Pecan Pie Cheesecake Cookies
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Get ready for the holiday season with these pecan pie cookies! These pecan pie cheesecake cookies are a combination of pecan pie cheesecake and cookies – they are stuffed with a spiced cheesecake filling and topped with pecan pie filling! They’ll be your new favorite!
My stuffed strawberry cheesecake cookies are a reader favorite, so I knew I had to make a Thanksgiving version! Like my pumpkin cheesecake cookies, these pecan pie cookies are also loaded up with graham crackers and stuffed with cheesecake filling.
Featured Reader Review
“Just made these for thanksgiving and they were a huge hit! My entire family loved them. Will be making again this month for Xmas! ”
Kelly
The pecan pie filling on top with a little bit of flaked sea salt balances out the creamy cinnamon spiced cream cheese filling and soft spiced cookie dough – it’s truly heavenly!
Why You’ll Love My Pecan Pie Cookies
- These cookies taste just like pecan pie cheesecake in a cookie!
- You can easily make these pecan pie cheesecake cookies dairy free by using vegan cream cheese, vegan butter and dairy free milk!
- It’s based on my popular cheesecake cookie recipe and is loaded up with graham cracker pieces. The baked cookies are then topped with a delicious pecan pie filling.
- The graham cracker pieces are totally optional but they act like the “crust” to the pecan pie cheesecake!
Ingredients Needed
- Butter: feel free to use regular butter or dairy free butter.
- Flour: I tested this recipe with all purpose flour. If you need these cookies to be gluten free you can use all purpose gluten free 1-1 baking flour.
- Graham Crackers: these are totally optional and you don’t have to add them if you don’t want to. You can blend them into fine crumbs or just chop them into small pieces if you are adding them to the cookie dough.
- Cream Cheese: feel free to use regular cream cheese or dairy free cream cheese if you need these cookies to be dairy free! If you’re based in Europe and your cream cheese comes in tubs, I recommend patting it dry with a paper towel as it has more moisture than cream cheese that comes in packets. While this recipe is really similar to my pumpkin cheesecake cookies, there are different measurements for the cream cheese and icing sugar!
- Icing Sugar: If you are using regular cream cheese, the icing sugar measurements are different than if you are using dairy free cream cheese, so be sure to check the notes in the recipe card below.
- Corn Syrup: you can use honey instead if you don’t have corn syrup.
- Milk: feel free to use regular whole milk or dairy free milk.
Step By Step Instructions
Note: Full ingredient measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
Step 1: Line a baking sheet or plate with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk the cream cheese with the powdered sugar and cinnamon until smooth. If your cream cheese is a bit stiff you might need to use an electric mixer to do this!
Step 2: Scoop out 17 teaspoons of the cream cheese mixture and place on the baking sheet or plate. Freeze for at least 30 minutes, or until it is frozen solid.
Step 3: When the cream cheese is almost frozen, line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.
Step 4: In a large bowl with a handheld mixer or in a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together for 1-2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract then mix once more.
Step 5: Add the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda to the bowl and mix until it is just combined.
Step 6: Crush your graham crackers, either in a food processor or in a ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling. The graham cracker crumbs don’t have to be the same size, it’s ok to have some larger pieces! Stir the graham crackers into the cookie dough.
Step 7: Use a small cookie scoop to scoop balls of cookie dough onto the cookie sheet, they should be about 1 tablespoon each. Press the back of a teaspoon gently on the top of half the cookie dough balls to create an indent.
Step 8: Take the cream cheese filling out of the freezer and place one on to the cookie dough with the indents. Take a second ball of dough and place it over the cream cheese, pinching to seal the sides so the cream cheese is completely covered. Make sure you aren’t squishing it too much so the cream cheese isn’t being squished into the dough!
Step 9: Place the prepared cookie dough balls onto a cookie sheet and into the fridge while you work on the remaining dough. Preheat the oven to 350°Fahrenheit and keep the cookie dough balls in the fridge for at least 15 minutes while the oven preheats.
Step 10: Bake the cookies in the oven one sheet at a time for 8-11 minutes. You know they’re ready when the edges are light golden brown and the top is set.
Step 11: While the cookies are baking, make your pecan pie filling. Place the sugar, light brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla extract and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Stir constantly until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the butter and pecans, stirring to combine.
Step 12: Stir the mixture until it has turned pale and thickened. It should pull away from the sides of the pan.
Scoop spoonfuls of the filling on top of each baked cookie, then sprinkle with flakey salt and allow them to cool on a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Properly measure your flour – I highly recommend using a $15 kitchen scale to weigh your dry ingredients (metric measurements are in the recipe card below). If you aren’t using a scale, use the scoop and level method.
- Let the cream cheese filling freeze – make sure the filling is frozen solid before placing it on top of the cookie dough. You may have to let your cheesecake filling firm up a bit longer if it isn’t solid.
- Refrigerate the prepared cookies while the first batch bakes so that the cheesecake filling doesn’t soften in the meantime.
- Use a rolling pin to crush graham crackers – if you’re using graham crackers in the cookie dough, I suggest placing them in a plastic ziploc bag and crushing them with a rolling pin. It’s fine if some of the pieces are a bit bigger than others!
- Don’t panic if the pecan pie filling gets too thick – While you wait for the second batch of cookies to bake, the pecan topping will thicken up. That is totally normal, and once you spoon it over the warm cookies it will soften up!
Storage Instructions
These pecan pie cheesecake cookies taste best on the day of baking. Store the baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge.
You can freeze the baked cookies by storing them in an airtight container. Just thaw them at room temperature!
More Holiday Recipes You’ll Love
If you make this recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Pecan Pie Cheesecake Cookies
Ingredients
Cheesecake Filling
- 6 Tablespoons (3 oz) (85 g) cream cheese, softened, regular or vegan
- pinch of ground cinnamon
- 3 Tablespoons (23 g) powdered sugar , (confectioner's sugar) SEE NOTES if using vegan cream cheese
Cookie Dough
- ¾ cup (158 g) butter, softened
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (105 g) light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 6 (40 g) graham crackers, finely crushed, SEE NOTES
- 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (268 g) all-purpose flour
Pecan Pie Filling
- 3 Tablespoons (31 ml) milk, (regular or vegan)
- 6 Tablespoons (50 g) granulated sugar
- 6 Tablespoons (50 g) light brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 Tablespoons (60 ml) corn syrup, (or honey)
- 4½ Tablespoons (40 g) butter, (regular or vegan)
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons (90 g) pecans, roughly chopped
- flakey salt, for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Line a small baking sheet or plate with parchment paper. In a small bowl, use a whisk or mixer (depending how hard your cream cheese is) to mix the cream cheese with powdered sugar and cinnamon until smooth and combined.
- Place 17 teaspoons (roughly level) of cream cheese on the baking sheet or plate. Freeze for at least 30 minutes, or until frozen almost completely solid.
- When the cream cheese is frozen almost solid, line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda then set aside.
- In the bowl of a handheld mixer or standing mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy (about 1-2 minutes). Mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
- Add in the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda, and mix until just combined.
- Crush the graham crackers into fine crumbs (some larger pieces are okay as well). I like to put the graham crackers in a ziploc and crush them with a rolling pin. Stir the graham crackers into the dough.
- Use a small cookie scoop to scoop balls of dough onto the cookie sheet (1 Tablespoon each). Press the back of a teaspoon slightly into the top of half the balls of dough to create an indent.
- Remove the cream cheese filling from the freezer and place one into each of the cookies. Take a second ball of dough and place it over the cream cheese, pinching the sides to seal the cream cheese inside (see picture in post above), but making sure to not squish the cream cheese into the cookie dough.
- Refrigerate the prepared cookie dough balls and repeat with the second cookie sheet and remaining dough. Preheat the oven to 350°F and leave the cookie dough in the fridge (for around 15 minutes) while it preheats.
- Bake the cookies in the preheated oven one sheet at a time for 8-11 minutes, or until the edges are slightly golden brown and the tops are set.
- While the cookies are in the oven, make the pecan pie filling. Add sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and milk to a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until sugar has dissolved, then add in the butter and pecans.
- Stir until the mixture has turned pale in color and thickened. It should pull away from the sides of the pan. Scoop spoonfuls of the filling on top of each baked cookie (SEE NOTES). Sprinkle with flakey salt, then place the cookies on a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes.
- Once the pecan pie filling has set, enjoy!
Equipment
Video
Notes
The calorie information provided for this recipe is an estimate. The accuracy of the calories listed is not guaranteed.
Just made these for thanksgiving and they were a huge hit! My entire family loved them. Will be making again this month for Xmas!
I’m so glad they were a hit with your family! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review Kelly!
Soooo good!! Loved these thnx for the recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks so much for trying them out!
So these were a lot of work. Unfortunately the pecan pie filling directions left a bit to be desired. After spending a lot of time in the kitchen and following the direction to cook the filling until it pulled away from the pan, I assembled the cookies. By the time they cooled, the filling was rock hard. Cooking it until it pulled away from the pan turned it into hard candy and essentially ruined the entire recipe. Waste of time and ingredients. Better instructions as to length of time and temperature of the mixture would be better. Or an entirely different recipe for the filling part more like actual pecan pie – with a more of a custard rather than a hard candy on top. This was a fail. Very disappointed in the time wasted here.
Hi Katy, I’m sorry to hear you had a bad experience with the recipe. However, this is exactly the reason why the instructions say to make the filling while the cookies are already in the oven, not before assembling them… Making the filling is the last step – it is really important to follow the order of the recipe instructions or else a recipe won’t work!
Hi Gabby! I am super excited to try this recipe! I was wondering what elevation you are at so I can modify it for my elevation. I always have to modify cookie recipes because I am at 8500 ft. Thank you!
Hi Amanda! I’m located at 3,438 feet, hope this helps!
Can you make these without the cream cheese filling and just have pecan pie cookies?
Sure! Just skip the cream cheese filling part and scoop them how you would normal cookies, and bake for 8-11 minutes.
Yet another fantastic sounding cookie. But I don’t quite understand one part of the directions. You say to “Refrigerate the prepared cookie dough balls and repeat with the second cookie sheet and remaining dough”, implying two separate batches somehow. Is the recipe meant to be doubled? I’m sorry to be so obtuse, but I’m a pretty old man just learning (with your help) to bake. Thanks so much!
Hi John! This recipe makes about 17 cookies, which is why you’ll need two baking sheets. Hope this helps!
In love with these. More steps than a regular cookie recipe but worth it. I saw them on fb and had to try, thank you for the recipe Gabbi!
Hi Maria! I am so happy to hear that you loved the recipe! Thanks so much for the review 🙂