This pecan shortbread recipe is soft and buttery with crumbly edges, flavored with cinnamon, vanilla, and crispy pecans. It’s a one-bowl cookie recipe with no chilling or rolling required, since it’s baked in a pan and cut into squares afterward!

Three pecan shortbread cookies stacked on a countertop.

I have so many shortbread cookie recipes on my site, a testament to how much I love these classic, buttery cookies! Shortbread recipes traditionally use three ingredients: Butter, sugar, and flour. They don’t contain eggs or leavening, which gives these pecan shortbread cookies their signature dense, crumbly texture. It also makes them very pantry-friendly for last-minute baking.

We’re no strangers to dressing up shortbread around here, either. Shortbread is perfect for Christmas cookie platters and easy to shape, like my almond crescents or snowball cookies. You can even make slice-and-bake-style cranberry-almond shortbread cookies. Or, press and fill the dough to make thumbprint cookies.

This time, I bake my pecan shortbread in a pan, like cookie bars, and cut them into squares afterward. It guarantees thick cookies, and it makes this recipe super simple to prepare.

Pecan Shortbread Recipe Highlights

Made in one bowl. Mix the ingredients in a single bowl, no mixer or chilling required. You don’t even need your rolling pin!
Full of nutty crunch and cinnamon spice. Like my cinnamon pecan cookies or maple pecan cookie bars, this shortbread comes out flavorful and tender, and with minimal ingredients.
Baked as bars to save time. Skip the time it takes to roll out, shape, or cut out the dough beforehand. Plus, it means these shortbread cookies come out perfectly thick, every time.

Pecan shortbread cookies stacked on a plate with a bite missing from the top cookie.

Ingredient Notes

Here are the ingredients needed to make thick, soft shortbread cookies with pecans. See the recipe card for the exact measurements.

Butter – Bring the butter to room temperature. Butter is a key ingredient and star flavor in shortbread recipes, so quality counts. For the best cookies, choose real, high-fat butter, do not use margarine or spreadable butter.
Flour – Spoon the flour from the bag into your cup measure before leveling it off, or use a digital kitchen scale for accurate measuring. See how to measure flour. Don’t scoop directly from the bag, or you may end up with too much.
Vanilla and Cinnamon – Pure vanilla extract (or an equal amount of vanilla paste), plus a few generous pinches of cinnamon for flavor. You can also try different spices, like nutmeg or pie spice.
Chopped Pecans – Chop the pecans finely so you’ll have plenty of pieces in each cookie square. For extra crunch and flavor, toast the pecans lightly in a dry skillet first.

Ingredients for pecan shortbread cookies with text labels.

How to Make Pecan Shortbread Cookies

The steps to make these thick pecan cookies from scratch are quick and easy. Mixer optional!

Beat the butter and sugar. Start by creaming the butter with sugar, vanilla extract, and salt until light and fluffy.
Add the flour. Slowly add ½ cup of flour at a time, adding the pecans in with the last ½ cup. Slowly mix to form a crumbly dough. Continue to mix just until the shortbread dough starts to clump together.
Fill the pan and bake. Bring the shortbread dough together, then press the dough evenly into the bottom of a greased and lined 9-inch square baking pan. Bake at 375ºF for 18-22 minutes, then cool.

Slice and Bake Option

If you prefer a slice and bake cookie, separate the dough in half. Roll into two logs that are 6-7 inches long and 1.75″ wide. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours and slice ¼” -3/8″ thick. Bake for 9-11 minutes.

A buttery pecan shortbread cookie propped up against a stack of cookies.

Variations

Shortbread recipes are very flexible. These are just a few easy ways to change up your pecan shortbread.

Flavoring: In addition to or instead of vanilla extract, try peppermint, maple, or lemon extract for lemon shortbread cookies.
Spices: Swap ground cinnamon for nutmeg, ginger, allspice, or a blend, such as pumpkin pie spice.
Different nuts: Substitute pecans with finely chopped almonds, walnuts, macadamias, or hazelnuts.
Chocolate chips. Mix in milk chocolate, semi-sweet, or dark chocolate chips.
Chocolate-dipped: Try partially dipping these shortbread squares in melted chocolate. See my chocolate-dipped espresso shortbread cookies.
Citrus zest: Try adding lemon, lime, or orange zest (see my cranberry orange shortbread cookies).
More add-ins: Customize your cookies with extras like toasted coconut, dried cranberries, toffee bits, espresso powder, and more.

Tips for the Best Shortbread

Don’t overmix. I must sound like a broken record at this point, but don’t overmix your baked goods! Too much mixing leads to overly dense, tough, and hard cookies.
Measure correctly. The right amount of flour is key in shortbread cookie recipes. Too much, and the dough will be dry.
Use the right pan size. I recommend a 9-inch square pan for this recipe. You could use an 8-inch pan if you don’t mind extra-thick cookies, keeping in mind that baking times will vary.
Avoid overbaking. Pull your shortbread cookies from the oven when they’re just golden at the edges. If you wait until they’re browned all over, the cookies will be overbaked, hard, and dry.

Four pecan shortbread cookies stacked on a countertop.

Storage and Freezing

Store airtight. Keep these pecan shortbread cookies stored in an airtight container on the counter. They’ll last for up to 4 days at room temperature.
Freeze. Freezing is a great option for longer-term storage, and especially for holiday baking. Seal the shortbread inside a freezer bag or freezer-safe container (use parchment to separate any layers). Freeze the cookies for up to 3 months and thaw them at room temperature when it’s time to serve.

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