‘The Pioneer Woman’: Ree Drummond’s Mini Pecan Pie Recipe Uses an Easy Shortcut Ingredient

Ree Drummond uses an easy store-bought shortcut to make her adorable mini pecan pie recipe. It’s a perfect comfort food dessert that’s portable, not fussy, and so delicious.

Ree Drummond makes an easy mini pecan pie recipe

Drummond made the shortcut mini pecan pie recipe during an episode of The Pioneer Woman as part of a sack lunch she delivered to the hard workers fixing fences on the ranch.

“I would never dream of hauling a whole pecan pie out on a hot day like this but these mini ones are just right,” she said.

Drummond stirred together sugar, brown sugar, and salt in a bowl. “Pecan pie happens to be a favorite of pretty much every Drummond I know,” she shared. “But it used to be limited to holiday meals. Now we love pecan pie so much we make it year-round.”

She added, “And these little small ones are just perfect. They’re so cute and really easy to eat with your hands which is important when I’m taking food out while they’re working.”

The Food Network host added corn syrup and maple syrup to the bowl and stirred everything together. “The signature quality of pecan pie is just the sticky sweetness,” she noted. “I don’t even care about the pecans on top. I just like the filling — it is so amazing.”

The Pioneer Woman star also added melted butter, eggs, and vanilla.

‘The Pioneer Woman’ star adds a boozy ingredient and uses a quick shortcut

Drummond added a surprising ingredient to her dessert. “Pecan pie is just so simple. It’s just wholesome,” she said. “Well, it’s supposed to be wholesome. I’m going to add a little whiskey though. I can’t help myself. I have really found that you can add just a little splash of whiskey or bourbon to pecan pie and it doesn’t really mess up the filling at all.”

She noted, “Really just want to add a couple splashes though. I have been known to have a heavy hand when adding booze to desserts.”

Drummond chopped pecans for the dessert and used an easy shortcut ingredient. “This is not like Thanksgiving where I spend lots of time making a totally handcrafted pie,” she explained. “I’m gonna cheat and use little frozen store-bought pie crusts.”

She allowed the crusts to thaw, then sprinkled chopped nuts in the bottom of each, poured in the filling, and topped each pie with a pecan half. Drummond baked the pies in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.

Ree Drummond once shared her secret to perfect pecan pie

Drummond shared an easy tip for the best pecan pie in a 2010 blog post on The Pioneer Woman website. “One of the things I’ve always done with my pecan pies is finely chop the pecans,” she wrote. “This could be considered a sacrilege to those who love the appearance of toasted pecan halves all over the top. But pecan halves bug me!”

The smaller pecan pieces, she said, make all the difference. “When you cut into the pie, it’s hard to get nice, even, neat pieces because the big, bulky pecan halves get pushed into the perfect filling,” Drummond explained. “I’ve found that chopping the pecans makes such a difference and results in a nice, crunchy pie with flavor that’ll rock your world.”