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Easy Pecan Pie Cookies Recipe

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This Easy Pecan Pie Cookies recipe is one that you are going to want to add to your baking list.  A sweet cake mix cookie is filled with gooey pecan topping for a fun twist on traditional pecan pie.

Pecan pie cookies on a white cake plate.
Table of Contents

Pecan pie is one of my husband’s favorite pies.  I make one {or two} every year for Thanksgiving and it disappears in minutes.

Here is the thing…we want to have pecan pie all year long and not just during the holiday season. Now we can have all the flavors we love in a cookie form.

A quick cake mix cookie is baked in a mini muffin pan and filled with quick and easy pecan pie filling. You can thank me later, they truly are the perfect cookie!

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What goes into this Recipe

The ingredients needed to make pecan pie cookies.
  • Vanilla Cake Mix: Using a vanilla cake mix to make the cookie cups allows you to create a quick cookie in minutes.  A sugar cookie dough or pie crust could also be used for the base.
  • Honey: Combined with the brown sugar, the combination creates the perfect amount of sweetness. Maple syrup would be a great substitute.
  • Brown Sugar:  I have made them with both dark brown sugar and light brown sugar with great results.
  • Butter: Added to both the cookie and filling for a rich and buttery cookie.
  • Pecans: While they are perfect as they are, you may prefer to toast them for a few minutes. These buttered pecans are always a hit. Using chopped pecans makes sure that they will fit in the cookie bite easily.

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How to Make Pecan Pie Cookies with a Cake Mix

  1. Combine a yellow butter cake mix, melted butter and eggs in a large bowl.   Mix them together with a hand mixer {or by hand} until everything is incorporated nicely. The finished cookie dough is perfect, thick and super delicious.
  2. To bake them into cups, use a small cookie scoop to scoop cookie dough balls into the muffin tins {be sure each cup has been sprayed liberally with nonstick spray}. Use your finger tips to shape dough and press the top of each cookie mound down so that the top is flat.
Making the cookie dough and adding it to mini muffin cups.
  1. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 9-11 minutes or until the cookies are set and the bottoms are golden brown.  Remove from the oven and immediately take an offset spatula {or knife} and run around the edges of each cookie. It is important to loosen each cookie.
  2. Next, take a tart shaper and while the cookies are still in the mini muffin pan press down in the center of each cookie.  This will create an indention that was made to hold pecan pie filling. Once you have made the indentations in the middle of each cookie, you can remove them from the mini muffin pan and place them onto a cookie sheet for filling.
Baking the pecan cookie cups and using a tart shaper to add an indentation.
  1. To make the filling combine the melted butter, brown sugar, honey and salt in a small bowl.  Whisk to combine and until brown sugar is mostly dissolved.  Add the pecans and stir until everything is evenly incorporated.
  2. Place a heaping teaspoon of nutty filling into each cookie cup.   Fill it to the top and place a half of a pecan on top of the filling if desired.Serve the delicious cookies immediately and get all of the classic pie flavors in a cookie.
Making the pecan filling and then filling the cookies.

Expert Tips

  • Whisk the dry cake mix before adding the softened butter and egg to remove any lumps. If you add the other ingredients before the lumps are removed it will be nearly impossible to do.
  • Make sure that the muffin cups are generously sprayed with nonstick spray. This will ensure that the pecan cookies are easy to remove once baked.
  • Add the brown sugar to the melted butter and stir to dissolve most of the sugar.  This will help the filling from being gritty.
  • If you don’t have a tart shaper, use the end of a wooden spoon. It makes a nice indentation in the middle of the mini pies without any special equipment.
  • If you don’t like pecans, try a different kind of nut. Almonds, pistachios and hazelnuts would all work great.

Storage and Freezing

Store: This pecan pie cookie recipe should be stored in an airtight container or covered tightly in plastic wrap, either at room temperature or in the refrigerator.  Add parchment paper between layers to ensure they do not stick together. They will last between 3-4 days.

Freeze: To freeze chewy pecan pie cookies I suggest freezing the cookie cups in a freezer-safe container and then adding the pecan filling after defrosting and before serving.

Picking up and eating a mini pecan pie cookie.

Do you love pecans?  Try these recipes…

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Mini pecan pie cookies.

Pecan Pie Cookies

Cake mix cookies and pecan pie filling are combined to create the most amazing cookie bites ever.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 36 cookies
Calories: 108kcal
5 from 2 votes
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Ingredients

Cookie Cups

  • 1 box vanilla cake mix {13.25 ounces}
  • 2 large eggs
  • cup butter {melted}

Pecan Pie Filling

  • cup butter {melted}
  • cup brown sugar {packed}
  • 3 Tablespoons honey
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • cup pecans {chopped}

Instructions

Cookie Cups

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a mini muffin pan by spraying each cup liberally with non-stick cooking spray. 
  • Pour yellow butter cake mix into a medium bowl and whisk {or sift} to remove any lumps.  Add melted butter and eggs to the cake mix and combine with a hand held mixer until dough is thick and sticky.  Using a small cookie scoop {or 1/2 tbsp.}, put a mound of cookie dough into each muffin cup.  Using your fingers, go back and press the mound of dough down to create a level cookie. 
  • Bake for 9-11 minutes.  {Do not over cook, they will set up as they cool.}  Remove from the oven and immediately run a knife around the edge of each cookie cup {I used an offset butter knife}.  Go back and use a tart shaper {or end of a wooden spoon} to press the middle of the cookie down and create an indentation.  Move cookies to the cooling rack and let them cool completely. Continue to bake a second batch if necessary.

Pecan Pie Filling

  • Combine melted butter, brown sugar and honey. Stir until they are nicely combined. Add salt and chopped pecans. Stir to combine.

Assembly

  • Take a heaping teaspoon of filling and place into the indentation of each cookie cup. Top with a half pecan if desired. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Notes

  • If you don’t have a tart shaper, use the end of a wooden spoon. It makes a nice indentation in the middle of the mini pies without any special equipment.
  • If don’t like pecans, try a different kind of nut. Almonds, pistachios and hazelnuts would all work great.

Nutrition

Serving: 2cookies | Calories: 108kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 147mg | Potassium: 27mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 122IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 0.4mg
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2 Comments

  1. These cookies sound so good. Will make them for Christmas family party. Yum! ?? Yum!

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5 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)