Coconut Pecan Cookies

Why Make this Recipe

Our chewy coconut cookies have a rich buttery dough, and the best soft and chewy texture. The chewy coconut contrasts beautifully with the crisp pecan bits. With a hint of cinnamon, the warm and nutty flavors are reminiscent of pecan pie.

This recipe is easy to halve for a small batch of cookies or add chocolate chips to for a delicious chocolate chip coconut pecan cookie.

Add our blueberry coconut pecan cookies to your to-bake list too!

Ingredient Notes

• Butter. You can use salted or unsalted butter, just make sure it is room temperature.
• Sugar. You’ll need white, granulated sugar to help sweeten these cookies.
• Brown Sugar. Use dark brown sugar to add an extra rich flavor to these pecan cookies. The extra molasses in the dark brown sugar adds so much. In a pinch, you can use light brown sugar.
• Eggs. Eggs help bind and tenderize the cookies. Use large, chicken eggs.
• Vanilla. Vanilla adds rich, bakery flavor.
• Cornstarch. A little bit of cornstarch helps keep these cookies soft and chewy for days.
• Baking Soda. Baking soda helps the cookies rise. Make sure the baking soda is fresh.
• Salt. Salt helps balance the flavors.
• Cinnamon. A little cinnamon adds a bit of warmth and makes the flavor of these cookies rich and complex.
• Flour. All-purpose flour is used for the body of these cookies.
• Coconut. Use sweetened shredded coconut to add a great coconut flavor and give them a chewy texture.
• Pecans. Use finely chopped pecans to add a nutty flavor and crunch.

How to Make this Recipe

Full Recipe with measurements in in the recipe card at the bottom.

1. Cream Butter and Sugar. Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, combine the butter with both sugars, and cream them together for about a minute. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract. Cream everything together for approximately 3 minutes, until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.
2. Add Dry Ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add these dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing on low speed until fully incorporated.

3. Add Coconut and Pecans. Once the dry ingredients are well combined, gently stir in the coconut and chopped pecans until they are evenly dispersed throughout the dough.
4. Scoop and Bake. Using a scoop, portion out 3-4 tablespoons of dough and roll them into balls. If desired, roll the top of the cookie dough balls in some extra shredded coconut and top with some chopped pecans. Place these dough balls onto a lined baking sheet. Bake them in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.
5. Cool. After baking, allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Expert Tips

• Use fresh ingredients. Double check that your ingredients are fresh! Old baking soda can make your cookies not rise properly. Old flour, butter, nuts, or coconut can ruin the flavor of these coconut pecan cookies.
• Measure your ingredients carefully. I always encourage people to use a food scale to measure their ingredients for accuracy. Too much flour can make your cookies not spread or on the flip side, too much sugar can make the cookies spread too much.
• Don’t over mix. Once the dry ingredients are added to the cookie dough, only mix the dough until the flour disappears. Too much mixing will cause gluten to start to develop and the cookies will be dough and have an unpleasant texture.
• Make them pretty. We eat with our eyes first, and if it looks more visually appealing there is something in our brain that tells us it tastes better! Some of my favorite tips to make your cookies prettier are:
  1. Round out your cookies. When the cookies first come out of the oven, round them out while they are hot. You can do this using a large round cookie cutter, the back of a spoon, or even a spatula. Simply, push in any misshapen edges, to give them a round, even shape.
  2. Top them off. After you scoop the cookie dough into balls, before you bake them, top the dough off with a few extra flakes of coconut and a few pieces of nuts.

Recipe Variations

Feel free to put your own spin on these delicious coconut pecan cookies, here are just few of our favorites!

• Brown the butter. trying browning the butter, cooling it to room temperature, and using it in the dough for an extra nutty flavor! You’ll need to add an extra 3 tablespoons of butter to the pot when browning it to account for the moisture lost during the browning process.
• Toast the pecans and coconut. Try toasting the pecans or coconut, or both! Toasting the nuts and coconut really amplifies the nutty profile of these cookies.
• Add chocolate chips. Make these chocolate chip coconut pecan cookies by adding 1 cup of chocolate chips to the cookie dough.
• Add toffee. Chopped toffee bits would take these cookies to the next level, try adding 1 cup of toffee bits.
• Add dried fruit. Dried fruit tastes amazing in these coconut pecan cookies, some options are dried cherries, blueberries, craisins, chopped dried apricots, or raisins!
• Swap the nuts. If you’re out of pecans, chopped walnuts, macadamia nuts, or almonds are great alternatives.

How to Store this Recipe

Room Temperature. The baked coconut pecan cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

Freezer. The baked cookies or uncooked cookie dough can be stored in the freezer for up the 3 months. If freezing the baked cookies, cool the cookies completely before placing in an airtight container.

If freezing the cookie dough, scoop the cookie dough into balls and freeze on a flat surface for 30 minutes (this prevents the cookie dough balls from sticking to each other) . Then place in an airtight container in the freezer. Before baking, let the cookie dough sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes while the oven preheats. Then bake normally, they may require an extra minute or two in the oven.

More Recipes with Pecans