Best Pecan Cream Pie

This is the best recipe for Pecan Cream Pie! It's a no-bake fluffy, creamy pecan pie made with cream cheese, cheesecake pudding, Cool Whip and lots of crunchy, buttery pecans. No need to buy expensive maple syrup. Dark brown sugar and vanilla adds that rich flavor you look for in a butter pecan cream pie in a graham cracker crust.

Thank you to my friends at Whaley Pecan Company for sponsoring this post.

Add this shortcut recipe to the top of your list of easy cream pie recipes!

You can also make it with a pre-baked frozen pie crust, homemade graham cracker crust or use your favorite homemade pie crust.

I'm a huge fan of traditional pecan pie with its ooey gooey center. But this creamy, no-bake version of pecan pie that tastes like butter pecan ice cream has earned its place on my Thanksgiving dessert table!

Dress it up

For this recipe for pecan cream pie, I used a store bought graham cracker crust. To dress it up, I placed it inside one of my favorite ceramic pie plates. At first glance, it looks like it is a homemade cream pie all the way instead of a halfway-homemade pie!

Another way to dress up this pie is to dollop the remaining Cool Whip or whipped cream on top of the pie and place a whole pecan in each of the dollops.

Why is this the best pecan cream pie recipe?

• It's the creamiest! Instead of two packages of cream cheese, I traded out one package for a more creamy, cheesecake-flavor pudding.
• No expensive maple syrup to buy. Dark brown sugar is cheaper and readily available.
• I give you step by step pictures to walk you through the easy recipe.
• It fits in a 6 ounce (9-inch) graham cracker crust. The larger graham cracker crusts are harder to find.

Shortcuts

• Graham cracker crust- These premade pie crusts are easy to find and inexpensive.
• Pre-chopped pecans- Whaley Pecan Company has pecans chopped (called pieces) in EVERY size you could want. From almost-ground pecans (pecan meal) to small, medium, large, and mammoth-size pieces.
• Cool Whip - I love the extra creaminess of the Extra Creamy Cool Whip, but regular Cool Whip is perfectly fine. I do NOT recommend using the aerosol Redi Wip. It deflates quickly. (I also give you directions for making your own sweetened real whipped cream.)
• Instant pudding mix- In 2 minutes, you have delicious pudding. Homemade pudding will work, but takes at least 15 minutes to cook, then an hour to cool completely.

Ingredients

What you will need to make this butter pecan cream pie recipe.

Scroll down to printable recipe for exact ingredient quantities.

• Graham cracker pie crust or 9-inch pre-baked pie crust
• Cheesecake, white chocolate or vanilla instant pudding mix + milk
• Cream cheese
• Dark brown or light brown sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Chopped pecans + a few whole pecans for garnish - I love to use Whaley Pecan Company pecans from Troy, Alabama because I know they are always fresh.
• Cool Whip ( I prefer the Extra Creamy for this recipe) 3 cups of sweetened whipped cream can also be used.

How to make Pecan Cream Pie

Here are step by step pictures with lots of options to make it plain and simple or to gild the lily with a garnish!

Scroll down to the bottom for the printable recipe with detailed instructions.

First, remove the plastic lid from the store bought graham cracker crust. I like to place a store bought crust inside a pie plate.

If making a homemade crust make and cool it now.

Pie filling

This creamy pecan pie filling for no-bake pecan cream pie can also be made with white chocolate or vanilla pudding mix.

• Whisk together pudding mix and milk 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Chill while preparing the filling to thicken.

Pro tip: No need to wait for hours for cream cheese to come to room temperature! Microwave the block of cream cheese straight from the fridge for 10 seconds on HIGH in a microwave-safe mixing bowl. Flip over the cream cheese and microwave 10 more seconds. Voila! Room temperature cream cheese.

• Beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy with a hand mixer.

• Add brown sugar and vanilla and beat until well blended.
• Add chilled, thickened pudding and 1 cup of the pecans. Stir or mix on low speed just until combined.

• Gently fold HALF of the Cool Whip ( 1 ½ cups sweetened whipped cream) into the pecan filling mixture.
• Spoon the pie filling into your graham cracker pie crust. Spread the remaining HALF of Cool Whip over the top of the filling and sprinkle with the remaining ⅓ cup of chopped pecans. Chill until firm.

Tip: To make it a real-cream pecan pie, whip 1 ½ cups of heavy whipped cream plus ⅓ cup sugar to stiff peaks in place of the Cool Whip.

Optional garnish

To gild the lily, instead of spreading the Cool Whip all over the top, dollop the remaining half on the edges of the pie and place whole pecans in the dollops. You can also use additional Cool Whip on top of the sprinkled pecans for dollops.

Tip: Pies typically serve eight people, but this one is so rich, it can serve 10 smaller servings, if you like.

Now, THAT is one gorgeous pie! Yum! My husband ate two pieces when I was testing this recipe. He called it quality control.

Have you ever made a traditional pecan pie in an iron skillet? Here's my easy recipe for Cast Iron Skillet Pecan Pie.

Just look at that cream cheese pecan goodness! You will be the hit of every dinner you take this to and you didn't even have to turn on the oven.

Substitutions & Variations

Trade "this" for "that" in this easy pecan cream pie recipe.

Drizzle my Easy Pecan Praline Sauce over the top of each slice for another way to gild the lily!

• Different flavors instant pudding mix - White chocolate, vanilla, and French vanilla instant pudding mix can also be used. Keep in mind French vanilla and some brands of vanilla instant pudding can be a little on the yellow side of the color wheel.
• Cream Pecan Pie- It's easy to make your own sweetened whipped cream to replace Cool Whip for this easy creampie. Beat together 1 cup heavy whipping cream and 3 tablespoons powdered sugar with an electric hand mixer just until stiff peaks form.
• Keto-friendly (-ish) pecan cream pie - To reduce carbs, skip the crust altogether and spoon the cream pie filling into a 9-inch pie plate. To lower the grams of sugar, use fat-free or reduced calorie Cool Whip. You can also use the tip above to make your own whipped cream and omit the powdered sugar.
• Mini Cream Pie recipe - Love easy mini pie recipes? Spoon the creamy pecan pie filling into 12 mini graham cracker pie crusts to make individual cream pies.

If you love individual size (mini) pie recipes, try my Mini S'Mores Pies.

Helpful Information

What to serve with this no bake cream cheese pecan pie

This easy pie recipe is very rich so I recommend serving it grilled chicken in the summer. If serving it for Thanksgiving and Christmas during the holidays, then by all means, serve it with turkey and ham!

• Instant Pot Bone-In Ham with Pepper Jelly Glaze
• Grilled Spatchcocked Turkey
• Instant Pot Bone-In Turkey Breast and Gravy

How to store

I'm always taking pie and cake to potlucks. I have a favorite Tupperware cake carrier, for pies, my favorite is this Oxo glass pie plate and vented lid. The store bought graham cracker crust fits nicely inside the glass pie plate to chill in the fridge.

You can also cover loosely with aluminum foil.

Did you know the plastic lid that keeps the graham cracker crust from breaking in the store is actually a storage lid when inverted!

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If you make this recipe I'd love to see it! Tag me on social media with #gritsandgouda or @gritsandgouda. Leave a comment below the printable recipe if you have questions or tell me how you liked the recipe. Don't forget to rate it 5 stars if you love it!

Best Pecan Cream Pie

Kathleen Phillips: GritsAndGouda.com

This is the best recipe for Pecan Cream Pie! It's a no-bake fluffy, creamy pecan pie made with cream cheese, cheesecake pudding, Cool Whip and lots of crunchy, buttery pecans. No need to buy expensive maple syrup. Dark brown sugar and vanilla adds that rich flavor you look for in a butter pecan cream pie in a graham cracker crust.

5 from 9 votes

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Prep Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 12 minutes mins

Servings 8 servings

Equipment

• Hand mixer

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

  

½1x2x3x

• 1 (6-ounce) store bought graham cracker pie crust* (or baked 9-inch pie pastry crust)
• 1 (3.4-ounce) package cheesecake, white chocolate, or vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 ½ cups milk (this is less than pudding package directions) (whole or 2% works best)
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened (see Notes for softening tip)
• ½ cup dark brown or light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 8-ounce container Cool Whip, divided (I prefer Extra Creamy Cool Whip for this recipe)
• 1 ⅓ cups toasted and cooled chopped pecans, divided (See Notes for How to Toast pecans)
• Garnish: 8 whole pecans (Optional)

Instructions

 

• Remove the lid from the store bought graham cracker crust but save it to invert and cover the pie when it's finished.
• Whisk together the pudding mix and milk in a medium size bowl. Using a hand mixer at medium speed or a large whisk, beat the pudding mixture 2 minutes or until thickened. Place in the refrigerator to completely set up while preparing the rest of the pie filling.
• Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth and creamy. Add brown sugar and vanilla and beat 1 minute or until brown sugar is thoroughly blended.
• Stir in the chilled, thickened pudding and 1 cup of the toasted pecans.
• Gently fold in HALF of the Cool Whip until no white streaks show. Spoon the pecan cream pie filling into pie crust. Sprinkle with the remaining chopped pecans.
• Dollop remaining Cool Whip in the center of the pie or dollop around the edges of the pie. If you like, you can gild the lily by garnishing with whole pecans. Chill loosely covered 2 hours or until firm.

Notes

*The store bought graham cracker crusts (Keebler) come in two sizes. I recommend the larger one for this pie but they will both work the smaller one will just make a "mile-high" pie. It's confusing because both the 9" and 10" Keebler crusts are 6 ounces! You can also make a homemade pie crust or graham cracker crust in a regular 9-inch pie plate (not the aluminum pans-too small) and that will work.

Pro tip: No need to wait for hours for cream cheese to come to room temperature! Microwave the block of cream cheese straight from the fridge for 10 seconds on HIGH in a microwave-safe mixing bowl. Flip over the cream cheese and microwave 10 more seconds. Voila! Room temperature cream cheese.

How to toast pecans in air fryer and oven: Air Fryer: For the basket style air fryer, remove the rack and place the chopped pecans in the bottom. Air fry at 360F degrees for 2 minutes; shake well. Air fry an additional 1 minute.
Oven: Place chopped pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 5 minutes. Stir well and bake an additional 1 minute.

Substitute for Cool Whip:

Making your own sweetened whipped cream is an excellent substitute for Cool Whip.

An 8 ounce container of Cool Whip has about 3 cups in it. So, you would combine 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream and about ⅓ cup granulated sugar in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer just until stiff peaks are formed. That will give you 3 cups! Be careful not to overbeat the whipped cream. It goes from creamy to curdled quickly once it gets to stiff peaks.

Nutrition

Serving: 1eighth sliceCalories: 555kcal

Did you make this recipe?If you love it, share it! Comment below before you go!

Nutrition analysis on GritsAndGouda.com recipes are mostly calculated on an online nutrition calculator. I am not a dietitian and nutritional information is an estimate and can vary based on products used.