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.
John Smith says
In what universe is this recipe considered “low carb”? You have over a 1/4 cup of either honey or agave syrup (which is even worse) in these.
Honey or agave syrup may sound healthy, but they are anything but that for someone with type 2 diabetes, or trying to loose weight on a low carb diet. Although they won’t spike your blood glucose as badly as plain sugar might, it’s only because they are full of fructose, which is probably the root cause of T2 diabetes….
Please drop the “low carb” in your description and keywords for this recipe, it’s completely deceptive.
Elana says
John, thanks for your feedback, I really appreciate it! Most pecan shortbread cookie recipes contain around 1 cup of sugar and 2 cups of white flour so this is a low-carb version in comparison. You might like my Keto Diet Recipes page since everything there is sugar-free:
https://elanaspantry.com/diets/keto/
Have a fantastic day!
Elana
NMata says
Elana,
Thank you for all the work you do to create recipes that all of us can enjoy. I like to read the comment sections looking for tips and any tweaks people have made. I think what I enjoy most of all is your constant professionalism! People have lost their ability to comment with constructive criticism and tact, this section included, but you always reply with such grace.
Lori says
I second that!
karen says
I agree!!
Maggie says
Hi would it work to half this recipe?
Elana says
Maggie, I haven’t tried that :-)
Lori says
I halved the recipe and it worked great!
Elana says
Thanks Lori!
Tena House says
Thank you so much for all of your wonderful recipes Elena. I made this particular one for a Holistic Healing and meditation group. Your recipe was a hit, and you have several more converts now.
Also, I made this recipe using almonds instead of pecans. It was a great substitute for Chinese fast food almond cookies.
Elana says
Tena, I’m so glad to be part of your meditation group via these cookies!
Dana says
Please get into the 21st century and include measurements in grams, ml etc so that people outside the US who use kitchen scales (look them up, they are fairly inexpensive these days!) can work out the ingredients in the right quantities! :-)
Great recipe though!
Elana says
Dana, thanks so much for your feedback!
Judy says
For Americans, it’s sometimes impossible to figure out how to convert from grams, millimeters, etc., and charts can be confusing. I think Elana is so kind to give out the recipes, and probably most people on the site are from America, so I wouldn’t criticize her for not doing this. The measurement charts are much easier to convert from U.S. to overseas instead of the other way around.
Elana says
Thanks for pointing that out Judy!
LindaRose says
Hi Elana,
Although I agree that recipes could be much accurate if I new how many grams were in items like 5 carrots, or things like flour, dried fruit, nuts, etc, I certainly don’t agree on how she spoke to you. Perhaps, in new recipes grams of solids could be added as well. The liquids aren’t that important as all measuring cups have both measurements on them.
Elana says
Hi LindaRose, thanks for your comment. Here’s a recipe where I provide measurements by weight:
https://elanaspantry.com/homemade-paleo-chocolate/
As you’ll see in the comments for that recipe, many people were not thrilled with the weight measurements, although I totally agree that they are incredibly accurate :-)
Elana
Kelli ugarte says
I think the problem with comments like this is that people forget that blogs such as a Elanas are by regular people with regular jobs & a family. They are just giving out information out of the goodness of their heart. If it doesn’t suit your dietary needs, don’t look at it. If it’s not in the right measurement, I guess you need to go somewhere where it is or learn to convert. If you deter someone from doing what they do and make it more difficult for them, they just might stop doing it because of all the complaining. That’s why I don’t do in the first place. I would never want to open myself up to it. It’s not a service any of us paid for unless you bought her book. Thank you, Elana for letting us step into your kitchen.
Elana says
Kelli, I am so blessed to have readers like you in my online kitchen :-)
Melissa Reed says
That is exactly what I was thinking! Elana you have been a life saver to my family! I have your books and follow your recipes on line. I have been gluten free for 22 years and found out my daughter has celiacs too. I would have never thought of theses recipes myself, you have given my daughter the opportunity to feel normal and to eat foods like cookies made from healthy foods! You pretty much taught me to cook too by following your blog! Thank you for everything you do! We love you and know you by name in our house!
Elana says
Melissa, thanks for your incredibly lovely comment! I’m so happy to help and to be in your home via my recipes :-)
Alene says
If you use a decent digital scale, it may convert to grams for you. I am gluten free (not by choice) and I loved to bake. I am so grateful for these websites and blogs that explain things to help me bake again. I have learned that gluten free baked goods often need to be precise for some scientific reason. Not all though. Costco has one that is great and not that expensive, if you have a Costco near you. You can put an empty bowl on it and easily tell it to convert to grams or whatever. It will automatically weigh the empty container and bring you back to zero. You put food in the container you weighed and give you the correct weight in either grams, millimeters, or ounces. Sorry for the long reply.
Elana says
Thanks Alene!
Zoe says
So rude, I’m amazed at how demanding people are on a site that gives wonderful recipes for free. If you want to convert a recipe then, in this MODERN age, you can use an online converter.
Elana says
Zoe, thanks for your comment. I do my best to please as many readers as I can but it’s not always possible given that everyone has different needs. Great idea about the online converter :-)
Dean says
You can do that yourself. I often have to translate recipes from metric. Google provides simple tools for that simple math in both directions.
Diane says
I made these today after seeing Trisha Yearwood bake a shortbread. I always go gor the grain-free if possible. I thought I was pouring vanilla in them, but poured in a tablespoon of almond extract instead! I thought “oh no!”, but they were good!
Elana says
Diane, thanks for letting me know these were good!
Dianna says
Hi Elana. These are delicious cookies! I added some chopped, dried cranberries and some lemon zest, both of which I like in my ‘regular’ short bread cookies. Really tasty and with a nice, chewy texture. Thanks and hoping you are feeling better every day!
Elana says
Thanks Diana!
Tabitha says
Has anyone tried a different flour? I have coconut flour on hand.
Elana says
Tabitha, unfortunately that substitution won’t work. Here’s more info on the differences between coconut flour and almond flour for you:
https://elanaspantry.com/paleo-baking-almond-flour-vs-coconut-flour/
Enjoy!
Elana
Joanne Countryman says
Delicious!!! I tweaked it a bit though on prep. Used Honey and butter and instead of rolling them and refrigerating I brought my melted butter to a slightly thickened state by refrigerating and incorporated that into the wet ingredients. I used a cookie scoop and made the dough into balls about 2 inches in diameter. I placed them on parchment and then another sheet of parchment over top and pressed them down to about 1/3 inch high. I baked for 9 minutes at 350°f till just starting to brown on edges. (They looked pale) Then removed to a rack and Cooled for an hour. My twin grandsons aged 13 (major food allergies) declared them to be like REAL cookies.
Elana says
Joanne, thanks for your comment! I’m so happy that your twin grandsons declared that these were like REAL cookies.
Janet Wilkinson says
These are absolutely delicious. I have a grain allergy which had taken shortbread cookies (my favorite) right off the menu. So you can imagine how ecstatic I was to find and try this recipe. All I can say is Thank You! I might try adding raisins just for fun…
Elana says
Janet, thanks for letting me know these cookies were absolutely delicious :-)
Jennifer says
Elena, I have not had cookies in 2 1/2 years since I found out I can’t have gluten. These are FANTASTIC! I started crying when I ate one. These are not just good gluten-free cookies, they are good cookies period! Thank you for all you do!
Elana says
Jennifer, I’m so happy to hear these were FANTASTIC and that they are as good as the real thing!