These dairy free and gluten free Butter Pecan Cookies have a rich, nutty flavor all while being healthier! They are also refined sugar free with just the right amount of sweetness.
My goal with baking is to take recipes and make healthier, allergy friendly versions. It’s fairly easy these days to make a recipe gluten free or dairy free, but lower sugar and refined sugar free? That’s not always so easy! As someone with a chronic illness who absolutely loves dessert, sugar is quite inflammatory for my system. That’s why I had to learn how to make lower sugar versions of recipes.
Around the holidays, I love to make Christmas cookies. I grew up baking lots of fun and delicious cookies with my mom every holiday season. It’s a tradition I never want to lose! One of the recipes on my list this year was butter pecan cookies. I thought would be fun to try to develop a healthier butter pecan cookie recipe. It took a number of tries to get this recipe right, but I’m quite pleased with how they turned out.
Gluten Free Butter Pecan Cookie Ingredients
- Pecans
- Flaky salt
- Vegan or regular butter: either will work in this recipe!
- Coconut sugar: I prefer using unrefined sugars in baking since they are lower glycemic index. You should be able to use a 50/50 mix of white sugar and brown sugar if you prefer.
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- 1:1 gluten free flour: make sure it is a 1:1 mix as not all gluten free flours are a direct substitute in baking.
- Tapioca starch: arrowroot starch should also work
- Baking soda
- Caramel chips, optional
How to toast pecans
The toasted pecans add depth of flavor to this recipe and it is an important step. There is no salt in the cookie dough, as it comes from the toasted pecans. You’ll toast the pecans in a tablespoon of butter or coconut oil along with some flakey salt. Just keep an eye on the pecans as you roasts them over medium-low heat and stir frequently. This only takes a couple of minutes and you should have slightly browned and fragrant pecans. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn!
How to make browned vegan butter
Browned butter is so common in recipes these days as it adds a rich flavor to baked goods. Browning vegan butter is just as easy as regular, but I do find it bubbles more which can be deceiving.
To brown any butter, add it to a saucepan over medium-low heat and stir to melt it. Continue cooking and stirring frequently. The butter will start to bubble which is totally normal! With vegan butter, though, the bubbles can be quite intense and you can’t see the butter browning underneath. In this case, just pull the butter off the stove for a minute or two to let the bubbles subside so you can see if the butter underneath has browned yet.
As you stir, you should be able to see the butter turn into a darker brown color that smells rich and nutty! This should take about 5-10 minutes.
What makes these gluten free butter pecan cookies healthier?
We are using a fraction of the sugar that is normally in a traditional cookie recipe and using unrefined coconut sugar. I always try to find ways to reduce the added sugar in my recipes without compromising taste and texture. Sugar is a tough one to decrease because it plays an important role in the cookie texture, but I decreased it just enough. Still delicious, but without the sugar overload.
How are these cookies allergy friendly?
Although this recipe does have nuts (so it isn’t ideal for someone with a nut allergy), there is no gluten, dairy, or corn.
Be sure to use a certified gluten free flour in this recipe to keep these cookies gluten free and celiac safe.
I also use a vegan butter substitute to keep this recipe dairy free. My favorite is the Miyoko’s brand as it is also certified gluten free, although this does have cashews. I avoid palm oil and oat based vegan butters, as they tend to not be certified gluten free.
More gluten free cookies
Paleo Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Browned Coconut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten Free Butter Pecan Cookies (Dairy Free Option)
Equipment
- stand mixer OR
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 tsp flaky salt
- 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp vegan or regular butter divided
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp 1:1 gluten free flour
- 1 Tbsp tapioca starch
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 cup caramel chips optional
Instructions
- First, you'll toast the pecans. Add 1 tbsp of butter to a frying pan over medium heat. Add the pecans and flaky salt and toss to coat the nuts in the melted butter.
- Roast the pecans for about 5 minutes, until toasted, slightly darker in color, and fragrant, but not burnt! Set aside.
- Next, you'll brown the butter. Add the butter to a saucepan on medium low heat and warm it, stirring frequently, until the butter browns. It will get bubbly, but you'll be able to see that it's browned when you stir through the bubbles. It should have a rich, almost nutty smell. This should take 5-7 minutes. See notes above for more details if needed.
- Remove butter and let cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Beat together the browned butter and sugar until smooth.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- Add the flour, starch, and baking soda and stir or mix on low to combine.
- Fold in the cooled pecans and caramel chips, if using.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and scoop tablespoon sized amounts of dough 1-2 inches apart on the lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes in batches on the middle rack.
- Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
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