Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Pecan Tassies


Finally I am onto posting about the things I baked at Christmas! I made these for my mom because she loves pecan tarts/pies/whatever. The crust is a cream cheese dough and it's not really sweet at all. I wasn't sure if this was a good thing (because it paired well with the sweet filling) or a bad thing (because it wasn't like the crusts I'm used to?) But after eating many a pecan tassie, I've decided it's a very good thing. The cream cheese dough is deliciously delicious and a bit flakey. I think I was expecting a more firm/crispy crust but the cream cheese crust is a bit softer. I'll be making these again as they are quite addictive.


The recipe might seem a bit intimidating or time consuming but it's really not that bad. Just make the dough one day, refrigerate, and do everything the next day. I love love loved that I didn't have to roll out dough and cut out little circles. It was so easy to just roll out balls of dough and push them into the mini muffin tin. A bonus is that they freeze amazingly well.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits
Hello Dolly Bars
Apple Pie with Brown Sugar Streusel Topping
Pecan Honey Sticky Buns


Pecan Tassies
Adapted from Great Cookies

Makes 4 dozen 1 3/4" tassies.

1 recipe cream cheese pastry (recipe follows)

2 large eggs
2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups coarsely chopped lightly toasted pecans, divided

1. Divide each rectangle of pastry into 24 1-inch squares. Roll each square into a ball and place into mini-muffin tins. Mold the dough into each hole, pressing it up the sides. Chill while preparing the filling.

2. Preheat the oven to 325F.

3. Place the eggs, brown sugar, butter, salt, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk together until smooth.

4. Distribute 1 cup of the pecans among the pastry lined muffin cups. Empty the filling into a measuring cup with a spout and pour the mixture into the tins, filling them no more than 2/3 full. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining 1 cup nuts.

5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown around the edges. Rotate the pans from top to bottom and front to back towards the end of baking time. Let stand 5 minutes. using the tip of a paring knife, run the blade carefully around the edges of the muffin cups to loosen the tassies. When the tassies are cool enough to handle, remove them from the pan and set on cooling racks. The tassies can either be eased out with the tip of the knife. If you only have one mini muffin pan like me, repeat process with the second pan.

Cream Cheese Pastry

The original recipe suggests you do everything by hand but that's not so fun for me so I modified that and did it in my stand mixer.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour, spooned in and leveled
1/4 tsp salt

1. Using a stand mixer and the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and cream cheese until smooth and blended.

2. Mix in 1 cup of the flour and the salt, working until almost incorporated. Mix in another 1/2 cup flour, working until the flour is almost incorporated. Complete the process by kneading in another 1/2 cup flour. Be careful not to overwork.

3. With lightly floured hands, shape the dough into a mound, then divide in half and form two 5 inch rectangles. Wrap with plastic. Chill for at least 4 hours or up to 3 days.

25 comments:

Sara said...

These look great - you know, I'm not really a pie person, but I do have a weakness for pecan pie.

Anonymous said...

ooooh yummers! these look just like the little pecan thingys i bought at trader joe's yesterday. but these look better, hahahaha

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

I love cream cheese pastry and I think it goes well with anything. Your mom must have been so happy.

CookiePie said...

Those look so lovely, like perfect little pies!

Pearl said...

my mama loves pecan pie, so i always make pecan pie bars. i should bake your tassies next time! :)

Lisa said...

These look wonderful. Pecan Pie type recipes are among my favorites. I made Pecan Pie Squares at Christmas and have yet to post about those too. I think I like your crust better. I want to try these!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

SCRUMPTIOUS!!!

Tiffany said...

mmmmmm, i love pecan tassies. yours look great!

Keith said...

I've been making these for a few years. Delicious little things. Did you get the recipe from that allrecipes website?

eatme_delicious said...

Susskins: No I got it from a cookbook called Great Cookies by Carole Walter.

grace said...

these are extra-cute and waaaay too easy to eat. merry christmas all over again. :)

Anonymous said...

How delish! Nutty, sweet and flaky in one.

Cathy - wheresmydamnanswer said...

Incredible Looking!!! There would be no way that I could eat just one of these!!!

Anonymous said...

These look delicious! I love pecan pie, and these are so cute.

Bunny said...

I miss pecan tassies, it's been so long since I made them, yours look wonderful! Hubby doesn't like nuts so I don't get to make them anymore *sigh*

Jennifer said...

We make similar pecan tarts here in the South but I am very much loving the cream cheese pastry!!

Donna-FFW said...

These look so awesome. Ive been wanting to make them for a while. Glad I saw them here, it reminded me. Can't wait to try your version!

Fitness Foodie said...

I have taken to making so many dough or pastries with cream cheese in them... i love the texture and flavor. I agree with doing something like this in a two step or two day process so much more enjoyable. The results look fantastic.

Leading Lady Lis said...

Pecan tassies are hands down my favorite Christmas treat! Somehow I don't think anyone made them this year...poo! I'll just have to make some next year. Do you think they'd be good with almonds, too?
Love,
Lis

Keith said...

I'm going to have to look at that cookbook. If they have these, they're doing something right.

Hooray! The Bookstore!

eatme_delicious said...

Leading Lady Lis: Hmmm that's a good question. I think I'd prefer them with pecans but maybe if the almonds were more finely chopped it would be good? Let me know if you try them. =)

jd said...

These are so adorable!

I love pecans, and pairing them up with something sweet and dough-based makes 'em even better.

Yum!

Anonymous said...

I copied the recipe and I'll try it very soon. Your blog has gorgeous recipes and I'll try a lot of them!

Unknown said...

I made these today and they are great! My husband really liked them. I am very hard to please. I did use only 1 1/2 cups of toasted pecans. I made 24 in the mini-muffin pan and six large ones in the regular muffin pan. I filled mine full and they did not run out. Thanks for the recipe.
Helen in Tennessee

eatme_delicious said...

Helen: I'm happy your husband liked them!