Pecan Tartlets-The Perfect Little Nutty Bite
We were invited to Rosh Hashanah dinner the other night and I volunteered to bring dessert. It’s usually a no brainer since our host LOVES Lemon Bars. But then I remembered I had promised to post Mrs. S’s Pecan Tartlet recipe. The Lemon Bars would have to wait for another occasion.
Mrs. S, for all of you that have not read my Toffee Bars post (hint, hint), is my baking muse and mom of my BFF, Joy. Every Christmas, since I met Joy in middle school, I have been the lucky recipient of a plate of Mrs. S’s holiday cookies. They were delicious and beautiful. She was meticulous and something of a control freak (I can SO relate) so she would shoo us out of the kitchen when she started her holiday baking. Occasionally she would let us help with just the finishing touches, placing the pecan halves in her chocolate thumbprints or rolling her meltingly tender almond crescents in powdered sugar. But mixing the cookie dough itself, nope, that was her domain.
My Favorites
Her Toffee Bars and Pecan Tartlets. When I became interested in cooking and baking and not just eating, I asked for her cookie recipes and she was gracious enough to share them with me. For Mrs. S making these cookies became second nature. Details and how-to’s were committed to memory, not to paper. Over the years I have figured out the little extra steps she took that elevated her cookies, especially her Pecan Tartlets, above the rest. I’ve also added my tweaks to make the process easier and faster.
How-Tos:
The tart crust is butter and cream cheese-based and similar to a cookie dough. It does not include any liquids so it won’t shrink much. I make the dough in a food processor, much like tart dough. The dry ingredients are placed in the food processor bowl and pulsed a couple of times to combine. The original recipe includes up to half a cup of sugar in the dough, way too much. I often don’t add any sugar but if you like a sweeter crust, add a MAX of 1/4 cup. Note that the more sugar you add, the quicker you will need to roll out the dough as the sugar makes the dough stickier and tougher to work with. Add the butter and cream cheese and pulse until the dough just starts to clump. Do not overprocess. Gather the dough and chill for approximately 2 hours.
You could scoop out dough, roll it into balls and press each into tiny muffin tins which is pretty easy, but then you wouldn’t get those cute scalloped edges. Mrs. S’s method was to roll the dough out approximately 3/16 inch thick and cut it with a flower petal cookie cutter. I know, lots of work but, look at how nice they look. The genius of using the petal cutter is the shape makes it very easy to press the dough into the muffin tins.
Next Step:
Make the filling while the dough chills in the fridge. Here’s the cheat. Pour the filling into a squeeze bottle. I replace the top with the lid from the honey I buy at TJ’s. The spout is bigger which allows the filling to flow easily…a nice squirt into each muffin cup. How EASY is that? Ingenuity being the mother of invention, my cheapie wine opener works perfectly for pressing the dough evenly into the muffin tin.
Fill the tarts to where the petals meet and sprinkle the pecans on top. Walnuts or a mix of different nuts would be delicious too. Follow the baking instructions. When slightly cooled, dust the tarts with a nice layer of powdered sugar.
Enjoy these little bites of bliss. Don’t wait until the holidays to make them!
MINIATURE PECAN TARTS
Equipment
- mini-muffin tin
- 2 inch petal cookie cutter optional
Ingredients
Cream Cheese pastry
Mix together:
- 3 ounce cream cheese
- 1 stick butter salted, or if using unsalted add 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour preferably Gold Medal but any will work
Filling
Blend together:
- 1 tablespoon softened butter
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar light brown sugar
- 1 egg large
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup chopped pecans substitute mixed nuts if you like, walnuts
Instructions
Dough
- Original instructions: Combine well and refrigerate. Cut into small circles and press into mini-muffin tin.
- My instructions: Mix the dough in a food processor. Place flour in fp bowl. Add butter and cream cheese to flour. Pulse mixture just until it begins to clump. Do not overprocess. Pour onto wax paper or plastic wrap and pat into a disc shape. Chill for at least 2 hours.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry out to 3/16-1/4 inch thickness. Cut into small circles. I use a petal cutter 2.5-inch or a plain round 2-inch cutter. Press circles into ungreased muffin tins. Chill muffin tins while making the filling.
Filling
- Blend filling ingredients well. Pour into a squeeze bottle. I use a plastic TJ honey container that has an opening about 1/8inch. This is a quick way to fill the muffin tins. You could use a spoon.
- Fill prepared muffin tins about 3/4 full. Allow filling to settle slightly. Fill each muffin tin to the top with finely chopped pecans (about 1 cup) Chill.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 250 degrees and bake 20 minutes longer. Allow tarts to cool and carefully remove from tins.
- Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar while still warm. Allow to cool before removing from tins.