Turn the oven on to 350°. Add the pecans to a small flat baking sheet pan and bake for 3 -5 minutes. Leave the oven on for baking the cookies. I used pecan halves, then after I roasted them, I did a rough chop, so they are pretty large pieces. You can use pecan pieces, but I like mine pecans chunky. Set them aside. Measure your light brown and white sugars into a bowl and set that aside. I then measure the flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder into a bowl and run a whisk through to blend.
In a stand or hand-held mixer, add the butter and both sugars blending on medium speed till it is light in color. The butter and sugar should look thoroughly mixed. I turn the mixer off and scrape the sides and across the bottom. Add the maple syrup and vanilla extract and incorporate these into the butter-sugar mixture. Now you can do this whichever way you want, but I always break one egg into a small bowl and then add to the cookie dough. It never fails that when I crack an egg on the side of the mixer bowl, some eggshell always ends up in the dough. So add one egg and mix, then add the second egg and incorporate.
Turn the mixer off and scrape down sides and bottom. Turn the mixer to a low speed and gradually add the flour mixture. Take the bowl off the mixer stand and add the pecans and fold into the cookie dough. Cover loosely and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Line 2 cookie sheet pans with parchment paper and using a medium cookie scoop place 12 scoops onto a pan about 2 inches apart. Bake for 11 - 13 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack once they come out of the oven.