I found this recipe in Taste of Home magazine. This recipe was submitted by one of its readers. I'm so glad that I found this recipe because these cookies are absolutely delicious. It had the "melt in your mouth" texture, which reminded me of the butter biscuits we get in bakery shops in India.
I would say that these are the best cookies I have baked so far. It's not too sweet and it also has a hint of saltiness, which is the perfect combination. Also it's so easy to put together.
Ingredients
- ¾ Cup - Softened Butter
- 3.4 Oz - Instant Butterscotch Pudding Mix (1 Package)
- 1.25 Cups - All-Purpose Flour
- ½ Cup - Chopped Pecans
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Preheat oven at 375F for 15 minutes.
2. In a small mixing bowl, add butter.
3. Add instant butterscotch pudding mix into it.
4. Cream butter and pudding mix until smooth. I used a hand held electric mixer.
5. Gradually beat in all-purpose flour.
6. Fold in chopped pecans. Mix it well using spatula.
7. Grease a tablespoon with non stick cooking spray. Take a tablespoonful of dough and drop it on the baking sheet 2-inch apart. Flatten the dough using your fingers.
8. Bake it for 10-13 minutes or until light golden brown. Mine were perfectly done at 11 minutes.
9. Remove it from the oven and let it cool on the baking sheet itself for 5 minutes.
10. Then transfer it to a wire cooling rack and let it cool completely (10 minutes) before storing it in an airtight container.
Expert Tip
Grease 2 baking/cookie sheets using the butter wrapper itself. This way the leftover butter on the wrapper is not wasted.
Recipe
Eggless Butter Pecan Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ Cup Butter Softened, I Used 1.5 Stick Smart Balance 50/50 Unsalted Butter Blend
- 3.4 Oz Instant Butterscotch Pudding Mix 1 Package, I Used Jello Brand Instant Pudding And Pie Mix.
- 1.25 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- ½ Cup Pecans Chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 375F for 15 minutes.
- In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and pudding mix until smooth. I used a hand held electric mixer.
- Gradually beat in all-purpose flour.
- Fold in chopped-pecans and mix it well using spatula.
- Grease a tablespoon with non stick cooking spray.
- Take a tablespoonful of dough and drop it on the baking sheet 2 inch apart. Flatten the dough using your fingers.
- Bake it for 10-13 minutes or until light golden brown. Mine were perfectly done at 11 minutes.
- Remove it from the oven and let it cool on the baking sheet itself for 5 minutes.
- Then transfer it to a wire cooling rack and let it cool completely before storing it in an airtight container.
My Notes
- The recipe does not need sugar. The cookies gets its sweetness from the sugar in the pudding mix. Once I prepared the dough, I tasted it and felt that it was not sweet enough. I was so tempted to add some sugar. But I'm really happy that I did not do it, because the cookies tasted perfect.
- The above measurement yields exactly 2 dozen cookies. I used 2 large baking sheets for each dozen and baked it one batch at a time. You can also bake both at the same time with one sheet on the middle rack and the other one on the bottom rack. If you decide to bake both batches at the same time, be sure to switch the baking sheets half way through. That is, once it's baked for 5 minutes, move the top rack sheet to the bottom and the bottom rack sheet to the top to ensure even baking.
- Using the same method, I'm also thinking of making Pistachio cookies using instant pistachio pudding mix and chopped pistachios instead of pecans.
Nutrition
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Rekha Madhusudhanan says
Is there a substitute for the pudding mix that can be used?
Madhuram says
Not in this recipe. This is a recipe which will work only with pudding mix.
Angel says
Dear Lady,
The Jello thing that you use, does it contain the gelatin i mean animal gelatin, coz most pudding mixes have animal gelatin.. just wanted to know and let you know 🙂
Note: it has pork or beef gelatin
Madhuram says
Thanks Angel. I have checked the ingredients list of the pudding mix and it doesn't state gelatin explicitly, so I think it's gelatin free unless and otherwise it's disguised under some chemical name. The jelly type of thing from Jello does have gelatin mentioned but not the pudding mix. Anyways I think we will have to contact the manufacturer to be sure just in case.
Sandhya says
Hi,
I have a doubt,do we have to use pudding as a dry powder in this recipe or by making pudding out of it and then adding it to recipe..this is the first time trying to make cookies.
Madhuram says
Just use the pudding powder like flour.
Deepa says
I could not find smartnbalance stick butter in my grocery store, can I use imperial butter instead?
Thanks
Madhuram says
Any butter stick is okay.
Erica says
I was out of eggs, so I looked up eggless cookies. All I had on hand was Banana Cream Pudding. I added peanut butter chips , pressed down cookie and put a large choc chip in center before cooking. They were so yummy! Thanks for the recipe.
Madhuram says
You're welcome Erica.
Hellie says
Gelatin is usually the collagen from animal bones and occasionally skin. Because it is not from the flesh of the animal it is considered vegetarian but not vegan. As the recipe calls for butter it is not vegan anyway unless you replace this with margarine or an olive spread. The instant pudding I used contains no gelatin but milk solids and therefore, not vegan.
Do you know of any vegan pudding mixes?
Madhuram says
I googled and found out that there are a couple of brands and Oetker also has one.
Geetha says
Hi
Today I was at Giant trying to get the "Smart balance" butter blend and noticed that their product has purified fish oil in it..their spread doesn't have the fish oil,only the butter like sticks do..I wonder if you have any thoughts on this..
Madhuram says
I guess, you would have checked the label for Smart Balance with Omega 3. That will have fish oil obviously. The regular buttery sticks doesn't have fish oil. Check this link: http://www.smartbalance.com/products/buttery-sticks/buttery-sticks-original
Geetha says
Thanks,
I will look for the original next time.
Geetha says
Hi
None of the grocery stores in my area(MD)
sell the original(without omega-3).Could I possibly use the earth balance butter sticks from whole foods instead?
Madhuram says
You could Geetha.
Mike says
Thanks for the recipe! Didn't have eggs in the house so I wanted
to see if there were eggless recipes. Also had some pudding around
the house. It's a great recipe and the cookies taste great. Used
chocolate chips instead of pecans. Are they supposed to be so soft
though, or might I have done something wrong?
Madhuram says
Thanks for giving egg free baking a try Mike. Do you mean that your cookies were chewy instead of crispy? Because mine were very crispy.
Mike says
They were very soft when i took them out of the oven. After sitting
for a little, they hardened up and became crispy. I just thought
that I had done something wrong when I took them out and they were
so soft. Thanks again.
Chika says
What exactly is a 'pudding' mix?
I'm assuming it's instant custard mix... Custard mix is available in India but not sure if pudding mix is. Are they the same thing? Or any substitutes for the pudding mix please?
Thanks.
It's similar to custard mix and comes in a variety of flavors. The ingredients in the pudding mix says it contains modified food starch and in custard mix its cornstarch. I'm not sure if these 2 can be used interchangeably.
alara says
These caught my eye when the picture looked like round pistachio ball cookies. Any idea if they will work like that? Shaped into balls? Was the dough seeming like it might shape if refrigerated?
My thought is green balls(pistachio with pecans)and white balls(vanilla with dried cherries) for Christmas time. What do you think?
I don't think it will stay as balls because of the amount of butter in the recipe. It will spread considerably. Maybe you can try baking without flattening the cookie dough.
Ali says
I would love to try making these, but couldn't figure out if they'll be crisp or chewy? Is there any way to make sure they're nice and soft? =) TIA
These cooks were crispy I would say. More like melt in your mouth texture. If you want it chewy you can try taking the cookies out of the oven 2-3 minutes earlier or try reducing the quantity of butter.
Hetal says
I made these cookies with my 5 yr old son for his graduation day from Pre-K school. We had so much fun making the cookies together. I used vanila pudding mix and milk choclate chips instead. They came out absolutely wonderful and sooooo easy to make. Thanks for this receipe.
You're welcome Hetal. The interesting thing in this recipe is you can try as many flavors as possible and its all so easy.
Pintoo says
first of all I love all your eggless recipes. But I am surprised to find that you use Jello products.
you are going eggless with the recipes but at the same time you are using Jello gelatin/pudding?? I am surprised because it is not vegetarian. The gelatin mostly is derived from animal carcass. Unless specified that it is derived from plants or it specifically says carageenan or agar agar. Just was curious to let you know.
Thanks Pintoo. As far as I know Jell-O pudding and Jell-O gelatin are two different products and the pudding does not have gelatin in it.
Kutin says
Hi Madhuram,
I tried your recipe today with vanilla pudding and dark chocolate chunks and instead of all purpose flour I use organic whole wheat flour. It taste really good. I love this recipe. Thanks for sharing it with all of us. 😛
You're welcome Kutin. It's great to know that whole wheat flour works too in the recipe.
Colleen says
Hi Madhuram,
I made these with salted butter; due to what I had on hand. They tasted good, texture was nice also. Added a bit of brown sugar to even out the salted butter. They reminded me of salted camels. Might add some chocolates next time to sweeten them a bit with the salted butter.
Thanks for giving it a try Colleen. Sure salt and sweet is a pretty good combination.
Sonia says
Can you use Walnuts instead of pecan for these cookies?
Yes you can Sonia.
Sonaly says
Hi Madhuram,
I made the pistachio version of the cookies you suggested and the cookies were amazing. My picky mother even loved them. I didn't have enough pistachios so i used some walnuts and almonds... worked out really well.... Thanks for the recipe... My mom asks me to make them all the time now!!!
Thanks for the feedback Sonaly. But picky mother? I guess it's payback time!
Sumi says
Hey Madhuram,
Its Sumi again, I had used the salted butter by mistake earlier, well, here is an update:
I tried this recipe again with the unsalted butter this time and with the pistachio flavor (I used almonds instead of pecans) and added some elaichi to it. Genereal consensus among my buddies was that they loved the salty butter pecan ones better, some even told me to stick to the original recipe and quit messing with it! So, thanks again for the great recipe!
Sumi glad to know that there are takers for both the versions!
Sumi says
Hi Madhuram, I found your website a couple of days ago and tried this recipe, it looked great, so tried it out for a party the other day, unfortunately used salted butter by mistake, but it still turned out great, a bit salty, a bit sweet but totally awesome, thansk again for this!
Sumi
Ouch! Sumi, I'm really glad that it you liked it anyway.
renae says
I made these yesterday but all I had on hand was plain vanilla flavored pudding mix (not french vanilla). I made mine with 1/2 cup of mini choc chips. I thought they were great but only could get one of my boys to eat them. I wonder if I used french vanilla if they'd be a bit more flavorful? Do you have any idea what the nutritional information on these are? I love the fact that the only sugar comes from the pudding mix.
Hi Renae, thanks for trying the recipe. We can never predict kids. I don't think it's because of the regular vanilla that he didn't like it. I'm not sure about the nutrition info, will try to find it.
Kawa says
Is it possible to use this recipe with sugar free pudding?
You are talking about pudding mix with artificial sweeteners right? I think it will work.
Usha says
Hi Madhuram, I tried these cookies some time back and just loved them...I just posted it in my blog...thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe 🙂
Thanks Usha. Will check it out. I too have to post your Oats Idli. Will get to it soon.
Angela says
I also added 1/2 tsp of baking soda and baking powder... that made everything much better... now to go out and get some butterscotch chips... nummy.
Angela says
4 cups of pudding was a bit much so I tried 2 1/4 cups flour and add 1 cup milk, I also added a bit of salt because now the good flavor is going away. 🙄
I give up...LOL... it is dry on the outside but pudding like on the inside... not sure how to fix that... next time I will try your recipe... I bet it was a lot better!!!!!!!!!
I wish you had tried the cookies with the instant pudding mix. You would love it.
Madhuram says
Banu, thank you very much for your kind words. We loved the cookies too. Be sure to store it an airtight container, because it looses is crispness.
Banu says
Hi Madhu,
I came across your blog when I was looking for eggless recipes and was glad to have found an marvelous blog. I tried out the butter Pecan cookies and they came out very good as you have mentioned. My son loved it and could'nt stop eating them. Thank you for an wonderful recipe which takes us back to the bakeries in India. 🙂
Madhuram says
Jujubs, Pavani a warm welcome to both of you. I'll be sure to check out your blogs too. I was on a short break.
Miguel, welcome to my blog.
Thank you very much dear blogging buddies. I'm/was on a short break. Will be visting your blogs very soon.
Miguel says
I have found my food blog! Love the eggless cookies and I look forward to many more Wonderful recipes!!! Thanks!
JZ @ Tasty treats says
it really looks melt-in-the-mouth kind, Madhu! thanks for sharing!
Roma says
perfectly shaped and crisp cookies
Uma says
delicious cookies Madhu! Looks so good.
Bhawana says
you have lots of recipes in ur blog which I want to try :).
Nice. A surprise for you in my blog :). Check it.
SPillay says
Yum!!! I love cookies!!! 😛
sangeeth says
drooling here girl....u hav a lot of my favs in ur blog...great going!
suganya says
Hi...
This is very good recipe. One of my fried was asking eggless cookie recipe.... Love to forward this recipe to her. Looks prefect.
jayasree says
Yummy cookies. Looks very crisp... Good detailed pics.
Cham says
Delicious cookies and looks really buttery 😛
Smitha says
Looks delicious. Will defenitely try this one.
DivyA Vikram says
Looks delicious indeed..
Bharti says
Oh those look so decadent. What is it with desis and the butterscotch flavor? Almost everyone I know loves that flavor. Will try these guys out.
G.Pavani says
Hi Madurima
Happy Friendship Day
Pics are excellent,the way u presented the blog is very good.I have a microwave but i dnt known how to make cookies.After seeing this u made easy for me to do.Thank u very much for such a nice recipe.
Bu the way i am G.pavani recently added to Taste Of India.
Myblogis :www.fooddamaka.blogspot.com
Jujubs says
Hello Madhuram,
I came across your page from blog catalog sometime back and have been visiting your site often. You have got a marvelous blog with well presented recipes.pecan cookies looks really yum..!
Jujubs