These paleo salted butter pecan cookies are made with Simple Mills vanilla cake mix, toasted pecans and topped with a chocolate drizzle for the perfect salty sweet treat!
Have you ever taken the Myers-Briggs personality test? We did it in my previous job probably about 7 or so years ago and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more accurate explanation of myself. I’m an ESTJ for those of you who are familiar. For those not, E = extravert S = sensing T = thinking J= judging. Here’s an excerpt of what that all means:
Practical, realistic, matter-of-fact. Decisive, quickly move to implement decisions. Organize projects and people to get things done, focus on getting results in the most efficient way possible. Take care of routine details. Have a clear set of logical standards, systematically follow them and want others to also. Forceful in implementing their plans.
Um, hi, that’s me like 1 million percent.
I’m also pretty spot on for my astrological sign, Aries. Here are a few words on that:
Aries is the first of the zodiac signs. Aries is the sign of the self, people born under this sign strongly project their personalities onto others and can be very self-oriented. Aries tend to venture out into the world and leave impressions on others that they are exciting, vibrant and talkative. Aries tend to live adventurous lives and like to be the center of attention, but rightly so since they are natural, confident leaders. Aries are enthusiastic about their goals and enjoy the thrill of the hunt, “wanting is always better then getting” is a good way to sum it up. Aries are very impulsive and usually do not think before they act – or speak. Too often Aries will say whatever pops into their head and usually end up regretting it later!
That last sentence, yeah, welcome to my world. Brutal honesty is great, until it’s not.
So what does this have to do with salted butter pecan cookies? Simple Mills, who makes awesome paleo cake, muffin, cookie and bread mixes is hosting a 12 Days of Cookies event, each recipe geared towards a specific personality type with a cookie that fits that description. It was actually the most fun I’ve had creating a recipe in a long time.
I picked ‘Salty + Sweet’ for my personality. Almost every magazine I’ve ever picked up uses either the term “fiery” or “fiesty” when describing an Aries, and whether good or bad (probably situationally dependent), that’s me. But then there’s the sensing and thinking part that Myers-Briggs tells me is hiding in there somewhere (to be fair, I was juuuust over the middle on both of these from what I remember in my test) to counterbalance the feistiness. Turn those personality traits into food and you’ve got salty + sweet.
Turn that food into cookies and you have chocolate drizzled salted butter pecan cookies. I used Simple Mills vanilla cake mix as the base for these cookies.
Yep, cake mix. It’s not just for cake! By using only 1 egg (instead of 3) and throwing some tapioca flour into the mix, this paleo cake mix can easily be transformed into cookies. Toasted pecans, salted butter and a dark chocolate drizzle make these a flavor explosion of sweet and salty goodness you’re not going to want to miss out on this holiday season.
Connect with Simple Mills on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to follow along with the 12 Days of Cookies event and see which cookie fits your personality best!
Chocolate Drizzled Salted Butter Pecan Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 package Simple Mills vanilla cake mix
- 1 tablespoon tapioca flour
- 3/4 cup pecan halves, toasted
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup melted salted butter
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.
- Combine egg, vanilla, butter and milk in a small bowl and whisk together.
- Add cake mix and tapioca flour to a large bowl, pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl and stir together until just combined.
- Fold in the toasted pecans, don't over mix.
- Refrigerate the batter for 10 minutes.
- Scoop heaping spoonfuls onto the baking sheet leaving a couple inches between each cookie as they will spread a bit while baking.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven, let cool 5 minutes on baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While cooling, melt the chocolate and coconut oil together in a small bowl. Mix until well combined.
- Once cookies are cooled, drizzle chocolate over the tops.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
*This post is sponsored by Simple Mills. All content and opinions are my own.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
An irresistible addition to holiday goodie plates! I need a few of these now!
Pecan’s and chocolate are my favorite combo!! I love this recipe and I especially of the old Philadelphia Cream Cheese tray to have. How awesome it that!
I know! It was such a fun find in the antique/thrift store :)
Im totally obsessing over the sweet and saltiness of these cookies!! I didnt even know that a paleo cake mix even existed, and Im really excited to try Simple Mills out!
These sound delicious! Love it!
Cookies with pecans! So yummy! These cookies both look and sound amazing!
Brutal honesty – you know I can’t handle that…how are we friends? I like sugar coating and sweetness…haha. These cookies are perfection and I love that sweet and salty combo. Give them all to me!
The cake mix is naturally gluten free?! I gotta get my hands on some!
I’ve been so curious about Simple Mills and their baking products. Glad to hear that you enjoyed it. And I feel like this cookie is totally you. I can’t quite remember what I am from the Myers-Brigg test but now I want to retake it!
Wow, what an assortment of flavors. Love it.
Gina, when you said chocolate and salted in same phrase, I will ALWAYS come running!! Love these (and what a great way to use the mix!!)