Pecan Pie Cookies

Love a good dessert mash up? The crunchy sweet filling of pecan pie is baked into a brown sugar cookie crust to create these delightful pecan pie cookies.

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If I could only pick one pie during the holidays, it would be pecan pie. Preferably with a scoop of ice cream on top, of course.

Christmas may be more about cookies than pies but that won’t stop me from turning my favorite pie into a cookie! After all, cookies are my favorite thing to bake, so it just makes sense.

Originally, after being inspired by a horrible AI generated recipe on Facebook, I was going to make these as standard drop cookies. But I worried the filling wouldn’t stay on top as they baked. Thus enters the cupcake pan.

With a brown sugar cookie acting at the crust, these pecan pie cookies are first partially baked in a standard-sized cupcake pan, topped with partially cooked pecan filling on the stove top and finished in the oven again.

And guess what? Since it’s baked in a cupcake pan you don’t need to chill the dough like I usually suggest in pretty much all of my cookie recipes.

The end results in the perfect little mini pecan pies. Good luck eating just one. Proof of how good they are is evident in the fact that I ate the first one without even considering getting out a scoop of ice cream to put on top. Heck I got through taking all these photos without thinking of it either.

Check out some other great additions for your holiday cookie tray this season:

• Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sandbakkels by Art of Natural Living
• Christmas Shortbread Cookies with Sprinkles by Blogghetti
• Cornmeal Dried Cranberry Brown Sugar Cookies by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Peppermint Candy Sugar Cookies by Hezzi-D’s Recipe Box
• Chocolate Mint Thumbprints by Jolene’s Recipe Journal
• Christmas Wreath Treats by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Turtle Cookie Bars by Magical Ingredients
• Welsh Cakes by That Recipe
• Sesame Shortbread Cookies by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures

PECAN PIE COOKIES

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Yield: 2 Dozen Prep Time: 40 Minutes Cooking Time: 20 Minutes 20 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

COOKIES

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to almost room temperature
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 Tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

FILLING

• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 6 Tbsp (or heaping 1/3 cup) packed brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1/4 cup corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups pecans, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 12-cavity regular cupcake pans with shortening and lightly flour.
2. In a medium bowl, Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, milk, and vanilla and beat until combined. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing until just combined.
4. Shape dough into walnut-sized (1-1/2-inch) balls (I used a medium cookie scoop), place in prepared muffin cups, make an indentation in center of each*. Bake 8-10 minutes, rotating halfway through, or until barely light brown.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the filling: melt butter in a metal bowl set in a skillet of water that is just below a simmer (or use a double boiler). Remove the bowl and from the water when butter is melted, whisk in sugar and salt. Whisk in egg, corn syrup, and vanilla. Place bowl back into the water and whisk until hot and the temperature of the mixture registers 130 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from the heat and whisk in pecan pieces.
6. Reform indentations in the center of each cookie*. Spoon 1 tablespoon of pecan filling into each cookie cup.
7. Bake 8-10 minutes, rotating halfway through, or until edges of cookies are just starting to brown. Let cool on sheets for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

*Use thumb or the end of wooden spoon.

Source: Adapted from my Cinnamon Brown Sugar Cookies, Nutella Pecan Pie Bars, and Betty Crocker.