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With the holiday season upon us, it’s prime time for potlucks. So, when the Thanksgiving luncheon at work rolled around, I decided to make these little morsels. Think pecan pie, but in bite-size form. They were very well-received. In fact, a few coworkers insisted that I post the recipe. So, here it is! You’re welcome.
You start with 2 sticks of salted butter and 6-8 oz of cream cheese, both at room temperature. Since 1 block of cream cheese is 8oz, I just throw a whole one in there.
Cream the butter and cream cheese together until smooth and incorporated. If you still see streaks of white from the cream cheese, beat it a little more.
Add your flour. If you used unsalted butter, you might want to add a pinch of salt in this step.
Oh, I should probably add that you might want to use a bigger mixing bowl for this. Don’t make a mess like I did!
Mix in your flour until you get a soft, sticky dough.
Scoop a ball of dough into each cavity of your mini muffin pans. Make sure you grease them, or face the consequences later.
Press the dough on the bottom and up the sides of each cavity. A tart tamper works GREAT for this. Otherwise, you can use your fingers. Now, you have your mini pie shells. It’s time to make the filling!
Beat some melted butter, brown sugar, bourbon, and vanilla extract together in a bowl. Whisk in 2 eggs until well-combined.
Add in your chopped pecans and stir until they are all nice and coated. Divide this mixture evenly among your little pie cups.
Pop them in the oven at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes.
As you can see, they get all puffy when they bake. Let them cool completely before you try removing them from the pan. Otherwise, they will fall apart when you are taking them out.
There you have it! All manner of deliciousness awaits! These tassies freeze well, so you can make a big batch and freeze some for later.
Pecan Tassies
(adapted from Food.com)
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 6-8 ounces cream cheese
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
For the filling
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp bourbon
- 1 3/4 cups chopped pecans
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees . Grease your mini muffin tins, or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
To Make Crust:
In a medium mixing bowl cream together cream cheese and 1 cup butter until light and fluffy. Blend in flour, forming a smooth dough. Roll into 30 equal balls and press one into each greased tin so it lines the bottom and sides, like a pie crust.
To Make Filling:
In a medium mixing bowl mix together 1/4 cup melted butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, bourbon, and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Stir in pecans. Fill each lined tin half full. Mixture will rise as it bakes.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool completely in tins before removing.