17+ Pecan Dessert Recipes for Fall and Holiday Baking
There is something about pecan dessert recipes that just says “the holidays are here.” Maybe it’s the smell of brown sugar and butter bubbling together, or maybe it’s just that first bite of a gooey pecan pie after a big family dinner. Either way, pecans show up in some of the coziest desserts out there, and they deserve more than just one pie on the table.
This roundup pulls together every pecan recipe on the blog, from the classic Southern pie to pralines, cookies, cakes, and even a no-bake dip you can throw together in 35 minutes. Some are easy enough for a weeknight, others are made for a holiday spread, but they all share that same buttery, toasty pecan flavor. If you’re also planning a bigger dessert table this season, this fall dessert recipes list is a good place to round things out.
Whether you’re baking for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or just a Tuesday that needs something sweet, there’s a pecan recipe here for you. Let’s get into it.
Pecan Pie
This is the one that started it all. A flaky crust holds a sweet, gooey filling made with corn syrup, brown sugar, eggs, butter, and a full one and a half cups of pecan halves. As it bakes, the pecans float up and form a crunchy top layer over a center that sets but keeps a little wobble. Toast the pecans first if you want extra crunch, or add a splash of bourbon for a grown-up twist. It’s the classic for a reason, and it never leaves the Thanksgiving table.
Chocolate Pecan Pie
Take the classic pecan pie and add a layer of melted chocolate underneath the filling, and you get this. Semi-sweet chocolate chips go right on the crust before the sticky brown sugar and pecan filling is poured over, so the chocolate sets into a fudgy layer instead of sinking into clumps. It needs a good three hours to cool before you slice it, which is the hardest part. If you love a chocolate-and-caramel combo, this one belongs next to the plain pecan pie on your table.
Pecan Pie Cobbler
No crust to roll out here. This one-pan dessert uses self-rising flour, butter, milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans, with a vanilla batter poured on top and hot water added last. As it bakes, it separates into a tender cake sitting over a thick, gooey pecan caramel sauce. The trick is to not stir the layers together, since leaving them alone is exactly what lets that sauce form on its own in the oven. Serve it warm with a scoop of ice cream and you’re set.
Pecan Pie Cheesecake Bars
These bars layer a graham cracker crust, a smooth cream cheese middle, and a sticky brown sugar, corn syrup, and pecan topping, so you get a crisp base, a creamy center, and a chewy nutty top all in one bite. They need a solid four hours in the fridge, and honestly, overnight is better, so they slice clean instead of falling apart. It’s pecan pie and cheesecake in one pan, which is exactly as good as it sounds for a holiday dessert table.
Pecan Pie Brownies
A fudgy boxed-mix brownie base gets topped with a sticky pecan pie layer made from sugar, corn syrup, eggs, butter, vanilla, and chopped pecans, cooked on the stovetop before it’s poured over the pre-baked brownie. A second quick bake sets everything together without drying out the brownie underneath. You end up with a fudgy bottom and a chewy, gooey top, basically two desserts stacked into one 13×9 pan. Great for a crowd that can’t decide between brownies and pie.
Pecan Pie Muffins
These are a one-bowl, no-crust take on pecan pie, baked right in a muffin tin. Pecans, light brown sugar, flour, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt come together in about 35 minutes and yield a batch of 16. They bake up dense and rich, more like little pecan pie bites than a fluffy muffin. Peel the liners off while they’re still a bit warm, since waiting until they’re fully cool can tear the muffin along with the paper. Easy to grab for breakfast or pack into a dessert box.
Pecan Pie Balls
These no-bake truffles turn toasted pecans, dark brown sugar, maple syrup, and graham cracker crumbs into a bite-sized, pecan-pie-flavored center, then dip the whole thing in bittersweet chocolate. Once the filling firms up in the fridge, it rolls into balls easily and holds its shape under that chocolate shell. The best part is the filling can be made up to two days ahead, or frozen for weeks, so you can get a head start on the holidays without ever turning on the oven.
Pecan Pie Dip
A fluffy cream cheese base made with cream cheese, powdered sugar, cold heavy cream, and vanilla gets topped with a warm, gooey brown sugar pecan layer, no oven required, in about 35 minutes total. The key is letting the hot butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and pecan topping cool for about 10 minutes before pouring it over the chilled base, so it doesn’t melt the cream cheese into a soupy mess. Scoop it up with graham crackers, apple slices, or vanilla wafers at your next gathering.
Pecan Tassies
These mini pecan pies bake right in a muffin tin, with a cream cheese pastry pressed by hand into each little cup and a brown sugar, egg, and pecan filling spooned in. The shells come out tender with a little flakiness, wrapped around a gooey center. Only fill each shell about two-thirds full, since the filling puffs up while baking and can spill over and stick to the pan if you overfill it. They’re a sweet little cookie-tray staple that disappears fast at any holiday party.
Pecan Snowball Cookies
Some people call these Russian tea cakes, others call them Mexican wedding cookies, but either way they’re a short, shortbread-like dough packed with finely chopped pecans. Just six ingredients, including butter, flour, powdered sugar, and vanilla, give you a sandy, tender cookie with a nutty bite in every piece. The trick is the double coating of powdered sugar, once while they’re warm from the oven and again once they’ve cooled, plus using cool butter so they hold their round shape. They look like little snowballs on a cookie tray, which makes them a natural for Christmas.
Pecan Shortbread Cookies
A short ingredient list, butter, powdered sugar, flour, vanilla, salt, pecans, and a little cinnamon, turns into a slice-and-bake dough that bakes up crisp at the edges and sandy inside. Toasting the pecans before mixing them in gives the dough a deeper, nuttier flavor than raw pecans would. The dough log keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days, or the freezer for up to 3 months, and you can slice and bake it straight from frozen whenever a craving hits. A simple, buttery cookie that’s hard to stop eating.
Butter Pecan Cookies
Chewy, brown sugar cookies get their deep flavor from pecans toasted in butter first, which gives them that buttery, almost butterscotch-like taste. An extra egg yolk and a bit of cornstarch keep the centers soft and chewy while the edges bake up golden brown. Don’t skip toasting the pecans, raw pecans just taste flat in this cookie and the toasting step is what makes these stand out. A cookie-jar favorite that’s a little more grown-up than a plain chocolate chip cookie.
Butter Pecan Cake
This two-layer cake gets its deep, nutty flavor from pecans toasted in butter before they’re folded into a buttermilk and brown sugar batter. A brown butter cream cheese frosting ties it all together over a crumb that stays soft, tender, and moist. Both layers can be baked a day ahead, which makes this one a lot less stressful to pull off for a holiday dinner. It’s the kind of cake that tastes like more effort went into it than actually did.
Pecan Upside Down Cake
A soft vanilla cake bakes right on top of a sticky, caramelized brown sugar and pecan topping, then gets flipped so all those glossy pecans end up on top. Light brown sugar, butter, pecan halves, flour, eggs, vanilla, and milk are all it takes. Timing matters here: flip the cake within about 5 to 10 minutes of pulling it from the oven, while the caramel is still warm, and make sure the sugar is fully stirred into the melted butter first so the topping releases cleanly. A showstopper that looks far fancier than it actually is to make.
Butter Pecan Praline Poke Cake
A butter pecan cake mix gets doctored with coconut pecan frosting stirred right into the batter, so it’s flavored from the inside before anything else happens. Once baked, it’s poked all over and soaked with a warm sauce of sweetened condensed milk, butter, and pecans that takes the place of a traditional frosting. Chilling it for at least an hour lets that sauce settle into the crumb, leaving a soft, rich, caramel-pecan texture in every bite. It’s a make-ahead potluck dessert that disappears fast at any holiday gathering.
Pecan Pralines
These classic Southern pralines cook up on the stovetop with brown sugar, buttermilk, butter, pecans, and vanilla, right until the syrup hits 236 degrees, also known as soft-ball stage. The buttermilk gives the finished candy a slight tang that balances out all that sweetness, and the texture lands somewhere between tender and crumbly. Stick with real butter instead of margarine here, since margarine’s extra water can keep the candy from setting properly. A little piece of Southern candy-making tradition that’s easier than it sounds.
Candied Pecans
This quick stovetop snack coats pecan halves in a crisp, glossy cinnamon-sugar shell made from just butter, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. The coating sets up crunchy as it cools, no candy thermometer needed, and the whole thing comes together in about 10 minutes. Since it’s a stovetop method, you skip the oven entirely and can keep a close eye on the sugar so it doesn’t scorch. Great on their own, scattered over a salad, or bagged up as a simple homemade gift.
However you slice it (pun intended), pecans just belong in holiday baking. Whether you end up making one of these or working your way through all seventeen over the season, they all keep well, so don’t be afraid to make a batch of pralines or candied pecans ahead of time and tuck them away for later. Most of these also travel well, which makes them easy picks for a potluck or a gift plate.
If you’re planning out a bigger dessert spread this year, these pecan recipes pair naturally with a few other seasonal favorites already on the blog. Go ahead and rate whichever ones you try, and let us know in the comments what you paired them with.
For more holiday dessert recipes you will love:
