Recipes with pecans

These bars made of vanilla wafers, chocolate chips, coconut and pecans are a great snack for dessert or when on the move.

German chocolate cake using yellow cake mix doctored with melted German sweet chocolate, pudding mix, and buttermilk. Three layers stacked with classic cooked coconut-pecan filling between. The bakery-quality version of a backyard birthday classic.

Homemade empanadas filled with spiced pumpkin, pecans, and raisins, sealed with a fork crimp and brushed with egg wash and cinnamon sugar. Golden, flaky, and warmly spiced.

Forget the cinnamon bun, try this scrumptious dish that you can enjoy anytime of the day.

Melt-away butter cookies with vanilla and almond extract, pressed with a cookie gun and optionally dipped in chocolate with chopped pecans. Yields 7 dozen.

Cranberry lemon bread is a quick bread studded with fresh cranberries and pecans, brightened with lemon zest in the batter and a tart lemon-sugar glaze on top. Best served the day after baking.

Southern lemon fruitcake with pecans, raisins, candied pineapple, and maraschino cherries. Light, golden, and lemon-forward, the alternative to traditional dark fruitcake.

Southern lemon pecan fruitcake with candied pineapple and cherries. A lighter, brighter alternative to dark rum fruitcake, loaded with nuts and citrus.

Southern pecan pie with a Cajun twist: a quarter cup of brandy stirred into the buttery corn syrup filling adds warm, boozy depth beneath a blanket of whole pecans. Puffy, gooey, irresistible.

Pumpkin dump cake with a spiced pumpkin custard base, white cake mix topping, melted butter, and pecans. No mixing required for the cake layer, just sprinkle, drizzle, and bake.

Yeast based Czechoslovakian pastry filled with a poppy seed or cream cheese filling.

Butterscotch fudge: a no-thermometer fudge made with butterscotch chips, marshmallow creme, evaporated milk, and chopped pecans. Cuts into 81 squares for cookie trays and bake sales.

Cranberry, apple and pecan bread, a delicious choice of breakfast, or a nutrient balanced snack in the middle of the day.

Moist banana cake with pecans topped with two luscious layers: sticky caramel glaze and maple cream cheese frosting. This show-stopping dessert is pure indulgence.

Buttermilk-marinated chicken breasts pan-fried golden and topped with sauteed apples, a rich apple cider cream sauce, and toasted pecans. A stunning fall dinner.

Pecan-crusted grouper bakes flaky white fish under a Dijon-and-pecan crust for a crunchy, buttery shell with no skillet of hot oil. A 35-minute Southern-style fish dinner.