Chewy Pecan Cookies - A Great American Cookie Company Copycat Recipe! (2024)

This buttery, chewy pecan cookie recipe is a copycat version of your favorite mall cookie shop: Great American Cookie Company Chewy Pecan Supreme Cookies!

I partnered with Imperial Sugar on this recipe. Click here for the FULL RECIPE.

Chewy Pecan Cookies - A Great American Cookie Company Copycat Recipe! (1)

    Soft and Chewy Pecan Cookies!

    These pecan cookies are incredibly underrated. I mean, no chocolate, no frosting, no sprinkles…they would be an easy one to pass over on a cookie platter. I totally understand. I mean, all I see here is a a brown cookie with …. nuts? No thanks, pass me the whoopie pie. Turns out, that is exactly the wrong move. These chewy, sweet butter pecan cookies with crispy edges and soft centers are the type of cookie that keep me coming back for “just one more”. A classic is a classic for a reason, and these taste like pure comfort!

    A Great American Cookie Company Copycat Recipe!

    TheseCopycat Great American Cookie Company Chewy Pecan Cookies are an absolute dream! I found many versions of the recipe when I was doing my cookie research and came up with a version that holds true to the original, while also incorporating a few of my own tweaks. What I landed on is a delicious and easy cookie recipe with the flavor as close to the original as I could get!

    Chewy Pecan Cookies - A Great American Cookie Company Copycat Recipe! (2)
    Chewy Pecan Cookies - A Great American Cookie Company Copycat Recipe! (3)

    Pecan Cookie Ingredients:

    For the full recipe and ingredient like CLICK HERE

    • Room temperature butter.I prefer using salted butter in this recipe because there is no additional salt added, except in the self rising flour. You can absolutely use unsalted if you are salt-sensitive, or watching your sodium intake.
    • Light brown sugar
    • Vanilla extract
    • Large eggs
    • Crushed corn flakes.You will want to finely crush the corn flakes, with no large pieces. The corn flakes add texture to the cookie, so don’t crush them into a dust, but you don’t really want to “see” the flakes.
    • Self-rising flour. I don’t normally bake cookies with self-rising flour, but as I did research on this recipe, all the versions that I came across used self-rising. And since this is essentially a “copycat” cookie recipe, I wanted to keep the integrity of the recipe intact.
    • Chopped pecans. You can buy the pre-chopped pecans at the supermarket, but I would give them another chop. You don’t want very large pieces of pecans in the cookie.

    Why Self Rising Flour?

    As I stated above, this is a copycat cookie from the Great American Cookie Company. In all the research I did for the recipe, every version I saw included self-rising flour instead of all purpose. I wanted my interpretation to be as authentic as possible, so I chose to use self-rising flour as well. However, you can absolutely sub out all purpose flour for the self rising. Here are two options how:

    • 1 cup all purpose flour + 1/2 teaspoon baking soda + 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1 cup all purpose flour + 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder + 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
    Chewy Pecan Cookies - A Great American Cookie Company Copycat Recipe! (4)

    Instructions:

    Click HERE for the full recipe.

    1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
    2. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla together for 2 minutes on medium speed, creaming until pale in color and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Alternately you can do with this a hand mixer and a large bowl.
    3. Turn the mixer to low and add in the corn flakes and flour until just combined.
    4. Add in the pecans and mix until evenly incorporated.
    5. Using a medium (2- tablespoon) sized cookie scoop, portion the dough out and place onto the lined baking pan 3- inches apart. The cookies will spread while baking. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, roll into balls and place on the baking sheet. You don’t need to chill the dough, but you can if you would like to!
    6. Bake for 9 – 11 minutes, until the edges are golden and the tops are set.
    7. Allow the cookies to cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
    Chewy Pecan Cookies - A Great American Cookie Company Copycat Recipe! (5)

    Equipment Needed:

    No special equipment is needed for this recipe, here’s what you will need:

    • Baking Sheet
    • Parchment Paper
    • Stand Mixer
    • Paddle Attachment
    • Rubber Spatula
    • Cutting board and Chefs Knife to chop the pecans
    • Blender or Food Processor to crush the corn flakes.
    • Cookie scoop

    Tips for Success

    These cookies are very straightforward, and you should have great success, but here are a few tips to make them perfect:

    • Using a cookie scoop is key to ensure all the cookies are the same size. This is great for aesthetics, but also ensures even baking.
    • Taking cookie size to the next level, you can use a food scale to weigh your dough out when portioning it for the cookies. 45 grams of dough is what I would recommend for each cookie.
    • If you don’t have a cookie scoop, roll the dough into balls and place on the baking sheet. This helps as they bake and spread to stay in that perfect circular shape.
    • As soon as they come out of the oven you can use a spatula to shape the cookies back into perfect circles if they appear misshapen.

    Can You Freeze These Cookies?

    Yes absolutely! You can either freeze the cookies are they are baked, or you can freeze the dough before baking. Check out my fill post onhow to freeze cookie dough. It will change your life!

    Chewy Pecan Cookies - A Great American Cookie Company Copycat Recipe! (6)

    More Pecan Recipes:

    • My MEGA popularPecan Pie Recipe! It’s always a hit!
    • Pecan Pie Bars
    • Southern Pecan Bread
    • Sour Cream Candied Pecans
    • Candied Pecans
    • Chocolate Pecan Pie
    • Pecan Pie Brownies
    • Pecan Sour Cream Coffee Cake
    • Pecan Pie Muffins

    PIN for later:

    Chewy Pecan Cookies - A Great American Cookie Company Copycat Recipe! (7)
    Chewy Pecan Cookies - A Great American Cookie Company Copycat Recipe! (2024)

    FAQs

    What is the secret to chewy cookies? ›

    Cornstarch helps product soft and thick cookies. Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie. An extra egg yolk increases chewiness. Rolling the cookie dough balls to be tall and lumpy instead of wide and smooth gives the cookies a bakery-style textured thickness.

    What are 3 factors that contribute to a chewy cookie? ›

    The ingredients you use and how you shape your cookies both play an important role in whether your cookies turn out crispy or chewy. The type of flour and sugar you use, if your cookie dough contains eggs, and whether you use melted or softened butter all factor into the crispy-chewy equation, too.

    Why are chewy cookies chewy? ›

    Well, the long and short answer to chewy cookies is it's all about the moisture content. Cookies that are dense and chewy incorporate more moisture into the batter. This can be achieved by making substitutions with wet and dry ingredients, or even just changing the way you incorporate certain ingredients.

    How do you make cookies chewy instead of cakey? ›

    How To Make Cookies Chewy Without Cornstarch
    1. Go heavy on brown sugar. It has more moisture than its granulated counterpart, which means the cookie comes out less crispy. ...
    2. Choose margarine or shortening instead of butter. ...
    3. Use baking powder instead of baking soda. ...
    4. Rest your dough. ...
    5. Shorten baking time.
    May 14, 2023

    What is the best flour for chewy cookies? ›

    You don't absolutely HAVE to use bread flour, but it adds a ton of chewy texture to these cookies that's worth the extra trip to the store. If you can't get bread flour, then use all AP flour in its place.

    Why does brown sugar make cookies chewy? ›

    Brown sugar

    Brown sugar is also hygroscopic (more so than granulated sugar) and will therefore also attract and absorb the liquid in the dough. The difference is in the molasses that makes brown sugar brown: It adds moisture and slight acidity, resulting in a moist and chewy texture.

    What does brown sugar do to cookie texture? ›

    Brown sugar, meanwhile, is dense and compacts easily, creating fewer air pockets during creaming—that means that there's less opportunity to entrap gas, creating cookies that rise less and spread more. With less moisture escaping via steam, they also stay moist and chewy.

    Why do you put corn syrup in cookies? ›

    So, when you mix corn syrup into your cookie batter, all of that moisture will make and keep your baked cookies deliciously tender. The texture of cookies benefits from corn syrup as well. As you combine your ingredients to make your cookie batter, corn syrup will pull some of the surrounding air into your batter.

    Why does melted butter make cookies chewy? ›

    This simple switch frees up the water content of the butter so that it can freely interact with the flour in the dough or batter. This allows gluten—the protein that gives baked goods their chew—to develop.

    Does baking powder make cookies chewy? ›

    Baking powder, fortunately, contains both baking soda and cornstarch in it, which allows us to bake these cookies until they're crisp, but still have a nice chewy bite.

    What keeps Chips Ahoy chewy cookies chewy? ›

    But the report went on to conclude that the secret ingredient is corn syrup, a liquid sweetener. Sure enough, Fine Cooking explains that corn syrup is scientifically proven to keep cookies chewy because it contains fructose, a sugar known for retaining moisture from the air.

    Do you use baking soda or baking powder for chewy cookies? ›

    Baking soda is typically used for chewy cookies, while baking powder is generally used for light and airy cookies. Since baking powder is comprised of a number of ingredients (baking soda, cream of tartar, cornstarch, etc.), using it instead of pure baking soda will affect the taste of your cookies.

    What is a substitute for baking soda in chewy cookies? ›

    If you don't have baking soda on hand, you can use triple the amount of baking powder instead. Alternative substitutions include potassium bicarbonate, baker's ammonia, or self-rising powder. Baking soda is a staple ingredient found in the cupboards of both seasoned and amateur bakers.

    What makes cookies chewy butter or shortening? ›

    But, it turns out that margarine or vegetable shortening is the secret to chewy cookies. I still make mine with butter, though.

    Why are my cookies not flat and chewy? ›

    There could be a number of reasons. The type of fat you are using will affect the spread, butter spreading more, shortening spreading less. The temperature of the dough will also make a difference. Try using room temperature dough instead of chilling it.

    Top Articles
    Latest Posts
    Article information

    Author: Geoffrey Lueilwitz

    Last Updated:

    Views: 5911

    Rating: 5 / 5 (60 voted)

    Reviews: 83% of readers found this page helpful

    Author information

    Name: Geoffrey Lueilwitz

    Birthday: 1997-03-23

    Address: 74183 Thomas Course, Port Micheal, OK 55446-1529

    Phone: +13408645881558

    Job: Global Representative

    Hobby: Sailing, Vehicle restoration, Rowing, Ghost hunting, Scrapbooking, Rugby, Board sports

    Introduction: My name is Geoffrey Lueilwitz, I am a zealous, encouraging, sparkling, enchanting, graceful, faithful, nice person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.