Mom's Chocolate Chip & Pecan Cookies

Mom’s chocolate chip pecan cookies follow the classic Toll House template with two upgrades: a generous cup of toasted pecans folded in alongside the chocolate, and vegetable shortening in place of butter for a cookie that holds its shape and stays soft for days.

The shortening swap is what gives these cookies their signature texture. Butter melts at body temperature and spreads in the oven; shortening’s higher melting point means cookies stay thick and pillowy rather than thinning into crisp edges. The result is a soft, chewy bite throughout.

Brown sugar at twice the ratio of granulated sugar deepens the molasses notes and adds extra moisture. The cookies will look slightly underdone when you pull them at 8 to 10 minutes, but that’s the goal: they finish setting on the hot pan and stay tender at the center.

Pro Tips

• Toast the chopped pecans on a dry pan for 5 minutes before adding to the dough. Untoasted nuts taste flat compared to the rich, almost caramel-like depth of toasted ones.
• Drop the dough by rounded teaspoonfuls and don’t flatten. The cookies need room to spread and the rounded shape gives the best crumb structure.
• Pull cookies from the oven when the centers still look slightly underdone. Carryover heat finishes them on the sheet for that signature chewy middle.

Variations

• Use a mix of milk and dark chocolate chips for more complex flavor, or swap in chocolate chunks for melty pools.
• Replace pecans with walnuts, macadamias, or toasted hazelnuts for variety.
• Add a half teaspoon of cinnamon and a quarter teaspoon of espresso powder to the dry mix for a deeper, more grown-up cookie.