Low-Carb Pecan Shortbread Cookies are made with only 7 ingredients. This no-fuss recipe calls for almond flour, pecans, honey, butter, vanilla, salt, and baking soda. As you can see, these cookies are made with wholesome ingredients. What you don’t yet know is that they taste incredible!
While these are an amazing gluten-free Christmas cookie, we enjoy Pecan Shortbread Cookies all year long. Made with a base of almond flour, these gluten-free cookies are a quick and easy low-carb dessert. They’re fantastic for those on special diets because they are not only gluten-free, when made with honey and butter they are SCD and GAPS compliant.
These cookies are so good fans tell me they’re addictive. Go ahead, bake these buttery treats and see for yourself!
Pecan Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 2½ cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
- 5 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
- ½ cup salted butter or palm shortening , melted
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine almond flour, salt, baking soda, and pecans
- In a small bowl, mix honey, butter, and vanilla
- Mix wet ingredients into dry
- Place dough in center of a piece of parchment paper
- Form into a log approximately 2½ -inches in diameter
- Place in freezer for one hour, until firm, unwrap and cut into ⅛-inch thick slices
- Place slices on a parchment paper lined baking sheet
- Bake at 350°F until lightly golden, 7-10 minutes
- Cool for 1 hour
- Serve
Since Pecan Shortbread Cookies do not contain chocolate they are a wonderful cookie for your little ones if you’re trying to keep them off caffeine. My children and their friends love eating this egg-free cookie dough raw whenever I make a batch. Here are more paleo cookie recipes for you.
This post is an oldie but goodie from the archives, I first published this recipe in 2007.
Edda V. says
OK, so I made them, but they certainly weren’t what I expected. They were crumbly and sort of tasty, but still not easily made, as trying to cut the frozen “dough” still was messy. Could it have been that I used coconut flour AND blanched almond flour instead of just almond flour? Maybe I should use butter instead of grapeseed oil? I truly want almond flour to be something I can use.
Traci says
These are delicious! Found them on a GAPS recipe round-up. Only thing I had to do to make them GAPS friendly was to soak the pecans in salt water and dehydrate them before toasting and use only honey. Followed the recipe exactly. The dough was a little loose, but I was still able to form it into a log in the parchment (it ended up having a flat side instead of being perfectly round). I liked that other comment of putting the whole bowl of dough in the freezer a bit before shaping it.
My non-GAPS family thought these tasted just like a wheat flour cookie. I thought they were perfectly sweet, which might not be sweet enough for most. These were the first cookies we’ve made since starting GAPS 10 months ago and I’ll be making them again (and so will my SIL).
ChristySinTX says
YUMMY! YUMMY! YUMMY!
Thank you!
Jennifer says
I love your site!! I have for a very long time. You were the first site I found when I learnt that 4 members in my family had “C” I made some candy bars today and wanted to share the recipe with you because I used these great cookies in them. Thank you so much for all you do you were my shinning star in the begining darkness. http://perfectlynaturalfamilysoaps.com/1/post/2011/12/gluten-dairy-processed-sugar-free-candy.html
Anasthasia says
Do you think this would work as a base for Rum balls?
Joelle says
Thank you for the wonderful recipe! I substituted honey for the agave and grapeseed oil for the butter. That made for one very rich cookie. I would probably cut back on the oil a bit and only use 3T honey next time.
Thank you for the great recipe!
Elizabeth says
I made these today and used 3T honey. Turned out great!
Jeanne J says
Hi Elana, I just made these. I followed the recipe exactly and felt that cookie didn’t have the same kind of texture as shortbread. It was more cookie-like. I thought they were very tasty, though. I am wondering if less fat in the recipe would give it more of the sandy texture of shortbread. (I thought that the scone recipes with egg had more of a short bread texture…I made mine with dried cherries and organic baker’s chocolate…and they were fantastic!)
Eliana says
I made these with palm oil and only 4T of silan instead of agave. Turned out great! Thanks
Liz says
What is silan? Looking for alternative sweeteners of all kinds.
Jocelyn says
These were fabulous! I substituted coconut oil and they turned out beautifully. I gave then to my family just telling them they were shortbread cookies and they loved them- no idea they were grain free and vegan! Thanks for the great recipe!
Olivia says
Did you substitute the coconut oil 1:1 for butter or reduce the amount?
Thanks!
Trish B says
This is a fabulous recipe. Although not celiac, I like the richness and texture of almond flour. I have a couple of hints and can never resist making a recipe “my own.” The “dough” was quite sloppy, so I put the entire batch in the bowl in the freezer for about 15 minutes to make it more malleable. Then I put it into the baking parchment (natural wax paper would do and the dough would come off more easily) to form the log.
I had just bought some hemp seeds so I used 1 tablespoonful of those instead of the pecans. I also had some organic raw cacao powder and added 2 teaspoons of that to the dry ingredients. The results were very good. May cut back on the agave next time. I baked them for 10 minutes. Essential to follow directions and cool on the baking sheet! I baked half the dough and left the rest in the freezer for another batch. What a great dessert with some simple vanilla ice cream – just on their own with a cup of tea. Amazing! Thanks Elana.
Ana says
Well, my husband who hates health food swears that the frozen dough tastes like his moms divintiy. Don’t ask me how, but all I care about is my healthy food hating husband loves these!!! I use 2 TBS agave, 3 TBS xyiltol