Pecan Shortbread Squares

Living Healthy
by Living Healthy
9 cookies
30 min

With Christmas around the corner, it only makes sense to be baking cookies.. Am I right!? This is my favorite time of the year for so many reasons like the decorations, time with family, family traditions, and of course, the food! Ever since I was younger, I can remember my mom in the kitchen every year with my great grandma and nanny making Christmas cookies to give to our to friends and family. Making cookies has always been a family tradition and I can't wait to carry on the tradition!

As I carry on the tradition of Christmas cookies, I plan to bring along the old, as well as the new cookie recipes. My mom has made a few since day one, but this year, I wanted to create a few of my own; these Pecan Shortbread Squares are my first of the year!


I LOVE shortbread, I mean, how can you not? The dense, buttery goodness is just too freaking good! My favorite shortbread based cookies are pecan sandies, which is where I got the inspiration for my Pecan Shortbread Squares. As we all know, a classic shortbread cookie is loaded with butter and white sugar, which is why they're so delicious. Since this is a livlinghealthy recipe, I wanted to make a few healthy modifications, while still getting that delicious dense, moist texture. Let me tell you.. that is exactly what we got from these cookies! I know, I know... it might sound too good to be true, but trust me, this will surprise you just as much as it surprised me. If you love shortbread as much as I do, I can't wait for you to try these!


Pecan Shortbread Squares
Recipe details
  • 9  cookies
  • Prep time: 10 Minutes Cook time: 20 Minutes Total time: 30 min
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Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil (melted)
  • 3 tbsp honey
  • 1/4 cup white sugar replacement
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 (3.5oz) chocolate caramel bar
  • parchment paper
  • 9x9 baking pan
Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a large mixing bowl, add coconut flour and almond flour.
Melt 1/3 cup coconut oil in microwave and add to the dry ingredients.
Add honey and sugar replacement into the flour and coconut oil mixture. See below for more details on sugar replacements I recommend.
Mix with a spatula until dough texture forms. Add the chopped pecans into the dough and mix until combined. It's ok if the pecans and dough are not completely mixed in together because you will press the dough firmly into a baking pan.
Add parchment paper to the 9x9 baking pan.
Add dough mixture into baking pan. Press and spread dough evenly. If you need to, press the pecans into the dough so they stick. Make sure you firmly press the corners and edges.
Bake at 350°F for 18 minutes.
Remove from oven and set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes. I did not transfer the dough to a cookie rack. I recommend leaving it in the baking pan.
Melt the chocolate bar in the microwave in 15 second increments to avoid burning. I like to add about 1 tsp coconut oil into the chocolate when melting. This makes it super glossy and rich.
Drizzle the melted chocolate on-top of the pecan shortbread. Don't be shy!
Place the chocolate drizzled shortbread into the refrigerator for about 25-30 minutes to set and chill.
Once the chocolate has set and the cookie has chilled, cut into squares and store in a Tupperware in the refrigerator. Enjoy! 🤩
Tips
  • If you're a THRIVE MARKET member: try this! Thrive Market Switch Granular 1:1 Sugar Replacement. This is the one I used in the recipe.
  • If you're an AMAZON PRIME member: try these! Swerve Sweetener Lakanto Monkfruit Classic Sweetener
  • For the chocolate bar, I used (2) Lindt Lindor Caramel Chocolate Truffle Bars. This is just what I had in the pantry and it worked out perfectly! The chocolate is silky smooth and the hint of caramel is a perfect compliment. After baking the shortbread, the dough might still appear raw, don't be alarmed. Once it cools, it will harden. If you continue to bake it, the dough will become very dry so I recommend baking only for 18 minutes at 350°F. Parchment paper was a life saver for this recipe so I highly recommend using it for this recipe!
Living Healthy
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