33 Pecan Desserts That Prove the Underestimated Nut Can Do So Much More Than Pie
When it comes to planning your Thanksgiving menu, pecan pie for dessert (with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, obvi) is a no-brainer. But what if we told you that this nut deserves more than to be pigeonholed into a single confection? In addition to classics like sticky buns and Southern-style pralines, pecans can also work wonders in brownies, cheesecakes, cookies, doughnuts, ice cream and so much more. Read on for 33 pecan desserts that prove the underestimated ingredient’s versatility, timelessness and deliciousness.
21 Chestnut Recipes That Demand a Spot on Your Holiday Table
1. Pecan Pie Brownies
Katherine Gillen
Time Commitment: 1 hour and 10 minutes
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly
That gooey, buttery pecan pie topping is truly revelatory, if you ask us. So much so that none of your guests will know you started with boxed brownie mix.
2. Maple Pecan Pie
Katherine Gillen
Time Commitment: 1 hour and 30 minutes (plus chilling time)
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, special occasion-worthy
If you’re going to stick with the O.G. this holiday, make this version. We swap out corn syrup in favor of maple syrup, so it’s seasonal and just sweet enough, rather than gloppy and cloying.
3. Pecan Brittle Bark Cookies
Rebecca Firth
Time Commitment: 1 hour and 50 minutes
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, kid-friendly
Chocolate chips could never. Make the caramelly pecan-dark chocolate bark, chop it up and toss it into the cookie dough (but be sure to save a few pieces for the baker to snack on).
4. Easy Cranberry-Pecan Sandwich Cookies
Photo: Nico Schinco/Styling: Erin McDowell
Time Commitment: 2 hours and 20 minutes
Why We Love It: make ahead, special occasion-worthy
With these Christmas-inspired goodies on your side, you’re bound to be the talk of the cookie swap. If you’re short on time, feel free to use store-bought jam instead of making your own. We won’t judge.
5. Pumpkin Spice Pecan Rolls
Photo: Nico Schinco/Styling: Erin McDowell
Time Commitment: 3 hours and 5 minutes
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, make ahead
These are decadent enough to serve after dinner, but we won’t tell if you have one for breakfast instead. Pumpkin puree in the dough makes the rolls extra soft and moist (and turns them orange).
6. Mini Caramel Pecan Pies with Cinnamon Roll Pie Crust
Photo: Jon Cospito/Styling: Erin McDowell
Time Commitment: 45 minutes
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy, kid-friendly
They’re almost too cute to eat—almost. Use store-bought cinnamon roll dough and caramel sauce to save time; the filling is the most important part, after all.
7. Maple-Pecan Icebox Cookies
Photo: Liz Andrew/Styling: Erin McDowell
Time Commitment: 3 hours and 10 minutes
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly, make ahead, <10 ingredients
Slice-and-bake cookies are a busy hostess’s best friend. Supplement the maple syrup in the dough with a dash of maple extract to really drive the flavor home.
8. Pecan Pie Scones
Photo: Nico Schinco/Styling: Erin McDowell
Time Commitment: 1 hour
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly
Another breakfast beauty that can hold its own at the dessert table (especially because there’s pie crust folded into the dough). No one will mind washing these beauties down with mulled apple cider or slow cooker spiked cinnamon lattes.
9. Sweet Potato Pecan Pie
Grandbaby Cakes
Time Commitment: 4 hours and 20 minutes (includes chilling time)
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy
Behold: Thanksgiving in pie form. Save time by using store-bought pie crust instead of your own, then make up for the shortcut with a scoop of butter pecan ice cream.
10. Pecan Snowball Cookies
Sally’s Baking Recipes
Time Commitment: 1 hour
Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, make ahead, crowd-pleaser, one bowl, <10 ingredients
It doesn’t get simpler (or less messy) than a one-bowl cookie recipe that calls for pantry staples almost exclusively. Make them even cuter by adding festive sprinkles to the confectioners’ sugar.
11. Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns
Broma Bakery
Time Commitment: 3 hours
Why We Love It: kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser
Hello, decadence. Nothing beats serving these pillowy soft buns with a side of presents on Christmas morning, but we’d be just as psyched to eat them post-dinner too.
12. Apple Pecan Pie Cronuts with Apple Cider Caramel Drizzle
Half Baked Harvest
Time Commitment: 2 hours
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy
Our favorite thing about this recipe (besides the Honeycrisp filling, cider caramel and cream cheese frosting, that is)? You can start with refrigerated Crescent roll dough.
13. Turtle Cheesecake with Almond-Oat Crust
A Cookie Named Desire
Time Commitment: 5 hours and 25 minutes
Why We Love It: make ahead, crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy
Despite the heavenly chocolate ganache, pecan-dappled caramel sauce and turtle candy garnish, this cheesecake isn’t overwhelmingly sweet, thanks to tangy sour cream in the filling.
14. Pecan Shortbread
Sally’s Baking Recipes
Time Commitment: 4 hours
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly, make ahead
Leave your rolling pin alone—you’ll only need your go-to bowl and a mixer to pull off these buttery, nutty cookies. They’ll stay fresh at room temperature for up to a week, so make them ahead if you have time.
15. Sour Cream Apple Coffee Cake with Maple Pecan Streusel
Broma Bakery
Time Commitment: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly, make ahead
The brown sugar swirl, peppered with pecan and cinnamon, is optional, as is the three-ingredient maple icing…but we can’t imagine why you’d nix them.
16. Pumpkin Pecan Cobbler
Well Plated by Erin
Time Commitment: 50 minutes
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly, special occasion-worthy
Berries, apples and peaches tend to be the go-to fruits for cobbler, but why leave out everyone’s favorite gourd? (The cobbler even creates its own warm caramel sauce while it bakes.)
17. Classic Southern Pecan Pralines
Grandbaby Cakes
Time Commitment: 20 minutes
Why We Love It: <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, make ahead, crowd-pleaser
We’d prefer a tin of these for the holidays over a gift basket any day. Replace the molasses in the recipe with dark corn syrup if you prefer thicker, chewier pralines.
18. Butter Pecan Frosted Fudge Brownies
Half Baked Harvest
Time Commitment: 1 hour
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, beginner-friendly
The look of the frosting is enticing enough, but if you need more convincing, the pecans are candied in bourbon, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla before being added to the mix.
19. Brown Butter Pecan Pie Bars
Sally’s Baking Recipes
Time Commitment: 4 hours
Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, special occasion-worthy, crowd-pleaser
All the satisfaction of pecan pie, minus the fussy crimping. Instead, the brown butter crust is simply pressed into the pan and baked.
20. Chocolate-Covered Pecan Butter Truffles
Half Baked Harvest
Time Commitment: 1 hour and 50 minutes
Why We Love It: make ahead, crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, <10 ingredients
The recipe calls for making your own pecan butter in a food processor, but you can easily substitute store-bought if you don’t have the gadget (or the energy).
21. Caramel Apple Pecan Muffins
A Cookie Named Desire
Time Commitment: 1 hour and 10 minutes
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly
The filling is made up of diced apples, chopped pecans, golden raisins and caramel. It’ll work with any baking apple you like (although we’re partial to tart-sweet varieties), and you can substitute dried cranberries for raisins too if you’d prefer.
22. Browned Butter Pecan Biscuits
Broma Bakery
Time Commitment: 25 minutes
Why We Love It: <30 minutes, crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly
Sweet-and-salty stans, this one’s for you. Serve ’em up at breakfast time or pile them high with ice cream, whipped cream or baked fruit for dessert.
23. Turtle Candy
Grandbaby Cakes
Time Commitment: 50 minutes
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, kid-friendly, <10 ingredients
These chewy, crunchy delights will be our go-to hostess gift ’til the end of time, TYVM. You’ll be shocked how quickly and painlessly they come together.
24. Cranberry Pecan Cake
Sally’s Baking Recipes
Time Commitment: 1 hour and 20 minutes
Why We Love It: make ahead, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser
If vanilla icing isn’t your thing, serve the cake plain or substitute confectioners’ sugar. Either way, you can freeze it for up to three months and thaw it before serving.
25. Pecan Pie Cookies with Butter Pecan Frosting
Half Baked Harvest
Time Commitment: 50 minutes
Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy, make ahead, crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly
Seasonal cookie cutters can take a dessert from basic to beautiful in an instant. As if their shape and the frosting don’t make them Insta-worthy enough, the cookies are also finished with chopped pecans and chocolate drizzle.
26. Honey Bars
Well Plated by Erin
Time Commitment: 1 hour
Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser
This better-for-you dessert is just what your diet-obsessed relative is craving. Made with unsweetened applesauce, honey and white whole wheat flour, these bars clock in at 147 calories a piece.
27. Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie
Grandbaby Cakes
Time Commitment: 1 hour and 45 minutes
Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy
The filling is very fudgy in texture, but you can help it set (and slice easier) by covering and refrigerating the pie for a couple of hours before serving it.
28. Slice-and-Bake Vanilla Brown Butter Pecan Cookies Dipped in Chocolate
Half Baked Harvest
Time Commitment: 3 hours and 45 minutes
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, make ahead
BRB, drooling. The brown butter offers plenty of nuttiness to the cookies, but you can up the ante by toasting the pecans before adding them to the dough.
29. Maple Pecan Snickerdoodles
Sally’s Baking Recipes
Time Commitment: 2 hours and 50 minutes
Why We Love It: make ahead, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser
This autumnal trifecta is basically impossible not to like, so these cookies are just the ticket if you don’t know what to serve for Thanksgiving dessert. Be sure to set aside at least two hours for the dough to chill.
30. White Chocolate Maple Pecan Cookies
Broma Bakery
Time Commitment: 25 minutes
Why We Love It: <30 minutes, beginner-friendly, make ahead
They’re as simple to prepare as your favorite chocolate chip cookies. Dare we add crushed pretzels or potato chips to the dough to make the cookies even saltier?
31. Coconut Pecan Caramel Butter Cake
Half Baked Harvest
Time Commitment: 1 hour
Why We Love It: special occasion-worthy, crowd-pleaser, make ahead
Oh, hi, brown sugar icing and coconut-vanilla whipped cream. Where have you been all our life? You can make this stunner up to four days in advance of the big feast.
32. Brown Butter Pecan Madeleines
A Cookie Named Desire
Time Commitment: 25 minutes
Why We Love It: <30 minutes, crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly
As fancy looking as these French treats are, they actually require minimal time and ingredients to come to fruition. Serve them warm for maximum deliciousness.
33. Butter Pecan Cheesecake
Grandbaby Cakes
Time Commitment: 15 hours and 15 minutes (includes resting time)
Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, special occasion-worthy
Don’t let the prep time discourage you—most of those 15 hours are chilling time. Pro tip: Start with room temperature ingredients to ensure your filling is lump-free.
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Taryn Pire is PureWow’s associate food editor. A former bartender and barista, she’s been writing about all things delicious since 2016, developing recipes, reviewing restaurants and investigating food trends at Food52, New Jersey Family Magazine and Taste Talks. When she isn’t testing TikTok’s latest viral recipe, she’s having popcorn for dinner and posting about it on Instagram @cookingwithpire.
