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.
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 1eighth slice
Equipment
Ingredients
- 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:
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.
