Pecan pickups are tasty, bite-size morsels that are a perfect dessert finger food. Add these mini pecan pies to a cookie tray or dessert spread!
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When I was a kid, I discovered my love for baking. I guess I was probably in 4th or 5th grade when I first started baking things on my own.
I would sift through my mom’s recipe books and boxes, scan our pantry and refrigerator to see what ingredients we had on hand, then I would get to work. Very commonly, I would make snickerdoodles or brown-eyed Susans or pecan pickups.
I received a lot of positive reinforcement for my efforts, because my family loved eating the treats I baked up. 🙂
I would also bring my baked goods to potluck dinners at church, and one of our church members even started ordering specific treats from me, which was a great way for me to earn a little extra money.
Over the years, my love for baking has continued, and I still find a great deal of satisfaction in creating treats that others really enjoy.
Can you tell that food is one of my love languages? Haha!
I still have my mom’s recipe for pecan pickups tucked into my own recipe binder, and now I’m sharing it with you!
These delectable little guys are basically miniature pecan pies. Which is perfect for me because, truthfully, I’m not a huge fan of traditional pecan pie. There’s something about the ratio of crust to filling that isn’t quite right for me, so I rarely eat it.
But these pecan pickups? They are just right. The tender crust is filled with gooey sweetness and topped with crunchy pecans, making it the ideal bite-size treat.
I could seriously pop about 10 of these without blinking an eye.
Not only are they super delicious, but pecan pickups are also easy to make.
And since they’re bite-size, they’re great for adding to a cookie platter or holiday dessert spread. They’re easy to transport to a holiday get-together, where people will swoon over these addictive morsels of sweetness. 🙂
How to Make Delicious Bite-Size Pecan Pickups
The process is so simple that my kids (ages 6, 4, and 2) helped me make these (note the little hand in the picture)!
First, you’ll mix up some dough for the crust. If you’re intimidated by homemade crusts, fear not. This crust only requires 3 ingredients!
Mix together some butter, cream cheese, and flour, and that’s your crust! Roll it into balls and place the balls into a greased mini muffin pan. Place the pan of dough balls into the refrigerator to chill while you make the filling.
Prepare the filling by mixing some brown sugar, pecans, butter, an egg, and some maple or vanilla extract.
Pull the pan out of the fridge and use your fingers to press each ball into the muffin wells, forming a cup-like shape of crust.
Scoop filling into each of the crusts, being careful not to overfill them.
Then bake for about 25 minutes. Allow them to cool, and you’ve got a delicious dessert on your hands!
Notes and Adaptations for Pecan Pickups
- I have used both maple extract and vanilla extract for these. The maple extract gives it a little extra sweetness, but if you don’t have that on hand, vanilla extract works fine as well.
- Greasing the muffin pan will help the pecan pickups to release easier (I have learned this the hard way). But the most important factor in getting them out easily is to not overfill the crusts with filling. The filling expands as it bakes, and if the filling overflows, it bakes to the pan and makes it a little bit harder to remove. Not impossible, but just a bit more difficult. Aim to fill each one about 2/3-3/4 of the way full (I don’t always adhere to this, but it does make it easier to remove them if I do!). You can see in some of the photos that some were a little difficult to remove from the pan–those were the ones I overfilled a bit.
- I use chopped pecans because I find it easier to fill the crusts when the pieces are smaller. However, if you prefer whole pecans, you can use those.
Recommended Equipment:
More Delicious Desserts For You to Try:
- Pumpkin Pecan Caramel Chip Cookies
- Cranberry Streusel Pie
- Gingerbread with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Delicious Bite-Size Pecan Pickups
Ingredients
- Crust:
- 3 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- Filling:
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 tsp maple extract (or 1 tsp vanilla)
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp butter, softened
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 24-well mini muffin pan with cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or you can mix by hand as well), combine crust ingredients, mixing well.
- Divide dough into 24 balls. Place one ball into each well of the mini muffin pan. Place pan into the refrigerator.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine all filling ingredients. Stir by hand until combined.
- Remove muffin pan from refrigerator. Use your fingers to form each ball of dough into the shape of a cup in the well of the muffin pan.
- Spoon filling into the crust cups (about 1/2 Tbsp in each cup), being careful not to overfill.
- Bake for 25 minutes.
- Allow pecan pickups to cool in the pan before carefully removing.
Notes
- I have used both maple extract and vanilla extract for these. The maple extract gives it a little extra sweetness, but if you don't have that on hand, vanilla extract works fine as well.
- Greasing the muffin pan will help the pecan pickups to release easier (I have learned this the hard way). But the most important factor in getting them out easily is to not overfill the crusts with filling. The filling expands as it bakes, and if the filling overflows, it bakes to the pan and makes it a little bit harder to remove. Not impossible, but just a bit more difficult. Aim to fill each one about 2/3-3/4 of the way full (I don't always adhere to this, but it does make it easier to remove them if I do!).
- I use chopped pecans because I find it easier to fill the crusts when the pieces are smaller. However, if you prefer whole pecans, you can use those.
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Where is the actual recipe? Am I blind? I cannot find it and I really want to try these as they look exactly like the ones I used to make with a friend’s grandmother! Thank you!
Hi Leah! Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention–for some reason, the recipe is not displaying properly. I’ll have to investigate the reason for that, so I appreciate you letting me know! In the meantime, here is the recipe, and I hope you enjoy them!
Ingredients
Crust:
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
Filling:
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp maple extract (or 1 tsp vanilla)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 egg
1 Tbsp butter, softened
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 24-well mini muffin pan with cooking spray.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or you can mix by hand as well), combine crust ingredients, mixing well.
Divide dough into 24 balls. Place one ball into each well of the mini muffin pan. Place pan into the refrigerator.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine all filling ingredients. Stir by hand until combined.
Remove muffin pan from refrigerator. Use your fingers to form each ball of dough into the shape of a cup in the well of the muffin pan.
Spoon filling into the crust cups (about 1/2 Tbsp in each cup), being careful not to overfill.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Allow pecan pickups to cool in the pan before carefully removing.
Notes
I have used both maple extract and vanilla extract for these. The maple extract gives it a little extra sweetness, but if you don’t have that on hand, vanilla extract works fine as well.
Greasing the muffin pan will help the pecan pickups to release easier (I have learned this the hard way). But the most important factor in getting them out easily is to not overfill the crusts with filling. The filling expands as it bakes, and if the filling overflows, it bakes to the pan and makes it a little bit harder to remove. Not impossible, but just a bit more difficult. Aim to fill each one about 2/3-3/4 of the way full (I don’t always adhere to this, but it does make it easier to remove them if I do!).
I use chopped pecans because I find it easier to fill the crusts when the pieces are smaller. However, if you prefer whole pecans, you can use those.