Pecan Tassies

Pecan Tassies
Craig Lee for The New York Times
Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
4(610)
Comments
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Pecan tassies are bite-size pecan pies disguised as cookies. With a simple crust that’s both tangy and rich, thanks to cream cheese and butter, and a not-too-sweet maple-infused pecan filling, they go down easy and by the handful.

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Ingredients

Yield:24 cookies

    For the Crust

    • 6tablespoons/85 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
    • 4ounces/113 grams cream cheese, at room temperature
    • 2teaspoons granulated sugar
    • ½teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1cup/128 grams all-purpose flour

    For the Filling

    • 1large egg
    • ¼cup maple syrup
    • 2tablespoons dark brown sugar
    • 2tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
    • ½teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • cup/66 grams pecan halves, finely chopped
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)

105 calories; 8 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 8 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 56 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Make the crust: Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, either by hand or with an electric mixer, beat together butter, cream cheese, sugar and salt until creamy. Beat in the flour just until combined and the dough begins to come together. Portion the dough into 24 1-inch balls (about a scant tablespoon each). Press each ball into a cup of a nonstick mini-muffin pan, spreading evenly over the bottom and ¾ of the way up the sides, slightly higher if the cups are on the shallow side.

  2. Step 2

    Make the filling and bake: In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the filling ingredients. Add a heaping teaspoon of the filling to create a small mound in each cup, making sure to distribute the pecans evenly by stirring the filling every few scoops. Bake until the filling is set and the crust is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the tassies from the tin to cool completely.

Ratings

4 out of 5
610 user ratings
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Comments

I like to put a pecan half on top of each one in addition to the chopped pecans mixed into the filling.

I wished I'd read the recipe more closely - as the ingredients were not inexpensive - but I assumed it would be a classic NYT recipe for a classic cookie. Pecan tassies I've made in years past were superior in two ways. First, these have considerably less sugar than most, resulting in a rather bland flavor, and second, have a higher cream cheese to butter ratio, yielding a less flaky, buttery, crispy crust. There are much better recipes for this cookie out there...keep looking!

We have made these every year for Christmas (and sometimes for Easter and Thanksgiving) as long as I can remember. They are always a favorite. Be sure to butter the muffin tins well, and be careful not to overfill; if the topping bubbles over that can also make them difficult to remove.

Very dry! Ratio of crust to filling leans toward too much crust. After baking and cooling added a couple tiny drops of maple syrup atop each tassie to improve edibility.

Hmmm...I did make a lot of changes but I was underwhelmed by these. I would not make them again. I used a combination of maple syrup and corn syrup (I had some left over from last year that I wanted to use up!). I used extra pecans and sugar. I would rather have a pecan pie and so would all who tried these.

No longer have a mini-muffin pan, so made this in a regular 12-muffin tin. Baking time was slightly longer. I used vegan butter and cream cheese for a family member who cannot eat dairy. Recommended amounts of sugar were spot-on. The resulting tartlets were delicious.

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