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Chewy sugar cookie cups are filled with gooey homemade pecan pie filling in these easy Copycat Crumbl Cookies! It’s like having your own little pecan pie, but in cookie form.
I was introduced to Crumbl cookies earlier this year and have since become quite the fan. Not all of their cookies have swept me off my feet, but overall, they’re totally delicious. They tend to be soft, chewy and sweet, and they are certainly massive. That’s why I like to think of these glorious treats as mini pies rather than giant cookies!
As soon as I tried the Crumbl version, I knew I had to create my own. I modified the pecan pie filling from this layer cake and loaded it into a buttery sugar cookie cup. The results were even more scrumptious than I ever could have hoped! Once you bite into the tender sugar cookie base, the caramel-y pie filling melts in your mouth to leave behind the satisfying crunch of the chopped pecans.
- On demand cookies. You can make these cookies anytime you want with just a few simple ingredients. No need to drive to the store or miss out if you don’t have a location near you.
- Easy. Despite their fancy appearance, these cookies are totally easy to make. Just make a simple crust and press it into paper pie pan molds. Bake the sugar cookie base, then top with pecan pie filling. See what I mean? So easy!
- Perfect for holidays. We love making these pecan pie cookies for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They have all the flavor we crave in pecan pie in single serving form.
What You’ll Need
This decadent dessert uses simple ingredients that are easy to find. Scroll down to the recipe card for the associated amounts.
For the Sugar Cookie Cups
- Dry ingredients: All purpose flour, baking soda and salt. Measure you measure your flour accurately by using either the spoon and level method or a food scale.
- Unsalted Butter: Brought to room temperature.
- Sugar: We’ll use both light brown sugar and white granulated sugar.
- Egg
- Vanilla Extract: You’ll get the best flavor from a high-quality extract.
For the Pecan Pie Filling
- Light Brown Sugar & Dark Corn Syrup: Both of these add molasses flavor to your filling. Make sure you use dark syrup. Light corn syrup doesn’t contain molasses, so it won’t give your filling the same richness or flavor.
- Unsalted Butter: Cut into cubes.
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- Salt
- Chopped Pecans: You could also use chopped walnuts, though of course, then these wouldn’t be pecan pie cookies.
Bringing these cookies to life is surprisingly easy, but you do need a special piece of equipment – paper pie pans. I’ve linked the ones that I use in the recipe below.
Make the Cookie Cups
- Prep for Baking: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray the inside of 8 paper pie pans well with nonstick spray so that the cookies don’t stick. Set the greased pans aside.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set the mixture aside.
- Cream Butter & Sugars: Cream the butter and sugars together in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until light in color and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. You should be able to see the change in color happen and know it’s ready.
- Add Egg & Vanilla: Add the egg and mix until well combined, then add the vanilla extract and mix until incorporated.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Add the dry ingredients and mix until the dough is well combined. It will be thick. Once it’s well combined (but not over-mixed), use a rubber spatula to help it come together to form a more cohesive ball.
- Form Cookie Crusts: Create cookie dough balls of about 6 tablespoons of cookie dough per ball. You should get 8 balls. Press the cookie dough evenly into the prepared paper pie pans.
- Bake & Let Cool: Place the paper pie pans onto a large baking sheet and bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes, then remove them from the oven and allow them to cool completely.
Make the Filling & Assemble
- Combine Everything But Pecans: While the cookies bake and cool, make the pecan pie filling. Combine all of the filling ingredients except for the pecans in a saucepan.
- Bring to Boil: Heat the mixture over medium heat until it begins to boil, stirring constantly.
- Add Pecans & Cook: Add the pecans and allow the filling to boil for 30 seconds, then remove it from the heat and pour it into a bowl.
- Chill: Refrigerate the pecan pie filling until it has cooled and thickened.
- Remove Cookies From Pans: Once the cookies and filling have cooled, remove the cookies from the paper pie pans.
- Top With Filling: Heat the filling in the microwave for about 30 seconds so that it’s easier to stir and scoop. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of pie filling into each cookie.
- Enjoy! Serve at room temperature or chill them in the fridge before digging in.
Can I Make These Cookies in Advance?
Yes. You can make the cookie dough and filling the day before. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge, taking it out about 30 minutes before you form the crusts so it can soften up a bit. Refrigerate the pie filling in an airtight container.
You could also bake the cookies the day before serving and add the filling later. Or the completed cookies last well for 3-4 days, so you could easily make and assemble them the day before serving and refrigerate them until serving.
Tips for Success
- Don’t Over-Mix the Dough: When cookie dough is over-mixed, it tends to bake into dense, tough cookies. Stop mixing it as soon as everything is well combined.
- Boil the Filling for 30 Seconds Only: Once your pie filling has been boiling for 30 seconds, immediately transfer it to a heat-proof bowl. If you cook it for longer, it’ll start to become too thick.
- Should I Serve These Chilled or at Room Temperature? It depends on your preferred filling consistency. When the cookies are cold, the filling will stay in place. At room temperature, it will ooze out as you cut or bite into the cookie.
Variation Ideas
- Go Nuts! Feel free to swap out a portion (or all) of the pecans for any other nut of your choice – from walnuts to almonds to hazelnuts.
- Make Them Gluten-Free: Gluten is a common allergen you may want to remove from the equation. Simply swap out the all-purpose flour for a 1:1 gluten-free alternative.
- Downsize: I haven’t yet tested this, but you could certainly bake the dough in a standard cupcake pan and make 24 smaller cookie pies if preferred. Use about 2 tablespoons of dough per cup and bake the cookies for roughly 10 minutes, pressing the centers down a bit after removing them from the oven. Add 1-2 tablespoons of filling to each crust (you may need to make a little extra filling if you add more than one tablespoon per cookie).
- Add a Topping: Add a dollop of Whipped Cream or a drizzle of Hot Fudge Sauce or homemade caramel sauce.
How to Store
- Store in the fridge: Keep leftover pecan pie cookies in an airtight container in the fridge. They’re best if they’re eaten within 3-4 days. Bring them to room temperature before you dig in if desired.
- Can I freeze them? Sure you can! Place the cookies into a freezer-safe container with parchment paper separating each layer if you have to stack them. Alternatively, wrap each cookie tightly in plastic wrap and store them in a freezer bag with all of the air squeezed out. Thaw and enjoy your cookies within 3 months of freezing them.
Print
Recipe
- Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 27 minutes
- Yield: 8
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Chewy sugar cookie cups are filled with gooey homemade pecan pie filling in these easy Copycat Crumbl Cookies! Family gatherings are always cherished when everyone gets to devour their own little pecan pie.
Ingredients
For the Sugar Cookie Cups
- 2 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp (374g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup (224g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup (168g) light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (52g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Pecan Pie Filling
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp (140g) light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup dark corn syrup
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/3 cups (133g) chopped pecans
Instructions
Make the Cookie Cups
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray the inside of the 8 paper pie pans well with non-stick spray so that the cookies don’t stick. Set aside.
- Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugars together in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until light in color and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. You should be able to see the change in color happen and know it’s ready.
- Add the egg and mix until well combined.
- Add the vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until the dough is well combined. It will be thick. Do not over mix. Once it’s well combined, use a rubber spatula to help it come together to form a more cohesive ball.
- Create cookie dough balls of about 6 tablespoons (105g) of cookie dough per ball. You should get 8 balls.
- Press the cookie dough evenly into the prepared paper pie pans.
- Place the paper pie pans on a large baking sheet and bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes, then remove from the oven to cool completely.
Make the Filling & Assemble
- While the cookies bake and cool, make the pecan pie filling. Combine all the filling ingredients except the pecans in a saucepan. Heat over medium until it begins to boil, stirring constantly.
- Add the pecans and allow to boil for 30 seconds, then remove from the heat and pour into a bowl.
- Refrigerate the pecan pie filling until cool and thickened.
- When the cookies and filling have cooled, remove each cookie from the paper pie pan.
- Heat the pie filling in the microwave for about 30 seconds, so that it is easier to stir and scoop. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of pie filling into each cookie. You should have just enough filling.
- Serve the cookies with the pie filling either cold or at room temperature. When cold, the filling will stay in place. When at room temperature, the filling will seep out of the cookie after you cut it or bite into it.
Notes
- To Store: Refrigerate cookies in an airtight container and enjoy within 3-4 days.
- To Freeze: Place cookies into a freezer-safe container with parchment paper separating layers if stacking. Alternatively, wrap each cookie tightly in plastic wrap and freeze in a storage bag with the air removed. Thaw and enjoy cookies within 3 months of freezing.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 769
- Sugar: 54 g
- Sodium: 350.2 mg
- Fat: 44.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 88.9 g
- Protein: 8.8 g
- Cholesterol: 146 mg
Could I bake the cookie ahead of time and freeze? Adding the pecan filling the day of my event?
Definitely!
The directions say to use baking powder but I don’t see it listed in the ingredients. How much do I need?
Sorry, that’s been fixed. Thanks for letting me know. You only need baking soda.
This looks so lovely! Im thinking of making them for my annual Christmas treat box. Do you think they will package and travel well? Is there any way to make the filling less ‘flowy’?
You could try reducing some of the thinner ingredients to try and thicken it, but they may be hard to ship, if that’s what you’re looking for. I do have a new cookie being posted next week that’s kind of like a little mini pecan pie. They are really good! You could consider those too.
I made these last night and they are delicious! I made the miniature version in the cupcake pan and baking them for 12 minutes was perfect. Can’t wait to share them at our neighborhood get together
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed them!