Mini Pecan Pies Recipe

mini pecan pies in a blue pottery dish with more in the background

4.75 from 4 votes

Pecan pies in mini size are easy to make, plus they keep and travel well. These are the perfect ‘bring a plate’ dessert for Thanksgiving (or any party!), just watch them disappear off the table!

Prep Time40

Cook Time15

Chilling Time30

Total Time1 25

Course: Afternoon Tea, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: mini pecan pie, mini pecan pies recipe, pecan pie, pecan pie mini

Servings:

Calories: 144kcal

Ingredients

For the pastry

4 oz cream cheese cold and cubed
4 oz unsalted butter cold and cubed
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour plain flour
¼ tsp salt

For the filling

2 large eggs
¾ cup brown sugar firmly packed (I use dark brown sugar, light is fine)
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp bourbon whiskey optional
1 cup pecan nuts roughly chopped

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the pastry

Put the cream cheese, butter, flour and salt into a food processor and process just until it forms a mass. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a couple of times just to bring the dough together.
4 oz cream cheese, 4 oz unsalted butter, 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, ¼ tsp salt
Split the pastry dough in half and form each piece into a log about 1½-2” (4-5cm) in diameter. Wrap in wax paper or cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Make the filling

While the pastry is chilling, make the filling. Put the eggs, sugar, spices, salt and bourbon into a bowl and whisk well with a fork to combine. You need the eggs to break up as much as possible; the mixture should be shiny and smooth. Set aside.
2 large eggs, ¾ cup brown sugar, ½ tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground ginger, ¼ tsp ground cloves, ¼ tsp salt, 2 tsp bourbon whiskey

Assemble and bake the pies

For conventional oven baking, preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. For steam oven baking, preheat oven to Combi Steam, 350°F/180°C, 30% (low) humidity. Lightly grease two 12-hole patty pan trays or muffin trays.
Remove the pastry from the fridge and slice each log into 12 thin discs. Press a disc into each hole of your patty pan or muffin pans, squashing and manipulating it to make an even-thickness pastry base. In muffin pans the pastry will only come ½-¾” (1½ -2cm) up the sides of each hole, not all the way up. If you're using muffin pans, make sure you press the dough well into the corners to ensure they cook properly. This is a fairly forgiving pastry, so if there are any small holes or tears, just squash it back together to make a smooth surface.
Divide the chopped pecans evenly between the pastry lined holes. Give the filling a final quick stir to make sure it’s mixed properly, then carefully spoon it over the pecans so it comes almost to the top of each piece of pastry. It’s worth taking your time with this step – if you overfill the pastry so the filling leaks over the edges it can be hard to remove the cooked pies later.
1 cup pecan nuts
Bake the pies until the pastry is golden and the filling puffed (it’ll sink down again once you remove the pies from the oven, which is fine). In a conventional oven this will take about 15 minutes; in a steam oven it will be about 12 minutes. Cool the pies to warm in the trays, then turn out and serve warm or at room temperature. If any pies are stuck in the baking tray, a thin bladed knife, very gently run around the edges, should be enough to loosen them.
Mini pecan pies will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container at room temperature. They freeze well for several weeks, just defrost at room temperature for a couple of hours. If you want to refresh the pies and serve them warm, reheat at 320°F/160°C for 6-8 minutes, or in your steam oven using Combi Steam, 320°F/160°C, 30% (low) humidity for 4-5 minutes.

Notes

Quantities. This recipe is easily doubled. In fact I always make double the amount of pastry to use up a full brick of cream cheese. If I don’t need that many pies I just form the extra pastry into logs, wrap well and freeze for up to a couple of months. Having the pastry already on hand makes another batch of pies incredibly fast to put together.
Patty pans for baking. I use these patty pan trays for my pecan pies, mini quiche and and fruit mince pies. They get a lot of use in my house so they were worth the investment! You could also use shallow mince pie pans. If you don't have either of these, you can use regular muffin pans, just don't press the pastry all the way up the sides. You're making small, shallow pies rather than deep-filled ones.
Soft pastry. If you’re in a hot climate and the pastry becomes too soft to work with when you're pressing it into the pans, just put the whole lot in the fridge for 5-10 minutes then try again.
Variations. These little pecan pies are adaptable in all kinds of ways! Use a mix of different chopped nuts if you want a change from just pecans. Turn them into pecan and date pies by reducing the pecans and using chopped dates instead (I go for 2/3 pecans and 1/3 dates or the pies get too sweet). Or make my chocolate pecan pies recipe with chocolate chips in the filling.

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