See these sweet little pecan pie slices? They’re actually shortbread cookies, but they pack a lot of pecan pie flavor into a two-bite treat!
The “crust” is regular shortbread. The “filling” is enhanced with toasted pecans, brown sugar, and molasses. For a cute touch, a little white chocolate is added to resemble whipped cream. These are incredibly addictive! The recipe makes 48 small cookies, but you may want to double it and freeze some for later.
Don’t forget to toast the pecans before you add them. It’s easy – just toss them in a skillet on medium low for about 5 minutes, stirring often, or microwave them, for 90 seconds on high, stirring every 30 seconds. It makes a huge flavor difference – it really does!
| "Pecan Pie" Shortbread Cookies | Print |
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1½ cups chopped TOASTED pecans, divided
- 1 tablespoons flour
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon molasses
- White chocolate (optional for decoration)
- Heat oven to 350 F.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.
- Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well, scraping sides of bowl.
- Add the 2 cups of flour and the cornstarch, and mix until completely incorporated. (This will be a stiff dough. You may need to use a dough hook or your hands.)
- Separate the dough in half. Remove ½ cup of dough from ONE half and add it to the other. Set aside and cover the large piece of dough, and put the smaller piece back into the mixing bowl.
- To the dough in the mixing bowl, add 1 cup of the chopped pecans, 1 tablespoon flour, brown sugar, and molasses. Mix well.
- Roll the vanilla dough out between two large pieces of parchment paper, about ⅛-inch thick.and cut out 6 large circles – about 4-1/2 inches across – using a small bowl, sour cream container, or margarita glass! (Alternatively, you can divide dough into 6 balls and roll each individually between parchment.) Place them on a plate and keep them covered with plastic wrap. It’s fine to re-roll the dough as long as you’re rolling it between sheets of parchment.
- Divide the pecan dough into 6 balls, and flatten into approximately 3-inch circles.
- Working with one piece of each color at a time (keep the rest covered so it won’t dry out) center the pecan circle over the vanilla circle. There should be about ½-inch of vanilla showing around the pecan filling. Slowly bring the vanilla dough up the sides. A knife or spatula works very well for this. Don’t worry if it cracks around the bottom edge. This isn’t pie crust! Use your fingers to press and mold the dough (think Play Doh) until it’s fairly straight and even all the way around the top, Use your fingers to press firmly down on the "filling" while you bring the dough around it. The vanilla dough should stick up a little higher than the pecan dough.
- Crimp the dough all the way around, using the tips of your fingers. Don’t be afraid to press firmly along the sides as you go – this will keep the fluted edge from falling off as it bakes.
- Sprinkle each "pie" with the remaining chopped pecans.
- With a sharp knife, cut pie into 8 small wedges. Move to an ungreased cookie sheet, spaced at least ½-inch apart. Repeat until the baking sheet is full. The cookies can be quite close together; they don’t spread.
- Place pan in the freezer for 15 minutes or the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until the bottoms are just turning light golden brown. Move to a rack to cool.
- Once cool, add a dollop of melted white chocolate to the top if desired.
At first the mixture will look crumbly and seem dry, but if you keep mixing it will turn into this!
“Crust” on the left, “Filling” on the right.
Use a knife or spatula to lift the vanilla dough around the filling.
Crimp the edges. (My pinky finger was just the right size.)
Press chopped pecans firmly on top.
Cut into 8 wedges.
Place on baking sheet and pop them in the oven!
I also tried this idea with other pie flavors. I tried to put them all into one blog, but the recipes differed just enough to make that impossible. So…here’s the link for “Chocolate Pie” Shortbread cookies. and “Pumpkin Pie” Shortbread cookies.
Betcha can’t eat just one…
Lorinda
I am dancing with joy! I loved the chocolate pies and now have these to make and share. Did I say share? hahaha!
I remember you liked the chocolate ones – and they’re my favorite too, because chocolate…but you must try them all 🙂
I won’t tell if you don’t share.
I love this idea! What a unique way to make cookies. Definitely checking out the chocolate ones as well as pinning these. The step by step photos are a big help, too.
Thank you, Marlene! I’m making a batch myself today for a party. I’m partial to the chocolate ones, myself, so I’ll do both. Thanks for commenting!