pecan pie cookies

Updated:  April 2022

We have seven pecan trees in our yard and every year they give us (and our neighbors!) tons of great Texas pecans.  One of our favorite recipes with the fresh pecans is Pecan Pie Cookies.

After about two weeks working with the pecans, I became quite adept at cracking and prodding little pecans out of their shells.

Not particularly a fun task to me, it’s definitely worth the tasty pecans and then I get to make those pecan recipes that have been lurking in my “to-try” file.

I’ve been wanting to try these cookies for a long time.  It’s a cookie, it’s a pecan pie – what a perfect combination!  

They’re fairly easy to throw together, but they do take an extra few minutes to spoon the pie filling on top of the cookie.  Way worth it, though.  This is one good cookie and is great for any occasion – special or every day.

The brown sugar cookie is good by itself, but put that rich pecan pie filling on it and you’ve got one little delectable dessert.  

If you and your family like pecan pie, you’ll like these Pecan Pie Cookies!

Don’t forget to check out my other recipes using tasty pecans, like Chocolate Scones with Toasted Pecans (don’t forget to toast those pecans!), and the delicious Vanilla Pecan Pralines.

Tip:  A friend of mine ended up with more pecan pie filling than she had cookies, so she used phyllo shells and spooned the rest of the filling into it.  They were amazing!

Pecan Pie Cookies

Yield: 3 dozen

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 11 minutes

Inactive Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 1 minute

Yummy little cookie that will be great for the holiday season.

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Ingredients

• 1 C firmly packed brown sugar
• 3/4 C butter, , softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Filling:
• 1 C chopped pecans
• 1/2 C firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 C heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Combine the brown sugar, butter, egg and vanilla into a mixing bowl and mix until creamy.  
2. In a small bowl, stir the flour and baking powder together, then add 1/2 C. at a time to the sugar/butter mixture, mixing between each addition (mix on low or you'll have flour all over you) until well combined.  Refrigerate dough for 20-30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4. Place parchment paper on cookie sheets and roll cookies into a 1 1/4" balls.  Place cookie balls on the cookie sheet.
5. Put the filling ingredients into a medium bowl and stir well.
6. Press a round thumbprint well into each cookie and fill each well with about 1 tsp. of filling (it should be fairly  piled up on the cookie).  
7. Bake for 9-11 minutes until the cookies are lightly browned. Cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheet, then move them over to a cooling rack.  Store in an air-tight container with waxed paper between layers.

Notes

Don't skip the refrigerated dough step.  It helps keep the cookies puffy instead of flat.  

Don't over bake the cookies so that they'll come out soft.  It's a great contrast between the soft cookie and crunchy pie filling.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 36 Serving Size: 1 cookie
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 116Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 49mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 0gSugar: 7gProtein: 1g

Nutrition Values are Approximate