Pecan Pie Cookies
Enjoy the rich flavor of pecan pie in one delicious cookie.
My grandmother, Virginia, was the best holiday baker. She began baking just after Thanksgiving and made dozens of several different kinds of cookies leading up to our family gathering on Christmas Eve each year.
Her cookies were always small and dainty and decorated perfectly. When I was old enough to be in the kitchen alongside her, I would help mix and roll the dough, and she taught me so much about making beautiful, festive cookies.
It took patience, good ingredients and some time to make her holiday cookies. And everyone in the family had their favorite. She made double sugar cookies with raspberry jam in between for the grandchildren, almond crescents for my mother and apricot thumbprint cookies for my father.
I asked her one Christmas why she used a drinking glass to roll her dough instead of a rolling pin. “This is how my grandmother did it,” she said. “I don’t need a rolling pin, just a glass will do.” To this day, I still use a drinking glass turned on its side to roll out my cookie dough.
As the weeks went by, she would neatly stack her creations in between sheets of wax paper in large containers and place them on shelves in my grandfather’s office. After he retired, they didn’t heat his office, and the cookies stayed chilled and fresh. Before we arrived on Christmas Eve, she would arrange the cookies on large platters, which filled the dining room table. It was like walking into a dreamy bakery.
She made her holiday treats small for a reason. It gave everyone the opportunity to sample several cookies. Each was a bite of love and attention that my grandmother had baked into each cookie.
As I began baking for my family, I also found that small cookies were appreciated. That’s why I created this recipe for Pecan Pie Cookies. You can have just one or two bites of this rich cookie with all the flavors of pecan pie and still have room to sample another cookie or two.
I cherish the time I spent in the kitchen with my grandmother and will forever see her in my memories with a whisk in one hand, a cookie in the other, and a dusting of flour on her cheek. I couldn’t have had a better teacher in the kitchen or role model in life.
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 20 minutes |
| Servings |
cookies
|
- 1 package Pillsbury Mini Pie Crusts 14 count
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 20 pecan halves
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon butter softened
- 1/3 cup light corn syrup
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ingredients
|
|
- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Allow the pie dough to come to room temperature. Unroll it and spread it on the counter. Separate the circles of dough at the perforations.
- Mix the butter, corn syrup, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl. Add the chopped pecans and stir. Spoon the pecan mixture into prepared pie crusts. Do not overfill. Place a pecan half in the center of each mini pie/cookie.
- Bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until set in the center and golden brown. Allow cookies to cool before removing them from the muffin tin. Top each cookie with a bit of whipped cream, if desired. Recipe makes 14 cookies.
- Notes: I gathered the scraps of dough leftover and pressed them into circles to make 3 or 4 more cookies. Bonus! If you can’t find precut mini-pie crusts, buy the full-size pie crusts and use the top of a drinking glass to cut your circles for the cookies. You can also make your own dough — that’s what my grandmother would have done.
