made this recipe several times now (always with amazing results!), but for some reason when I made it tonight I misread the ingredients list and only used 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) instead of 2 sticks (1 cup). I only realized halfway through baking and then spent the next 10 minutes sitting in front of the oven to see if they were acting weird. I am happy to report that they turned out completely fine! After 22 minutes they were completely cooked through, not browned on the top at all but a little golden on the bottom. They’re not as crumbly as I remember? but otherwise no one will be the wiser to my mistake when I offer them up.
Nice!! I might try that myself! Thanks for sharing your happy accident. :)
I am AMAZED! These cookies came out great, and I am a serial cookie killer. Every single time I attempt to make a cookie, they end up flat and overspread on the cookie sheet. They barely spread, and the day after, they break apart perfectly. I made the mistake of not chopping the nuts smaller, but I’m going through these cookies so quickly that I won’t make the same mistake when I make another batch soon.
These are very similar to a cookie I used to get at my favorite bakery back home, except it included shaved chocolate chips. I would really like to add it to this batter, but I wonder if the cookies would turn out well with the chocolate inclusion?
Should the pecans be toasted first?
No they do not need to be toasted first.
Delicious and easy to make. Thank you! The entire family enjoyed them very much!
Happy to hear it Sharon!
I made these for my family at Christmas and they were a hit! They are delicious. I made them exactly as the recipe dictates and they are perfect. So easy and so yummy!
That’s fantastic! Thanks for sharing Millie!
If I don’t have salted butter how much salt would I add to use unsalted butter?
You can just use unsalted butter if that’s what you have on hand. No need to add extra salt.
I am almost 50 and have made oodles of cookies, but for some reason, this dough was very sticky and the cookies spread quite a bit. I don’t think “self-rising” flour would do that (that’s all hubby could get in the store), but not sure what else could’ve caused it since I did not measure anything wrong. They are still tasty, though—almost more salty than sweet, which I like!
Made these with vegan butter and walnuts, they turned out great! Ended up having to double the water to make it dough-like (possibly from the vegan butter).
Thank you so much for letting us know Kayla!
Can the dough be frozen or refrigerated and used later?
We haven’t tried it that way, but you most certainly could refrigerate it and bake later.
These look delicious! Do you think I could get away with regular white sugar instead of the powdered here?
Hi Kim! The powdered sugar helps to keep the dough light and soft. It’s recommended to stick with the powdered.
I love pecans! They’re my favorite nuts. The pecan flavor in these cookies is so delicious 🤤
This is the first time I have eaten them with cinnamon, and it’s really a great addition.
These look so good, and we already have all the ingredients to make them!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Should we use salted or unsalted butter?
Salted butter is the key! :)
Can I suggest you add it to the recipe then? I used unsalted because you don’t specify and add salt later in the recipe, so I assumed unsalted and was wrong. Most baking recipes will recommend unsalted so you can control the salt content, so it’s not so obvious for me based on that.
Thanks :)