Pecan Tassies (think teeny tiny shortbread pecan pies)

Pecan Tassies are buttery, rich pecan pies made bite-sized with shortbread crusts. Recipe below.

AS IT HAPPENED, THIS YEAR, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MORE THAN 20 YEARS, we did not host Thanksgiving. One of our daughters got married in the spring, and we now find ourselves part of a big new family of the nicest, kindest, most fun people walking the earth. We spent Thanksgiving out of town with them, in Milwaukee (which admittedly is not that far out of town for us). I committed to bring a number of dishes, and among them were pies.

I was already thinking that pie might not be the best answer when I blundered across recipes for a thing I’d never heard of before: pecan tassies. Originating in the American South some time in the 1960s, they are the petite, cheerful child of pecan pie and shortbread.

Pecan tassies are deliciously buttery rich. Orange zest and a little orange extract adds an intriguing dash of citrusy freshness. The nicest thing about them, besides how delicious they are, is their smallness. They’re finger food for dessert, two or three luscious bites in each one.

That small size also makes them very portable—just transport them in the tin they baked in or in a pastry carrier or a flat box. And it makes them the perfect finishing touch. When people are lolling about after a huge dinner, one or two tassies is just the right thing to satisfy that persistent craving for dessert. They work for a party where everyone is grazing, or at the end of dinner, with a nice cup of coffee, and certainly to pack in a little gift box and give to your neighbors.

This recipe can be multiplied, and even cut in half (but why?). The first time you make it, it will seem a bit elaborate, but nothing in here is complicated or difficult, and the results are very gratifying, and your house will smell so rich and toasty that you will actually be happy it’s winter.

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Pecan Tassies

Pecan Tassies are buttery, rich pecan pies made bite-sized with shortbread crusts.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 24 tassies

Equipment

• 24-cup nonstick mini muffin tin
• kitchen scale
• hand mixer
• small coffee grinder or food processor with small bowl

Ingredients

For the filling, dough and topping

• 1-1/4 cups pecan halves (around 5 ounces or 142 grams—this will be divided and used in all parts of the pastry)

For the filling

• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup maple syrup (see Kitchen Notes)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, gently melted
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon orange extract
• orange zest from one orange (grated or very finely minced)
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (see Kitchen Notes)

For the dough

• 1 stick unsalted butter—leave it out on the counter to soften for a couple of hours before you start
• 3 ounces cream cheese—leave that out on the counter too
• 1 cup unbleached white flour (you may try a combo of white and whole wheat, or white and rye)
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Instructions

• Begin by toasting the pecan halves. Heat your oven to 350ºF. Spread the pecans out on a big baking sheet (13x18 is great) and slide the sheet into the hot oven. Bake for about six or seven minutes, until they look slightly toasted and are becoming nice and fragrant. Don't leave them in too long—remember, they will be hot little things that will keep on roasting for a minute or two after leaving the oven. Using a flat spatula or large kitchen spoon, gently remove them from the baking pan to a plate or big bowl and let them cool.
• Select 24 unbroken pecan halves and set them aside—these will be the final touch.
• For the rest of the process, you will need a kitchen scale. I switched mine to measure in grams because that made the most sense. From the remaining toasted pecans, measure out 32 grams and put them in a grinder or a small food processor (I used a small electric coffee grinder). Process them until they are finely ground, in short bursts. That should just take you about 15 or 20 seconds. Check the pecans during the grinding process—you don't want to create pecan butter, and you do want a uniform powdery texture without little chunks. Set the ground pecans aside. Chop the remaining pecans and set those aside for the filling.
• Start the dough in a large bowl. First, cream together the softened butter and cream cheese, using a hand mixer, until the blend is nicely uniform. Add in the reserved finely ground pecans, the flour and the salt, and mix again. You want to create a cohesive dough. If the mixture is stubbornly resisting becoming a dough, carefully sprinkle in a bit of very cold water, one or two tablespoons at a time, until the dough agrees to form.
• Divide the dough into 24 one-inch balls—aim for about 14 grams each.
• Pop one ball into each cup of the mini muffin tin, then carefully press the dough, using your fingertips, to uniformly cover the bottom and side of the cups. When all the cups are done, put the tin in the freezer and leave it there for at least 15 minutes to firm up.
• Next, make the filling. Stir together the maple syrup, brown sugar, gently melted butter, vanilla extract, orange extract, orange zest, egg and salt until all is uniform.
• Take the muffin tin out of the freezer. Start heating your oven now, to 350ºF. Have at hand the chopped pecans, the 24 reserved pecans, and the bowl of filling.
• First, spoon about 1 teaspoon of the chopped pecan into each cup. Then add 2 teaspoons of the filling to each cup. Finally, top each with one of the reserved pecan halves. The filling will not come all the way up in each cup—don’t worry! Thanks to the presence of egg, it will expand as it bakes and fill each cup quite handsomely.
• Put the mini muffin tin in the hot oven and bake until the filling starts bubbling and the crusts are lightly golden—this should take about 24 to 27 minutes. Put the muffin pan on a wire rack and let everything cool for about 15 minutes. Then, working carefully, remove the individual tassies from the tin (I super cautiously used a small, thin knife to ease them out) and set them on the rack to finish cooling. Do not be tempted to eat them while they are hot unless you are looking to hurt your mouth. You can serve them while warm, but let them cool completely to store for later.
• These store nicely for several days in an airtight container—we use the Tellfresh Pastry Storer, which is so convenient for storing and for transporting relatively flat things like cookies.

Kitchen Notes

Maple syrup. We used a shmancy maple syrup that had been aged in a bourbon barrel, but really any maple syrup is going to be tasty in here.

Some really fine sea salt. There are so many different artisanal salts to choose from these days. We used Norwegian fine flaked sea salt from Salty Provisions.