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    Home » Recipes » Cookies & Bars

    Pecan Pie Cookies Recipe

    Published: Sep 22, 2011

    Note: This site is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for the site to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.

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    Pecan Pie Cookies

    Originally published September 22, 2011, Updated on 10/10/20

    A small plate with Pecan Pie Cookies on it. Each cookie is round and golden brown, with a center indentation filled with chopped pecans and caramelized brown sugar.

    These unique cookies are full of great pecan flavour, have a great texture, and are so pretty to look at. What more could you want in a cookie?

    I’ve been a bit conflicted over posting this Pecan Pie Cookies recipe.

    Generally speaking, every recipe I post is something that I’ve either developed completely from scratch, or a family recipe that I’ve tweaked over the years.

    Sometimes, it’ll be a “Frankenstein” recipe, utilizing bits and pieces of ingredients and techniques of several of my recipes.

    This pecan pie cookies recipe? I’ve had it for years, but I now have NO idea where it originally came from.

    I’m pretty sure it came from one of the posters on a cake forum I used to frequent, but who specifically, or where SHE got it from? No idea. It looks like it’s since become a popular recipe out there on the interwebs, though!

    Anyway - way back when - I asked for permission to use this recipe as a holiday offering through Celebration Generation... and the cookies always got rave reviews. (I know this much, at least, because I asked permission for any not-my-own recipes, when starting out!)

    A small plate with Pecan Pie Cookies on it. Each cookie is round and golden brown, with a center indentation filled with chopped pecans and caramelized brown sugar.

    I can’t count how many times I’ve been asked for the recipe! What with the weather cooling down, I figure it’s cookie making season, and time to share it!

    I don’t think I have contributed any major changes to the recipe (It’s been too long to remember!), but I like to add a couple pinches of spice to the filling, as noted.

    Hope I’m not losing any baker’s cred by posting this, but I know it’ll make a bunch of people happy. Plus, I think the photos are just too pretty to NOT share.

    (A note on the updated photos: I redeveloped this recipe for inclusion in Beyond Flour, as a gluten-free Pecan Pie Cookie... and those are the photos now shown here.
    They look exactly the same, I’m just too lazy to make and shoot a batch of full-gluten cookies for the photos!)

    A small plate with Pecan Pie Cookies on it. Each cookie is round and golden brown, with a center indentation filled with chopped pecans and caramelized brown sugar.

    More Holiday Treats

    Looking for more inspiration for your holiday goodies tray? Whether Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, or any of the other holidays, here are a few ideas for you!

    Boozy Chocolate Haystack Cookies
    Candied Orange Slices
    Creme de Menthe Nanaimo Bars
    Festive Easy Fudge
    Fruitcake Cookies
    Noelles
    Pecan Pie Cookies
    Peppermint Patties
    Easy Pistachio Macarons
    Sweet Ecstasy Cookies

    A small plate with Pecan Pie Cookies on it. Each cookie is round and golden brown, with a center indentation filled with chopped pecans and caramelized brown sugar.

    Share the Love!

    Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you Instagram it, be sure to tag me - @OverlordMarie - or post it to My Facebook Page - so I can cheer you on!

    Also, be sure to subscribe to my free monthly email newsletter, so you never miss out on any of my nonsense.

    Well, the published nonsense, anyway!

    Now, on to that Pecan Pie Cookies recipe!

    A small plate with Pecan Pie Cookies on it. Each cookie is round and golden brown, with a center indentation filled with chopped pecans and caramelized brown sugar.

    A small plate with Pecan Pie Cookies on it. Each cookie is round and golden brown, with a center indentation filled with chopped pecans and caramelized brown sugar.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Saved!
    4.75 from 16 votes

    Pecan Pie Cookies

    These unique cookies are full of great pecan flavour, have a great texture, and are so pretty to look at. What more could you want in a cookie?
    Prep Time15 mins
    Cook Time12 mins
    Total Time27 mins
    Course: Dessert, Snack
    Cuisine: American, Holiday
    Servings: 20 Cookies
    Calories: 222kcal
    Author: Marie Porter

    Equipment

    2 Baking Sheets
    Parchment Paper

    Ingredients

    Cookies

    • ¾ Cup Butter Room temperature
    • 1 Cup Light Brown Sugar Firmly packed
    • 1 Large Egg
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
    • 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
    • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder

    Filling

    • 1 Cup Chopped Pecans
    • ½ Cup Light Brown Sugar Firmly packed
    • ¼ cup Heavy Whipping Cream
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
    • Pinch Ginger, Cinnamon, and/or Cloves Optional*

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
    • Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, continue beating until egg is fully incorporated and mixture is once again smooth and fluffy.
    • Add baking powder and flour, continue beating until mixture is uniform, with everything incorporated. Set dough aside.
    • In a separate mixing bowl, mix pecans and brown sugar with spices, if using. Add in heavy cream and vanilla, mix until well combined.
    • Roll cookie dough into balls that are about 1.25″ in diameter, and place them on cookie sheets – leave about 2″ between the cookies.
    • Gently use thumb to press down in the middle of each cookie, making an indentation. Roll thumb slightly to stretch the indentation out a little.
    • Fill each indentation with about 1 teaspoon of pecan filling
    • Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned.
    • Allow to cool on sheets for 5 minutes or so, before gently transferring to a rack to fully cool.

    Notes

    * If you’re looking to make these exactly as we did for our cookie trays, I used a pinch each of all 3 spices in the filling

    Nutrition

    Calories: 222kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 94mg | Potassium: 65mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 271IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 1mg

    A small plate with Pecan Pie Cookies on it. Each cookie is round and golden brown, with a center indentation filled with chopped pecans and caramelized brown sugar.

    Related posts:

    Mocha Nanaimo Bars Mocha Nanaimo Bars A plate of "Noelles" cookies - Lighty coloured drop cookies, with chocolate chips and pieces of maraschino cherries visible. Noelles - Holiday Cookies A plate of fruitcake cookies - darkish brown cookies with nuts and chunks of red and green glaceed cherries throughout. Fruitcake Cookies Recipe A plate of swirled meringue cookies in shades of pink, white, and green. Peppermint Swirl Meringue Cookies
    « Blueberry Liqueur [Homemade Liqueur]
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Adrienne Skaggs

      March 27, 2012 at 9:53 am

      Oh. My. Gawd!! These look so darn yummy I can't stand it! I'll have to make them for the next business pot luck just so I can have some. Thanks for posting.

      Reply
    2. Deborrah

      March 28, 2012 at 3:55 pm

      I was so excited to see this recipe on Pinterest. My husband loves pecan pie. I attempted to make the cookies but found the dough just ran when baking. I thought it looked too wet (like it needed more flour) after mixing it, but since it was my first time making it, decided to follow the recipe. Any suggestions?

      Reply
      • admin

        March 28, 2012 at 4:05 pm

        Hi Deborrah.

        Hrm.. no idea what to suggest, I've never had that happen before, or heard from anyone who has. After the flour is mixed in, it should definitely be dry enough to roll balls from - if it happens again, I'd add more flour.

        Reply
      • Nancy Davis

        August 26, 2012 at 2:10 pm

        Make sure the butter for the dough is room temperature, and NOT melted. I made this mistake years ago, when making chocolate chip cookes, and they turned out like pancakes, not cookies! lol

        Reply
      • Mary

        October 23, 2012 at 12:34 pm

        I made these today! I had some problems with rolling the dough into balls (it was too sticky), so I tried two methods to combat the problem:

        1. Half of the dough I used two spoons to scoop the ball into ball shapes, then refrigerated the dough so it would tighten up a bit. Then I used the back of the teaspoon, dipped in flour to make the dent in the middle. They turned out well!

        2. To the half of the dough I had left I added 1/3 cup of flour, which made the dough more manageable. I still couldn't roll the dough, so I used the spoons again. This did make the cookies a little drier.

        In the end, they were yummy! Taste like a homemade pecan sandy mixed with pecan pie!

        Reply
      • Lois

        November 30, 2012 at 2:17 pm

        Possibly Cut the butter down from 3/4 cup to 3/4 stick. To much butter thins the dough as it cooks.

        Reply
      • Kelly

        December 24, 2013 at 1:42 pm

        I think your issue is definitely the flour. Measuring flour by volume (ie cups) isn't ideal because it all depends how much you pack it into the cups. However since most recipes don't give you the weight you need to feel it out on your own. My suggestion would be to make the dough, then add flour until it is ok to work with (personally I like my cookies very flour-y). I do this with chocolate chip cookies too. Here is a link that helped me a lot with my cookies http://theperfectchocolatechipcookie.com/instruct.php about half way down the page is says "problems" and shows cookies that are messed up and their solutions. Hope that helps!

        Reply
    3. Tifany

      April 13, 2012 at 2:15 pm

      I made these cookies a couple of weeks ago for the first time -- my husband informed me I never needed to make pecan pie again. 😉 I am now on my third round of making these cookies, this time for a bake sale benefiting a local family whose home burned down. What a DELICIOUS recipe. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
    4. Steph

      May 07, 2012 at 12:37 pm

      I saw these on Pinterest and just made these today, and I must say that they are fabulous! The only change I made was to add 1/2 tsp. salt to the dough. I was a little skeptical and didn't think they would taste like pecan pie, but holy smokes they do! Thanks for the recipe!

      Reply
    5. Katrina

      May 31, 2012 at 3:15 pm

      I had the same problem as Deborrah 🙁 Followed the recipe exactly as well, no problem rolling the dough into balls.

      Reply
    6. RuthAnn

      June 02, 2012 at 10:43 pm

      Can these be made a few days ahead?

      Reply
      • Marie Porter

        June 04, 2012 at 7:39 am

        Definitely, but they may not last 🙂

        Reply
    7. Linda Brown

      July 28, 2012 at 7:35 pm

      OMG ... Just pulled these out of the oven! Heavenly and you need a tall glass of milk with just one cookie. But of course, I did not stop with one!!!!!

      Reply
    8. Penny Wolf

      August 02, 2012 at 6:24 am

      After reading the posts and before I make this recipe I would like to know the egg size used.
      Perhaps that made a softer dough.

      Reply
      • Marie Porter

        August 02, 2012 at 2:27 pm

        Large

        Reply
    9. Nancy Davis

      August 26, 2012 at 2:02 pm

      These sound so good, I am going to double the recipe when I make them. 20 cookies does not seem like enough. 🙂 Thank you so much for the recipe!

      Reply
    10. Kris

      September 05, 2012 at 9:49 pm

      The first time I made these following the recipe minus the spices, the cookies spread quite a bit but were super yummy. I made them again today, and chilled the dough for about 10 minutes and they came out like the picture. The only problem was that the cookies were a little more like a shortbread and a little bit dry. Conclusion, loose dough makes loose cookies that are crispy, cold dough makes firm cookies that a a little dry

      Reply
    11. Peggy Saucier

      September 08, 2012 at 7:14 pm

      Would like to try these.

      Reply
    12. Kristina

      September 27, 2012 at 4:42 pm

      These turned out perfect and delicious! I did chill the dough a little but found then they cracked more when I made the thumbprint. Excellent recipe!

      Reply
    13. Sara T

      October 13, 2012 at 1:25 am

      Are you suppose to add cream to the dough too? That's the very first thing it says to add (cream butter and sugar for the dough) ... Maybe that's why others cookies are runny?

      Reply
      • Lynda H

        October 21, 2012 at 1:17 pm

        no Sara by creaming butter they mean to mix it well do not add cream to dough just filling

        Reply
    14. Lynda H

      October 21, 2012 at 1:15 pm

      made these today soooo good going to serve them to family later today if I can keep my hand out of cookie jar doubled the recipe worked perfect was thinking they would also be yummy with dab of pumpkin pie filling and cream cheese icing

      Reply
    15. Melinda

      November 01, 2012 at 8:02 pm

      I think the problem with spreading is the baking powder. It produces a much softer cookie than baking soda.

      Reply
    16. Michelle

      November 12, 2012 at 1:04 pm

      I made these today and they just taste like sugar cookies with plain pecans on top. I assume they are supposed to taste like more than that? Not trying to be rude, I just want to figure out what went wrong. I followed the recipe exactly, and the filling had flavor before it was baked.

      Reply
    17. Chase

      November 12, 2012 at 3:52 pm

      if short on time could a premade sugar cookie or snickerdoodle cookie dough be used instead?

      Reply
    18. Cassidy

      November 15, 2012 at 2:05 pm

      Made these for the first time today thinking I would take a batch to my son's class at school for their Thanksgiving feast. (Easier and less messy than pecan pie!) They are delicious! Fairly easy to make, and I had all the ingredients on hand. I too had the problem with the dough being super sticky, which made the cookies spread a LOT in the oven. I did not melt the butter. Just left it out on the counter for an hour or so this morning. Followed the directions to a T as well. Next time, I will omit the baking powder and add more flour until the dough seems firmer. I will definitely make them again because they are really yummy!

      Reply
    19. Lana

      November 20, 2012 at 7:47 am

      I really want to make these, they look delicious. One question though, all purpose flour or self-rising flour??

      Reply
      • Marie Porter

        November 20, 2012 at 8:28 am

        All purpose!

        Reply
    20. AlisonKF

      November 24, 2012 at 10:14 pm

      In the listing of ingredients, I presume the first listing is the cookie part and the second half the topping...is there really a cup of brown sugar in the dough? Only wondering because it doesn't mention mixing it in, in the directions section, except for the topping with the pecans....

      Reply
    21. AlisonKF

      November 24, 2012 at 10:17 pm

      Never mind, I must be tired, lol.

      Reply
    22. Amber

      December 11, 2012 at 1:47 pm

      These cookies are a HUGE hit among my friends/family. No problems whatsoever!

      Reply
    23. Audrey

      December 11, 2012 at 3:42 pm

      My first batch is out of the oven and they look and smell amazing. Recipe was for 20 cookies, but I got 42 good sized cookies from this recipe. If you substitute dark brown sugar in the dough as I did, you will have a darker cookie than the photo. But, oh yum!

      Reply
    24. Ally

      December 11, 2012 at 10:46 pm

      I am very disappointed in these cookies. While the flavor is nice, the dough simply does not hold up - as many other bakers experienced.

      Even after thoroughly chilling the dough, it runs and becomes very thin while baking. The topping is quite heavy, so it settles through the runny dough and sticks to the cookie sheet. Utter disaster!

      Reply
      • Marie Porter

        December 12, 2012 at 6:59 am

        Not sure what to say. I've made this recipe many, many times, and have never once had the dough turn out "runny".

        Reply
    25. Bev

      December 16, 2012 at 7:37 pm

      Found from pinterest! These turned out great for me! Taking them to a work Christmas party tomorrow! They are really good should be a crowd pleaser!!

      Reply
      • Karla

        December 28, 2012 at 5:02 pm

        I got quite a few more than 20 out of my batch. More than than double that and I stuck right to the recipe.. I found this incredibly easy. 5 *****!!

        Reply
    26. funkyraspberryripple

      February 26, 2013 at 3:52 pm

      Just a thought for those that are having trouble with a 'runny' dough, sometimes it can make a huge difference where abouts in the oven you place the baking tray. I always cook one tray at a time in the middle of the oven, allowing the air to circulate the tray on both sides.

      Reply
    27. Heather Arner

      March 24, 2013 at 3:40 pm

      Made them, no problems, turned out great. Everyone raved !

      Reply
    28. Lauren

      April 04, 2013 at 4:23 pm

      Made these this evening and got 26 mid-sized cookies. Did not have any problems with the dough. I made sure when creaming the butter and sugar, that it was fluffy, and then used my hand mixer again to combine the final ingredients until light and fluffy. The egg acts as a binding agent (I think) so it really needs to be beaten in good! Good flavor, though I wish the filling was a bit richer. Will play around with this recipe!

      Reply
    29. KG

      July 06, 2013 at 1:39 pm

      I bake all the time but my cookies did not come out like the picture....I will try to refrigerate the dough if I try them again.

      Reply
    30. Al

      August 05, 2013 at 6:38 pm

      Recipe needs salt. Also, they spread less if chilled after forming the little cups. Other than that, these are great. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
    31. Stephenie Klinich

      September 17, 2013 at 8:24 am

      I have to show thanks to the writer just for rescuing me from this instance. After checking through the the web and getting basics which are not pleasant, I assumed my life was over. Existing devoid of the solutions to the problems you've sorted out all through your main article content is a critical case, and those that could have in a wrong way damaged my entire career if I had not come across your site. The skills and kindness in touching everything was crucial. I'm not sure what I would've done if I had not discovered such a subject like this. I can also at this time look ahead to my future. Thanks for your time so much for your expert and result oriented help. I won't hesitate to endorse your web sites to anybody who ought to have guidelines about this subject.

      Reply
    32. Victoria

      September 29, 2013 at 11:41 am

      5 stars
      I just made these and they were amazing!!!!! I didnt have any problems with my dough and they formed perfectly! Loved them!

      Reply
    33. Carol Meyer

      October 20, 2013 at 12:00 pm

      5 stars
      Thank you so much for this recipe, will add this to my Christmas cookies.

      Reply
    34. Andi May

      December 03, 2013 at 3:19 pm

      5 stars
      I placed a whole pecan on top of the cookies after I added the chopped pecan/spice mix (my family LOVES pecans). It made for a beautiful presentation!

      Reply
    35. Sandy

      December 07, 2013 at 2:30 pm

      5 stars
      I just made these today and....OMG! They are wonderful!!!!! Thank you!

      Reply
    36. Pam

      December 13, 2013 at 3:54 pm

      How long will these cookies last for? Since there's cream in the filling do they need to be refrigerated?

      Reply
      • Marie Porter

        December 16, 2013 at 11:06 am

        They don't last long, but it's not because of the cream! (No need to refrigerate).

        Honestly, I'm not sure, We've never had a batch hang around for more than a couple of days, so it's been hard to test that.

        Reply
    37. Brandie

      November 27, 2014 at 7:37 am

      5 stars
      Made these for thanksgiving instead of my usual pecan pie and they are amazing. Only thing
      I did differently was mix about 1/4 cup chopped pecans into the dough (saw this in another recipe) and they turned out great. I chilled the dough while making the filling and used a cookie scoop to form the balls. Thanks for sharing this recipe!

      Reply
    38. Kristyn

      November 29, 2014 at 3:05 pm

      5 stars
      My 4 year old and I just finished baking a double batch of these. They are pretty darn good! I will definitely make these again, and will add a pinch of salt to the dough, as suggested by someone else. My son was VERY generous with the cinnamon (which he put in both the dough and the filling) and we did not add the other spices. We love cinnamon, so they are to our liking. Easy, fun for a 4 year old, and delicious. Thanks for posting!

      Reply
    39. Autumn Brooke

      September 22, 2021 at 10:29 pm

      This looks phenomenal! I'm pinning to make this on Thanksgiving.

      Reply

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