45 Pecan Desserts Perfect For Fall

Our favorite cookies, cakes, pies, and more!

By

Updated on August 29, 2024

Southern Living Inez's Sand Tarts — Photo:
Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Rishon Hanners; Prop Stylist: Christina Daley

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Southerners are crazy for pecans. The pecan is the South's signature nut, and we sneak it into lots of sweet and savory recipes. But we can't resist pecan desserts. We grew up snacking on Pecan Pralines and we know that no Thanksgiving dessert spread is complete without a classic Pecan Pie. After all, the smell of roasting butter pecans is the signature scent of Southern holidays.

We've compiled our favorite classic and inventive pecan desserts to spice up your holiday table this year.

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Butter Pecan Scones

Southern Living Butter Pecan Scones ready to serve on a serving board — Victor Protasio, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Christine Keely

Sweet, buttery, and warm, these scones are the perfect way to start your morning. Butter pecans are suspended throughout the flaky pastry and sprinkled over top for a sweet and salty treat, with cinnamon in the dough and maple syrup in the glaze for an extra warm flavor.

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Praline-Pecan French Toast

Southern Living's Praline Pecan French Toast on a platter — Robby Lozano; Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall

Spice up your typical French toast recipe by trying this praline-pecan version. The nutty and warm flavor comes out beautifully and makes a crowd pleaser for any breakfast.

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Pecan Pie Brownies

Pecan Pie Bars — Molly Bolton/Southern Living

Two of the best, richest desserts just mixed together to make these delicious pecan pie brownies. If you love the fudgy texture of brownies and the nutty taste of pecan pie, these should be next on your list.

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Pecan Pie Bars

Pecan Pie Bars — Hannah Zimmerman

If you're craving a pecan pie but don't want to go through all of the effort, these pecan pie bars are the perfect way to get your fix.

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Possum Pie

Southern Living Possum Pie in the dish ready to serve — Greg Dupree, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless

Possum? In a pie? Just kidding. This pecan-topped chocolate and whipped cream delight is entirely meat free.

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Aunt Inez's Sand Tarts

Southern Living Inez's Sand Tarts — Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Rishon Hanners; Prop Stylist: Christina Daley

These incredibly buttery, crumbly cookies are packed with loads of toasty pecans.

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Party Coffee Cake

Southern Living Party Coffee Cake in a baking dish cut and ready to serve — Victor Protasio, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Christine Keely

From Anita Estroff’s Rosh Hashanah menu, this crumbly, nutty coffee cake is the perfect dessert to bring to any gathering. The pecans on the top are toasted and add a nice crunch.

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Pecan Spinwheel Bread Pudding

Southern Living Pecan Spinwheels Bread Pudding finished recipe in a dish ready to serve. — Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox

It's safe to say that almost everyone in the South has enjoyed a Little Debbie treat, and this bread pudding recipe uses Pecan Spinwheels to replace bread for a sweet, nutty flavor.

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Chocolate Pecan Chess Pie

Chocolate-Pecan Chess Pie — Photographer: James Ransom; Prop Stylist: Christine Keely; Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn

These two classic Southern pies are combined to make a gooey, sweet, and rich dessert. The nuttiness from the pecan pie mixes with the custard base of the chess pie make for a delicious treat perfect for the holidays.

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Pumpkin Pecan Coffee Cake

Pumpkin-Pecan Coffee Cake — Photographer Victor Protasio, Food Stylist Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist Christine Keely

A great back-pocket recipe, this pumpkin coffee cake uses the same batter as our seeded pumpkin bread. But here, instead of loaf pans, you'll turn the batter into a crowd-serving coffee cake. And, in place of seeds, this coffee cake is finished with a sugary crumb topping.

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Fresh Fig, Pecan, And Orange Crostata

Southern Living Fresh Fig, Pecan, And Orange Crostata — Antonis Achilleos, Prop Stylist: Christine Keely, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn

This stunning dessert is easy to whip up and sure to impress your guests. The crostata is similar to a galette and is made using store-bought dough to keep it easy and accessible.

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Bourbon-Pecan Brown Sugar Fudge

Bourbon-pecan brown sugar fudge — Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn; Prop Stylist: Christine Keely

If you're looking for the perfect Fall fudge, this recipe should be on your list. With flavors of brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, and pumpkin spice, this fudge recipe is unique and delicious.

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Homemade Turtles

Southern Living Homemade Turtles ready to serve — Antonis Achilleos, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Christina Daley

Though it may sound scary to make your own candy, these homemade turtles use simple ingredients and equipment.

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Pecan Kisses

Pecan Kisses — Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Missie Neville Crawford

If you already have pecans on hand, you're likely all ready to make this pecan kiss recipe. These nutty cookies come to together with just four ingredients and are perfect for a last minute dessert.

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Butter Pecan Layer Cake with Browned Butter Frosting

Butter Pecan Layer Cake with Browned Butter Frosting — Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Switch up your holiday cake rotation with this dreamy three-layer cake. A tip from the test kitchen: When browning the butter for the frosting, pour the butter into a bowl as soon as it turns golden brown, or it will continue to cook and get too dark.

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Flourless Pecan-Chocolate Cake

Flourless Pecan-Chocolate Cake — Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Toasted pecans add a nice crunch to this smooth chocolate cake.

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Butter Toffee-Pecan Layer Cake

Butter Toffee-Pecan Layer Cake — Greg DuPree

The inviting swirls of brown butter toffee frosting topping this cake are so inviting, you'll have to resist the temptation to cut into the cake before the party guests arrive.

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Buttermilk-Pecan Pralines

buttermilk pecan pralines — Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer

Make a batch of these indulgent candies and they'll have disappeared by the end of the weekend.

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Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies — Jennifer Causey

Brown butter and pecans add new dimension to the classic chocolate chip cookie in this indulgent recipe.

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Pecan Tassies

Pecan Tassies — Micah A. Leal

A cross between a cookie and a slice of pecan pie, these cute-as-a-button tassies will be the star of the holiday cookie swap.

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Double-Decker Pecan Cheesecake Pie

Double-Decker Pecan Cheesecake Pie Recipe Image — Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Torie Cox

This pretty dessert combines the flavors of pecan pie and cheesecake into one slice. Plus, it takes just 20 minutes of hands-on time to pull together.

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Salted Butter-Pecan Shortbread Cookies

Salted Butter-Pecan Shortbread Cookies — Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

The dough for these cookies can be made up to two days in advance and stored in the refrigerator until baked.

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Pecan Pie

Best Pecan Pie — Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Torie Cox

You can't go wrong with the classics. If you really want to impress at Thanksgiving this year, bring this perfect pecan pie.

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Caramel Pecan Tart

Caramel Pecan Tart on a blue background — Will Dickey

A pecan pie is an incredibly easy pecan dessert, but this tart is even easier, if you can imagine it. A simple caramel is cooked up and poured into a tart shell. It solidifies while baking and cooling so it's easy to dish up whether you're at a potluck or holiday gathering.

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Kentucky Bourbon Pie

Kentucky Bourbon Pie — Antonis Achilleos

Make Derby day every day with this decadent pie that combines chocolate, bourbon, and pecans.

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Pumpkin-Spice Bundt with Brown Sugar Icing and Candied Pecans

Pumpkin-Spice Bundt with Brown Sugar Icing and Candied Pecans — Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

This Bundt cake has all the flavors of fall, and it's picture-perfect for a Thanksgiving dessert spread. A tip from the test kitchen: For the smoothest texture and most impressive presentation, make sure the icing is still warm when you spoon it over the cake.

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Mama's German Chocolate Cake with Coconut-Pecan Frosting

German Chocolate Cake — Southern Living

You'll be requesting this indulgent layered chocolate cake every year for your birthday.

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Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie

Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie — Jennifer Davick

Once you've made a pecan pie in a cast-iron skillet, you may never go back to a pie plate. Simply press a refrigerated pie crust into the skillet, sprinkle with sugar, top with the pecan mixture, and bake. Serving it in the skillet is also easy and makes the dish even more Southern.

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Pecan Pie Cake with Browned Butter Frosting

Pecan Pie Cake — Photographer: Antonis Achilleos, Prop Stylist: Kay Clarke Food Stylist: Rishon Hanners

This dessert starts with pecan pie cake layers that are filled with pecan pie filling and then covered with a browned butter frosting.

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Georgia Pecan Mist Cake

Georgia Pecan Mist Cake — Alison Miksch; Food Styling: Erin Merhar; Prop Styling: Prissy Lee

You may be surprised to see the short ingredient list for this recipe, but trust us, that's all you need to whip together this pecan dessert.

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Slow-Cooker Cinnamon Roll Casserole

Crock Pot Cinnamon Roll Casserole — Caitlin Bensel

Once you've put pecans in your cinnamon rolls, you'll never go back to the plain kind.

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Butter Pecan Cheesecake

Butter Pecan Cheescake — Photo: Alison Miksch, prop styling: Prissy Lee, food styling: Erin Merhar

You'll find pecans in the crust and topping of this cheesecake.

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Pecan Pie Bread Pudding

Pecan Pie Bread Pudding

While this dish is made to be a dessert, we also think it's great to enjoy for breakfast alongside a cup of coffee.

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Pecan Snowball Cookies

Pecan Snowball Cookies — Micah A. Leal

Rolled in powdered sugar, these Pecan Snowball Cookies look like they've been coated with a fresh dusting of snow.

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Spiced Pecan Pie Bars

Spiced Pecan Pie Bars — Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer

If you're preparing Thanksgiving for a crowd, swap out the Pecan Pie for these portable, pre-portioned Pecan Pie Bars.

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Hummingbird Bundt Cake

Hummingbird Bundt Cake — Jennifer Davick

No Southern dessert spread is complete without some variation of the Hummingbird cake, and this one is in Bundt form.

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Seven-Layer Cookies

Seven-Layer Cookies — Southern Living

Graham crackers, coconut, pecans, chocolate, and butterscotch all mingle together in these decadent vintage cookies.

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Peach Crisp

Peach Crisp — Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Karen Rankin; Prop Stylist: Claire Spollen

A crisp peach crumble is the effortless dessert of the summer, and pecans add new dimension to this carefree treat.

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The Ultimate Carrot Cake

Ultimate Carrot Cake — Alison Miksch

This carrot cake's thick layers and sweet-and-savory brown sugar-cream cheese frosting earn it high praise. Top with candied carrot curls for extra flair.

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Fudgy Flourless Chocolate-Pecan Cookies

Fudgy Flourless Chocolate-Pecan Cookies Recipe — Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

These crisp-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside cookies are so much richer than their short ingredient list lets off.

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Candied Pumpkin Spice Pecans

Candied Pumpkin Spice Pecans — Greg Dupree; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Whether you use these candied pecans to top a cake or enjoy them on their own, they'll pack plenty of fall flavor into every bite.

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Pecan Pie Cobbler

Pecan Pie Cobbler — Micah A. Leal

Two classic dishes come together in one skillet for a decadent dessert.

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Mini Pecan Pies

Mini Pecan Pies — Lee Harrelson; Styling: Jan Gautro, Laura Zapalowski

The spirit of Thanksgiving distilled into tiny bite-sized pie crusts.

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Millionaire Pie

Millionaire Pie — Micah A. Leal

This pink pie will be the belle of the ball at your next potluck.

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Pig Pickin' Cake

Pig Pickin' Cake — Southern Living

There's no better way to finish off a Southern Pig Pickin' or cookout than with this signature cake.

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