These Flourless Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies are gluten free, dairy free, and absolutely amazing. I replaced the flour and butter of a traditional cookie with creamy pecan butter, and you won’t believe the results!
Once I discovered the rich flavor and perfect texture of gluten free nut butter based flourless cookies, I’ve never looked back. These flourless pecan chocolate chip cookies beat regular cookies on so many levels ~ not only is the flavor richer, thanks to the nut butter, but they are moist and chewy, and stay that way for days. They’re full of protein, and take no time at all to make and bake. I only wish I had these recipes when my girls were little, I would have felt a whole lot better about giving them cookies!
cookies with benefits!
If you’re going to have a cookie, it just makes sense to have one that’s going to give you an energy boost and some nutrients while you’re at it. Pecans are the most anti-oxidant rich of all the nuts and The American Heart Association certifies them as heart healthy. While you can find all kinds of nut butters in stores these days, it’s super simple to make your own, as long as you have a food processor or high speed blender. Even the mini processors will do the job.
to roast your nuts, or not?
Nuts that are organic and raw are the healthiest, and if you make your own pecan butter you can control the ingredients. There’s some evidence that roasting reduces the nutrients in nuts, but the flavor payoff is huge, so I roast.
what do flourless pecan chocolate chip cookies taste like?
The pecan flavor is so subtle that unless you’re told, you might not notice it’s there. The nuts just give the cookies an extra richness.
As for the texture, I bake these cookies just enough to set them, but no more ~ they’ll look slightly under-done as they come out of the oven, but will firm up as they cool down. I used a dark brown sugar in this recipe which gives them an extra soft and chewy texture, and combines with the richness of the nut butter and the dark chocolate really nicely.
Check out my collection of nut butter based flourless cookie recipes for more inspiration. I’m working my way through all the nut varieties and I’ll eventually have a complete set of recipes that covers the whole nut kingdom…Bwahahahah!
Flourless Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup pecan butter, or about 3 cups raw pecans
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, use light or dark, I used dark
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup semi sweet or dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Set oven to 350F Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and set aside.
- If you are making your own pecan butter, you have the option of using raw pecans, or toasting them to deepen their flavor first. To toast, spread out on a dry cookie sheet and toast in the oven for about 12-15 minutes, giving the pan a shake once halfway through.
- Put the pecans in a food processor or high power blender and blend until you get a smooth butter. This will require scraping down the sides of the processor to make sure all the nuts get processed. The mixture will go through a dry grainy stage, then will gradually become finer and moister as the nuts release their oils, and finally will transform into a smooth butter. Note: If you make your own pecan butter and the nuts seem very dry as you are processing, you can add a teaspoon of vegetable oil to help it come together.
- Measure out 1 cup of pecan butter into a mixing bowl with the egg, sugar, and baking soda. Mix well. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Scoop out tablespoon sized balls of dough and place 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. I use my 1 3/4 inch cookie scoop for this. I like to add a few extra chocolate chips to the surface of the cookie dough before baking. Push them into the dough gently.
- Bake for 8 minutes or just until set. The cookies will look under done, but will firm up as they cool. Be sure your oven is at the correct temperature before you bake. I keep an oven thermometer in my oven at all times so I can be sure.
- Cool the cookies on a rack.
These look great! How many cookies does the recipe make? 2 dozen maybe?
This recipe makes about 14 cookies, depending on how large you make them.
Could you use applesauce instead of egg? Would the cookies hold together?
I haven’t tried, I’m guessing it would work, but not sure about the texture.
Thank you so much for this recipe. It’s March 2020 and we are housebound because of Covid19. I made my own pecan butter. I picked your recipe because I am low on flour. I didn’t have 1 cup of chocolate chips, so I added raisins and the chopped pretzels to the chips I had on hand. I didn’t have 1/2 cup of dark sugar, I added some coconut sugar and white sugar to make up 1/2 cup. After I mixed all the ingredients the batter seemed too loose so I added 1/4 cup flour. they turned out fabulous. Thank you
Thanks for coming back to give this feedback Anne, I appreciate it. Isn’t it amazing how we can cope when times are tough?
Fabulous!! I’m so excited to finally find a yummy gluten free cookie!! I love to bake; but so far, everything turned out dry or grainy. These are great. I will double the batch next time!! A million thanks!!
Thanks Christina ~ be sure you check out my other nut butter cookies, I’ve done a bunch of variations with different nuts.