Almond Flour Pecan Sandies
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An easy, one bowl recipe for gluten free, buttery pecan cookies.
For many many years, these gluten free pecan sandies have lived happily on my site, popping up all year long as a way to not only use almond flour, but also provide a cookie to folks who are looking for something super simple and easy (it’s also a very popular almond flour Christmas cookie).
That said, this particular cookie caters to those who live a gluten free life, whether by choice or necessity, and those who have tastebuds and don’t care gluten/no gluten about their cookies. Because friends, they are so good.
From a personal standpoint, these flourless pecan cookies are actually one of my favorite cookies to ever grace my oven. I make them multiple times a year, most frequently at Christmas, and every time I taste them, I’m reminded of why I love them so much.
Not only are they incredibly delicious, they are so laughably simple. You’re going to love them for so many reasons!
For several years, we’ve had almond flour in our pantry at all times. It’s a lovely way to make recipes gluten free without using a gluten free flour blend, and it’s perfect for adding nutty flavor to baked goods that might not normally have such a flavor profile.
Take my almond flour banana bread for a spin– it’s a guaranteed winner and it’s beloved by gluten and non-gluten eaters whenever I make it.
MADE WITH ALMOND FLOUR = COMPLETELY GLUTEN FREE
This pecan sandies recipe came about when I opened my first beautiful bag of almond flour. As a kid, I loved classic pecan sandies, but I wanted to try to recreate that incredibly nutty and buttery cookie without flour, because I knew that using something like almond flour could get the job done nicely.
INGREDIENTS
Along with almond flour, for this easy pecan sandies cookie recipe, you’ll need some butter, finely chopped pecans, powdered sugar, salt, baking powder, some vanilla extract, and pecan halves.
That’s it: 7 simple ingredients.
As you can see, there are no eggs in these almond flour pecan sandies, which means if you use vegan butter, you can turn these into not only vegan pecan sandies, but also gluten free dairy free pecan sandies.
One thing I must note is that the finely chopped pecans need to be very finely chopped. Some small chunks are fine, but for the most part, you want a very fine mixture, almost like pecan meal, in order to keep the dough together. Larger chunks will inhibit the dough from coming together.
HOW TO MAKE ALMOND FLOUR PECAN SANDIES
The texture of almond flour is typically labeled “super fine” for a reason: it’s like powdery snow. It is light as a feather with a touch of moisture from all of the natural oil in the almonds.
While this almond flour is the base for these almond flour pecan sandies, you’ll actually be treating it a little differently than you would all-purpose flour.
You’ll start by “creaming” the almond flour with softened butter. Typically, you’d cream butter and sugar, but in order to get a smooth base for these cookies, this is the method you’ll use to get your cookie base started.
Next, we’re sweetening with powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar, a technique I find works really well in keeping cookie dough easy to work with. Check out my easy cut-out sugar cookies (in peppermint form! and pumpkin form! AND funfetti form!) and vanilla bean sugar cookies that all use powdered sugar in place of granulated sugar.
By using powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar, we have a lot less of a “wet” dough, but still keep the sweetness we need.
SHAPE THE COOKIE DOUGH
As I mentioned, I have made these cookies countless times. You can approach the cookie dough balls in two different ways, and the only difference will be the end aesthetic.
Using a cookie scoop, gather the dough into a ball. From here, you can either drop it right onto the cookie sheet, or you can gently roll it into a ball and then place it on the baking sheet.
If just dropping dough balls, you’ll get a little more of a textured, craggy finish. If you choose to roll them, you’ll have a smoother finish.
It really doesn’t matter which method you choose, because bake time and taste are both the same. It’s all personal preference, though I can say that eliminating that extra hands on step obviously reduces prep time a bit (but only a bit– it doesn’t take too long!).
Gently press a pecan half into the top of each cookie dough ball, then they’re ready to bake!
NO EGGS MEANS A QUICK BAKE TIME
Since these cookies don’t have eggs in them, you really only need to bake them until they’re set. Since there is a fine line between “set” and “burned” with these cookies, you’ll need to watch them a little closely to make sure you don’t miss the window.
They will only need 10 to 12 minutes in the oven, at which point they will take on a beautiful golden brown color around the edges. This is how you know they’re done.
If they go much further than this, they wind up crumbly and dried out. Underbake them and they will fall apart.
That in between perfection is the ticket!
As I said, these almond flour pecan sandies are one of my favorite cookies in my entire cookie recipe collection. Not only are they so easy, but they only use one bowl, and they cater to gluten free and gluten full eaters alike.
Hand one to a gluten eater and I guarantee they are none the wiser to the fact that these cookies are completely gluten free.
The texture of these pecan sandies cookies is soft and buttery, the flavor is bold and nutty, and the pecans on the inside and outside give the crunch that a soft and buttery cookie needs to make it exceptional.
Plus the sweet to salty ratio is on point!
I truly love these cookies and many of my celiac friends have them in their regular baking rotation. And many who eat gluten regularly! Seriously, they are that good.
If you’re looking for an easy cookie that will appeal to the masses, this one is it. I can’t wait for this gluten free pecan cookies recipe to make its way to your oven, too!
Almond Flour Pecan Sandies
Ingredients
- 2 cups (224g) almond flour
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ½ cup (60g) finely chopped pecans1
- ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 20 pecan halves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177ºC). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- In a medium size bowl with a handheld mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend the almond flour and butter on low speed until no more clumps remain and a soft dough forms.
- Turn the mixer off, add the chopped pecans, powdered sugar, salt, baking powder, and vanilla extract. Turn the mixer speed to low again and blend until a soft dough forms.
- Using a cookie scoop (I use this #50 cookie scoop for all of my standard size cookies), drop balls of dough2 onto the prepared cookie sheet. Do not place more than 8 cookies on a baking sheet at a time. Gently press a pecan half into the top of each dough ball, flattening the ball of dough slightly. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies just begin to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to rest on the baking sheet at least 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies stay fresh in an airtight container up to 1 week. Baked cookies may be frozen, up to 3 months.
Notes
- Pecans: it is important the pecans are finely chopped. Larger chunks inhibit the dough from sticking together as nicely as possible. I like to use a blender or food processor to get them fine enough. Do not use salted pecans.
- Cookie dough balls: if you want a smooth texture/finish on the cookies, gently roll the dough into balls with your hands and place on the baking sheet. This will not alter baking time or taste.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
Thank you 🙂
A good recipe. There are too many ads covering your site. it seems that way on all of them. I realize you earn something from the ads, but I think it is Pinterest is overloading on them.
Hey, Donna– you’re right, I actually earn my entire full time income with my ads, so I appreciate you visiting my blog. Believe me, if I could have a site with nothing but beautiful photos of food on it, I would, but the truth of the matter is, it’s a very small price to pay as a reader for my free content. I truly do thank you for visiting, and I hope you’ll return!
OMG i am so excited about this recipe! Pecan Sandies were one of my absolute favorites growing up, and I love that you’ve made these so easily g-free! Might have to whip up a batch this afternoon!!!
ALMOST TOO EASY! Seriously, such a dangerous little cookie.
These cookies have a chewy interior, not the crisp cookie I was looking for.
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t find what you were looking for. I describe the cookies as “soft and buttery,” so if you’re not into that texture, perhaps look for one in which the description meets your needs 🙂
I replaced the butter with palm shortening and it never came to a soft dough. This is the second time I have made them. The first time they turned out great with the butter. I had to add an egg to dorm the cookies. Any suggestions why this may have happened?
I always suggest baking the recipe as listed. Shortening and butter do not act the same in baking as they do in something like frosting or cooking. Best to stick with what the recipe states!
I just made these and they are superb! They’re also easy to make – even better. I made these for Christmas and I’ll definitely be making them again. Thanks for the recipe!
So glad you liked them! Thank you for letting me know!
Delicious cookies- made them twice in the same week. I subbed pecans for walnuts because it’s what I had on hand, still delicious. I used salted butter so I omitted the salt, it was perfect. Kirkland almond flour for the win. Thanks for sharing such an easy delicious cookie. I’ll definitely keep returning to this recipe.
Love this– thanks for letting me know, Mallory!
These just came out of oven. Going to freeze and serve at a party this weekend. I used Trader Joe’s brand of almond flour and they came out beautifully and taste great. Second batch with toasted pecans also good. I am going to dust these with a little powdered sugar before serving because my favorite sandies from before I was GF had the sugar and that will make me feel like my traditional cookie tray. Thank you. Very nice recipe.
I’m so glad you liked them, Kathy!
Ridiculously delicious! Had a new bag of BRM super fine almond flour in the pantry too! I ended up with 16 generous Sandie’s! Making a 2nd batch smaller for dessert plate to pass!
I LOVE these cookies! I don’t normally make a recipe more than twice before it goes on the blog, but these cookies, I had to make over and over because they were TOO good. I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Denise!
Just taking them out of the oven and they are delicious! I used a tablespoon to scoop the dough and got 24 perfectly sized cookies. Yum!!
So glad you like them, Michelle!
Do you happen to have the nutritional information on these? Maybe I missed it. I substituted powdered Swerve for the powdered sugar. In the oven now can’t wait to have them with tea.
I don’t calculate nutritional information for my recipes unless it’s pertinent to the recipe! Any calorie calculator will work for this– easy ingredients!
Thanks so much. These are divine! Hubby likes them too. Need to find a calorie calculator which I’m sure I can find on line. Thanks again will be making these a lot.
I have to admit, I was skeptical about this recipe but oh, my! These are some amazing little cookies! I tweaked it a little by using almonds instead of pecans and adding almond and butter extracts. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for trusting my recipe, Allison!
Do these need to be raw or roasted/salted pecans?
Either is fine. If you use salted, reduce the salt by half in the recipe.
Is there anything I can use besides butter?my son is on a gfdf diet.
My only suggestion is DF butter. You could try butter flavored Crisco if you want. Let me know if you do!
I have made these cookies at Christmas for several years! Love them and so easy to make.
So glad you enjoy them, Debbie!
I am doing sugar free, what do you suggest I substitute the powdered sugar with?
I’m not sure what to tell you, because without sugar, these won’t have much flavor at all. You could try extra almond flour, though I can’t guarantee results.
Hi Lynn
Thanks for all the hard work and dedication you put into this delicious blog!
To Araceli: try Swerve or Lakanto Sweetener (made with monk fruit and erythritol). You can substitute them measure for measure without compromising taste or performance. They’re awesome! Also, talk to the friendly folks in your neighbourhood health food store for other suggestions.
Happy baking!
Thank you, Lisa!
These “sandies” are really good. Is the nutrition info available?
Sorry, Vanessa, I don’t do nutrition info for each recipe!
Could I add some jelly instead of the pecan on the top before baking?
I’ve never tried, but you’ll have to let me know if you do!
Delicious !!! Thank you for sharing the recipe 😘
Thanks so much for an AWESOME recipe!!! Like some others, I also used Swerve confectioners sugar and they were absolute perfection in taste, texture and appearance. When another craving hit, I only had spiced pecans on hand and used those, finishing the cookies with a drizzle of dark chocolate. Undoubtedly, you put a lot of time and effort into providing readers with such a simple recipe with explicit directions to follow – thank you so much, Lynn!
Thank you so much, Niecee! I appreciate your feedback 🙂
Yes, this is a dangerous little cookie. Nuts are great so it is nice to see both almonds and pecans represented here. Well done!
Hi,
could you please public the ingriedients in the metric system also? That would be great! Thank you!
I am slowly going through changes in my website to make it better for users everywhere. This is on my list of things to do to optimize user experience! Thank you for your input, Lenya!