Pecan Tassies

Pecan Tassies!

Pecan Tassies are my step-dad’s FAVORITE! The first day we had all our cookie baking done, we all joked that we needed to get our hands on the pecan tassies now before he ate them all! One of his top desserts is pecan pie so a pecan tassie may even better for him because it’s bite size and much easier to steal a taste of! I should add that it happens often when we my mom and sister bake these! They get them out of the mini muffin pan onto the paper towel and within minutes you turn around to Joel shifting his eyes to the ceiling and his mouth obviously full of some sort of treat; most commonly this pecan tassie! They really are just like miniature pecan pies and perfect for the holiday when you’re craving so many sweets and can’t possibly decide on just one!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients:

(From Better Homes and Gardens Best Cook Book. Makes about 2 dozen tarts.)

Mini Pecan Tart Crust

• 3 ounce package cream cheese
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Pecan Tassie Filling

• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• dash of salt
• 2/3 cup broken pecans
• chocolate chips

The pecan tassie tart pie crust is the first thing to make. Blend together the cream cheese and butter and then stir in the flour. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

While the dough chills, make the filling for the tarts. Beat together the egg, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of softened butter, vanilla extract, a dash of salt and about 1/6 cup of the chopped or broken pecans.

With the dough chilled and the filling ready, it’s time to make your tarts! Make 24 one inch balls with the dough. Use a 1 3/4 inch mini muffin pan and use one dough ball for each muffin cup. Press the dough to cover the bottom and the sides of the pan, just like you would with a normal size pie. With the crust set, fill each tart with the filling and if you so desire add just three chocolate chips to each little tart. Top each tart with more chopped pecans. Bake the tarts at 325 for 25 minutes or until the filling is set. Let the tarts cool for a little bit but not too long. The hardest part is getting the little tarts out of the mini muffin pan and if you let them sit for too long it can become a disaster!

Pecan Tassies

These will be a hit with whoever you share these with. And if you don’t share, I’m sure they’ll be a hit for yourself! You can have your bite of pecan pie and move right along to another tasty cookie and not feel too guilty!! For now, that’s pecan tassies…in the shell of a nut!