Salted Pecan Pie Cookies - Celebrating Sweets

Published: Nov 2, 2022 by Allison · 3 Comments

Get ready for delicious sweet and salty Pecan Pie COOKIES! Thick soft sugar cookies topped with a brown sugar-maple pecan topping and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. These cookies taste similar to pecan pie making them the perfect addition to a holiday dessert spread.

If you’re not a fan of traditional pecan pie, I don’t blame you. Pecan pie can be overly sweet and flavorless, BUT…..good news! I have found a way to make pecan pie that tastes incredible (see maple pecan pie and pecan pie bars) and now I’ve made a cookie version, too.

Close up of a pecan pie cookie (sugar cookie filled with caramel pecan filling).

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These cookies are

Thick, soft, and tender – I used my soft-baked “lofthouse” style sugar cookies as the base of this recipe.

Filled with a sticky-sweet pecan filling – This topping is SO tasty. It’s sweet and buttery with brown sugar and maple flavor.

Topped with flaky sea salt – If you’ve ever found traditional pecan pie too sweet (like me!) you will enjoy the balanced flavor that these cookies get from a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. I use Maldon.

Great for the holidays – Yes, you can serve these cookies anytime of year but I love serving them during the holidays as a fun twist on traditional pie.

Pecan pie cookie broken in half sitting on top of another pecan pie cookie.

Recipe overview

*Full recipe below in the recipe card*

Make the cookie dough:

Beat butter and sugar.
Add extracts, eggs and sour cream.
Combine baking powder, baking soda, flour, cornstarch, and salt.
Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
Mix until combined.
Scoop into 2-tablespoon balls.

Collage of how to make sugar cookies (dough in a glass bowl and rolled in balls on a baking sheet).

Make a cavity for the pecan filling:

Using the bottom of a wooden spoon or similar instrument, form an indention on top of each dough ball. This will help create the start of the cavity we will use to fill the cookies. Bake the cookies.

End of a wooden spoon being pushed into a ball of cookie dough.

As soon as they come out of the oven, use a slightly larger rounded instrument to further form the cavity in the center of each cookie. I have successfully used the rounded bottom of a tablespoon as well as the flat bottom of a small espresso shot glass.

Tablespoon being pressed into a sugar cookie.

Make the pecan filling:

In a small saucepan combine butter, cream, brown sugar, maple syrup, and salt. Bring to a simmer and simmer over low heat for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped pecans. Allow to cool slightly, then scoop into the cavity of the cooled cookies.

Pecan pie filling being scooped onto a sugar cookie.

Serving and storage:

These cookies can be served within a couple hours of assembly. If you’re making them more than a couple hours in advance they should be stored in the refrigerator and brought to to room temperature one hour before serving.

The texture of the cookie and the filling is best when they are room temp, not chilled.

Pecan pie cookie with a bite taken out of it.

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Recipe

Pecan Pie Cookies

Get ready for delicious sweet and salty Pecan Pie COOKIES! Thick soft sugar cookies topped with a brown sugar-maple pecan topping and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.

4.75 from 4 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 20

Calories: 260kcal

Author: Allison – Celebrating Sweets

Ingredients

Pecan filling:

Instructions

Cookies:

Preheat oven to 375°F with a rack in the upper and lower third of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Using a hand mixer, or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar for 2 minutes, until light and creamy. Note: the butter should be just soft enough to beat smoothly but still cool. Add extracts, egg, egg yolk, and sour cream and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. The mixture might look a little curdled, that’s ok.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until combined.
Allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes. Scoop the dough into 2-tablespoon balls (briefly rolling them in your hands, to make the dough balls smooth). Place the dough balls a couple inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
Using the bottom of a wooden spoon or similar instrument, form an indention on top of each dough ball. This will help create the start of the cavity we will use to fill the cookies. The dough should still be in a ball shape, not flattened.
Bake for 10-12 minutes (see note about chill time), until the edges are set and the center is still slightly underdone. If necessary, rotate the baking sheets once during bake time. The cookies should be light in color and very delicate. Place the baking sheets on wire racks. As soon as they come out of the oven, use a slightly larger instrument to further form the cavity in the center of each cookie. I have successfully used the rounded bottom of a tablespoon as well as the flat bottom of a small espresso shot glass. The very center of the cookies (where you made the indentation) will look a little under baked, but they should be fine once they cool. Leave the cookies on the baking sheets to cool completely.

Pecan filling:

In a small saucepan combine butter, cream, maple syrup, brown sugar, and salt. Bring to a simmer and continue simmering for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped pecans. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then scoop into the cavity of the cooled cookies and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. The filling will thicken up as it cools, you can speed this up by popping them in the fridge. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Notes

*To toast pecans: place in a dry skillet over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and lightly toasted, about 5-10 minutes.Chill time: As long as your butter was not too soft and your kitchen was not too warm there is no need to chill the dough before baking. Note: the warmer the butter the flatter the cookies; colder butter makes thicker cookies. If you’d like to bake a test cookie to determine if the dough needs to chill you can do so. If the test cookie bakes up thin and flat, pop the dough into the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour before baking the remaining batter.Serving and storage:These cookies can be served within a couple hours of assembly. If you’re making them more than a couple hours in advance they should be stored in the refrigerator and brought to to room temperature one hour before serving.The texture of the cookie and the filling is best when they are room temp, not chilled.