During the four weeks leading up to Thanksgiving last year, I tested my recipe for the ultimate healthy pumpkin pie countless times, tweaking ingredients and instructions and baking times until it was finally perfect. With so many iterations, my fridge held three different full-sized pies at one point, each slightly different, and the entire kitchen smelled like pumpkin pie whenever someone opened the refrigerator door!
By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, my family felt a little overwhelmed by the thought of baking even more pies to serve at our small five-person feast (even though those desserts always disappear at least four days before the rest of the leftovers!). Because Mom and I refused to completely give up pie, we settled on a compromise the afternoon before.
With the majority of the best and final pumpkin pie still sitting in the fridge, we decided to mix up just a third of our traditional pecan pie filling recipe (Mom’s Thanksgiving favorite!) and bake it in my mini pie plates without a crust. While the turkey rested the following day, we planned to quickly whip up a small batch of buttery pie dough, roll it out, cut it into strips, and pop it in the oven on a baking sheet to serve alongside the crustless pecan pie.
However, we hit one tiny snag on Thursday afternoon while Dad and I worked on prepping the stuffing, whole wheat rolls, sweet potato casserole, and easy roasted Brussels sprouts. Mom decided to taste a tiny spoonful of one mini pecan pie for quality control, just to double check that we did the math correctly when dividing the ingredient amounts… Which turned into another… And another… And another… And a few tastes for Dad as well…
By the time Dad pulled the turkey off of the grill, only one of the three tiny pecan pies remained!
So just in case anyone gets the same idea this year, I planned ahead and created the recipe for these Pecan Pie Thumbprint Cookies for my family to nibble on instead! They have the same sweet, cozy flavors as pecan pie, but they’re perfectly portioned and so much easier to make. And with only 50 calories with no butter, refined flour or sugar, they’re basically guilt-free too!
Because I’m sure you’re already a master cookie maker and already know how to whip up cookie dough, let’s just go over a few quick things! We’ll start with two key ingredients. Instead of all-purpose flour, you’ll use white whole wheat flour. It’s made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat, which gives it a lighter taste and texture that’s very similar to all-purpose flour. However, white whole wheat flour still has the same health benefits as regular whole wheat flour (like extra fiber!), which comes from a heartier variety of red wheat.
Instead of refined sugar, you’ll use coconut sugar in these cookies. Coconut sugar is exactly what it sounds like: sweetener that comes from coconuts! However, it doesn’t actually taste like coconuts. It has a rich, caramel-like flavor very similar to brown sugar, and it has the same pourable consistency as granulated sugar. Many mainstream grocery stores have started to stock it right next to the regular sugar on their baking aisles, and you can also buy it online.
If you remember to measure the flour correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale, then the cookie dough will be very wet when you first mix it up. Therefore, chilling is mandatory! This stiffens and thickens the cookie dough so it’s not quite so gooey when you drop it into the baking sheet.
However, it will still be slightly sticky, so use a spoon and spatula to drop dollops onto the silicone baking mat. To make those mounds round and make a well in the center, moisten your fingers with just a tiny bit of water to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands.
Time to add the filling! It’s super simple: just finely diced pecans and pure maple syrup. I used a tiny dessert spoon and my favorite mini spatula to fill each well. You’ll want to gently press down the filling with the spatula just before baking since it doesn’t spread and completely holds its shape in the oven.
But just a few minutes later…
Time to eat your delicious treats! And if you’re like my parents… They said these tasted exactly like pecan pie—if not even better!—and finished off the cookies I gave them in the blink of an eye. We may need a double batch on Thanksgiving after all! ?
And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your cookies and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Pecan Pie Thumbprint Cookies | | Print |
- 1 cup (120g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (96g) coconut sugar
- ¼ cup (28g) finely diced pecans
- 1 ½ tsp pure maple syrup
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the coconut sugar. Add in the flour mixture, stirring until incorporated. Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- To prepare the filling, stir together the pecans and maple syrup in a small bowl.
- Roll the cookie dough into 24 small spheres, and place them on the prepared baking sheet. (If it’s still sticky, use a spoon and spatula to drop the cookie dough into 24 rounded scoops instead. Moisten your fingers with a tiny amount of water, and gently shape into rounded mounds.) Using your index finger or thumb, make an indentation in the center of each, and fill with the pecan mixture. (If the dough is still sticky, moisten your finger with a tiny amount of water first.) Gently press the pecan filling into each well with a spatula. Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.
The cornstarch helps keep the cookies soft.
Brown sugar or granulated sugar may be substituted for the coconut sugar.
It’s important to dice the pecans very finely, no larger than half the size of mini chocolate chips, so that the filling fits into each cookie dough’s well and can be gently down to fit together with a spatula.
Honey or agave may be substituted for the pure maple syrup.
I used my tiny dessert spoons and my favorite mini spatula to fill each well. You’ll want to gently press down the filling with the spatula just before baking since it doesn’t spread and completely holds its shape in the oven.
If you’re short on time (or feeling lazy!), then mix the filling into the cookie dough at the end of Step 1 instead.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
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You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Easy Pecan Hand Pies
♥ Butterscotch Pecan Tartlets
♥ 5-Minute Candied Pecans
♥ Skinny Slow Cooker Sticky Pecan Buns
♥ The Ultimate Healthy Pumpkin Pie
♥ Healthy Classic Apple Pie
♥ Cranberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies
♥ Dark Chocolate Cheesecake Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Raspberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies
♥ Peanut Butter Cheesecake Oatmeal Cookies
The fact that I already have all of these ingredients makes these cookies the PERFECT Saturday activity! 🙂 I’m usually not one for a slice of pecan pie, but you can bet I’ll have one (or three) of these cookies! 😉
It was totally meant to be Marina! They might even work as a bribe to get your group to work faster this weekend… 😉 I’m not the world’s biggest pecan pie fan, but last year at Thanksgiving, I put cocoa powder and some chocolate chips into the filling… TOTALLY life-changing!! Now I’m obsessed!
How much cocoa? How many chocolate chips? ?
I didn’t measure — oops! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try these cookies Will!
You have spoken to my heart! I love pecan pie, and even better – KY Derby pie! I usually make a KY Derby pie with bourbon whipped cream for Thanksgiving. I do not know the calorie count, but I am sure it is horrific! I have all the ingredients for these cute cookies, and will give them a try!
That sounds like an amazing Thanksgiving dessert Nadia! I’d definitely sneak a second slice of your pie (and humongous dollop of whipped cream too!). 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies!
So this is an idea I can get on board with, however, I really dislike the flavor coconut sugar lends to every recipe I’ve ever used it for. Could increasing the maple syrup and maybe adding a bit more flour to counter-balance the extra moisture be a successful sub?
I appreciate your interest in my recipe Bethany! Unfortunately, liquid sweeteners will not work as substitutes for the coconut sugar, even with extra flour. (You’d have to add so much flour that the cookies wouldn’t taste sweet anymore!) I recommend using one of the two alternatives that I provided in the Notes section instead. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies!
How much milk did you use? It wasn’t in the list of ingredients so I think I didn’t use enough. A little dry, but still good!
I accidentally left in the milk bit from a different cookie recipe’s instructions — there wasn’t supposed to be any milk in the cookie dough! I’m sorry for the confusion Lisa! If the flour was measured correctly, you shouldn’t have needed any milk because the cookie dough is incredibly wet and sticky already. I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies though! 🙂
I made these for the first time yesterday while my mom and I were doing our holiday baking – they’re such a hit! Thanks so much for the recipe – I think they’re a new favorite of mine (and maybe even my dad, who LOVES pecan pie!).
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed the cookies Rae! That means so much to me that your dad loved them when he’s such a huge fan of pecan pie — thanks for sharing that with me! 🙂
Hi Amy! I LOVE your blog! I make you recipes all the time! I just made this recipe for the second time. And both times, the dough came out incredibly dry. (It still tastes good, just doesn’t look or feel like I think they should.) I followed the recipe super strictly. When I went to roll the dough, it was SO crumbly it wouldn’t roll. I added a bit of water to the dough, and that allowed me to roll it and flatten it, but it definitely doesn’t look as smooth as they should, and they cracked a bit in the process. Any idea where I’m going wrong?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipes Erin! Let’s get this sorted out. 🙂 How did you measure the flour? Did you use a kitchen scale, or did you scoop it directly from the container with the measuring cups? Also, how did you measure the coconut sugar? Or did you substitute something else for it? (I like to double check, just in case!)
These cookies were sooooo good ? My fiancé is really picky when it comes to pecan pie, but he loved them.
I also loved how quick and easy they were to make and with so few ingredients. Will definitely make them again soon?
Katja x
If your fiancé approved of these, then that’s the biggest compliment I could ask for! Thanks for sharing that with me Katja — I’m so glad you both loved these cookies!! 🙂
Help. Trying to make these cookies. Substituted whole wheat flour, spooned flour into measuring cup then sifted. Accidental put sugar 1/2 brown, 1/2 white after the flour. Very crumbly. Can I fix the mixture?
Thanks.
Gloria
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Gloria! Unfortunately, the order of ingredient additions is fairly critical in baking recipes — as you just discovered! You can try adding milk until the dough comes together, but from my personal experience, it’s better to just start over. (Trust me, I’ve gotten distracted and done that too many times to count!) 😉 I’d love to hear what you think of these cookies if you decide to retry them!
Thank you for the reply. I went and tried best I could to form spheres from the mixture I had. Final product did not spread so came out as dense granola type balls. Will try again when I buy more flour.
My pleasure, Gloria! I hope your next batch turns out much better! 🙂
These cookies look delicious! However I do have a question. I’ve loved the flavor of everything I make from your site, but they always seem to have a gummy, dense texture. Is that from the cornstarch? If so, would the cookies work just as well without it?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipes Catherine! Typically, dense and gummy textures are caused by overmixing, not by cornstarch. Are you using an electric or hand mixer to make the cookie dough, or are you using a whisk and spoon / fork like the instructions direct? Does that texture happen only with cookies or with every recipe (muffins, scones, cakes, etc)? We’ll get this sorted out! 🙂
I generally use a fork to mix recipes; I find it much easier than having to clean a mixer! (: So far the gummy texture has occurred in every one of your recipes, but I suppose it could be from overmixing. What is the cornstarch used for in the recipe- and is it possible to make it without that ingredient? Just to be safe!
Thanks for the info Catherine! I actually covered the role of the cornstarch in the Notes section underneath the Instructions. I know it can be easy to miss! 😉 If the gummy texture is occurring in every recipe (cookies, muffins, cakes, etc), then my guess is that it has to do with the mixing method. Do you use a spoon, fork, whisk, or something else? You may omit the cornstarch, but since not every one of my recipes contains cornstarch (only less than half of my cookie recipes!), I doubt that’s the culprit. 🙂
Hi dear Amy, thanks for your unique recepies.
I have made these cookies four times and follow all the the mesuring tips, but my cookies spread a lot in the oven and they came like chocoloate chip cookies, what should i do to keep the thumbprint shape?
I bake your recepies every week and all of them are super great and easy and veryyyyy deliciuos. Thanks again
Oh my goodness Ayda — I’m SO honored that you bake my recipes every week!! That truly means the world to me. My heart is about to burst right now!! ♡
If these particular cookies keep spreading that much while baking, then first try reducing the butter to ½ tablespoon (7g), and if they still spread too much, then omit the egg yolk as well. The other things you can do are increase the flour by 2-4 tablespoons (15-30g) or decrease the sugar by 1-2 tablespoons (12-24g). The goal is to increase the flour to “wet” ingredients ratio, which should prevent spreading, and we can do that by either reducing the wet ingredients (butter, egg, and sugar!) or increasing the flour. Or both!
Does all of that make sense? 🙂
Hi,
Thanks a lot dearvAmy, I will try it one by one and tell you the result. This is one of my favorite cookies and I really want to correct the shape. ????????
It’s my pleasure Ayda! I’m always happy to help! 🙂 I’m so excited to hear how each batch turns out! As an ex-chemist, baking experiments like this make my heart so happy! 😉 ????