These Mini Southern Pies Will Be the Discuss of Your Vacation Get together

There are just a few menu objects that have to be served at an old style Southern vacation occasion, together with sausage balls, friendship tea, and pecan tassies—bite-size pecan pies with a fabulously gooey filling and shortbread cookie–like crust. The title “tassie” comes from the Scottish phrase for small cup, which in flip comes from the French phrase tasse. It is not onerous to see why “cups” made out of quick crust stuffed with a caramelly bourbon-spiked pecan combination are in style occasion bites.

Our model of those pecan tartlets, created by our Birmingham, Alabama-based colleague Nicole Hopper, showcases pecans within the dough for the tartlet shells and within the pie filling, in addition to a garnish for every little pie, packing the nut’s wealthy, buttery taste into every chunk.

For the recipe, you may begin by taking all of the pecan halves referred to as for within the recipe and setting apart the 24 prettiest ones to save lots of for adorning every tartlet. Then you definitely’ll toast the remainder of the pecans within the oven to carry out their nuttiness after which grind a few of them to make use of within the crust and chop the remaining to make use of within the filling. Why not toast all of them? Nicole present in her testing that the pecans used for garnish burned when baked in the event that they’d been pre-toasted, so be sure that to set these them apart. 

Incorporating among the pecans into the dough for the tart shells boosts the buttery pecan taste of the completed tartlets. The crust, which one taster described as “virtually shatteringly tender,” additionally incorporates cream cheese—a standard pecan tassie dough ingredient—which reinforces the tenderness of the crust and likewise supplies a tiny little bit of tartness to assist steadiness the sweetness of the filling. A beneficiant pinch of salt within the crust additional offsets the sweetness and brings out the flavors of the filling. As soon as the dough is prepped, you may press it right into a mini muffin tin and pop it within the freezer to arrange whilst you put together the filling. 

Together with pecans (clearly), the pie filling consists of bourbon and vanilla, which enhance the toasty pecans, whereas orange zest brings a welcome brightness and what one taster referred to as “citrusy intrigue” to the combo. For sweeteners, a mix of molasses-y brown sugar and maple syrup (not Southern, however scrumptious!) give the filling a extra advanced taste than a type of alone would supply. The 2 sweeteners additionally give the combination simply the suitable stage of gooeyness—and that stage is fairly darn gooey. 

As soon as you have made the filling, you may add the chopped toasted pecan to every shell, then pour within the filling, and nestle a type of pecan halves on high of every tart. Then into the oven they go till the crust is barely browned and tender and the filling is effervescent. Until you take pleasure in biting into molten lava, allow them to cool for a few minutes earlier than you begin popping them in your mouth. In addition they preserve for as much as 5 days, if y’all are these individuals who plan forward.

Prepare dinner Mode
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For the Filling:

• 142g uncooked pecan halves (5 ounces; about 1 1/4 cups)

• 106g darkish brown sugar (3 3/4 ounces; 1/2 cup)

• 70g maple syrup (2 1/2 ounces; about 1/4 cup)

• 28g unsalted butter, melted (1 ounce; 2 tablespoons)

• 1 tablespoon (15ml) bourbon

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 massive egg

• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest from 1 small orange

• 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for desk salt, use half as a lot by quantity

For the Dough:

• 113g unsalted butter (4 ounces; 1 stick), softened

• 85g cream cheese (3 ounces; 6 tablespoons), softened

• 128g all-purpose flour (4 1/2 ounces; 1 cup)

• 1/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for desk salt, use half as a lot by quantity

1. Regulate oven rack to center place and preheat oven to 350°F (175ºC). On a 13- by 18-inch rimmed baking sheet, unfold pecan halves in a single layer. Choose 24 excellent, unbroken pecan halves; switch to a small bowl and put aside for topping. Bake remaining pecan halves in preheated oven till aromatic and toasted, 7 to eight minutes. Let cool barely, about 5 minutes.

2. Measure out 1/4 cup (about 32g) toasted pecans. Switch to a food processor. Course of till finely floor, 10 to twenty seconds. Set floor pecans apart for dough. Chop remaining pecans; put aside for filling.

3. Put together the Dough: In a big bowl, beat collectively softened butter and cream cheese with a versatile spatula till clean and creamy. Add flour, salt, and reserved floor pecans. Stir collectively till a cohesive dough kinds. Divide dough into 24 one-inch balls, about 14g or 1/2 ounce every.

4. Press 1 dough ball into every cup of a nonstick 24-cup mini muffin pan.  Gently and evenly press dough into the underside and up the perimeters of every cup. Switch pan to freezer; chill till firmed, about quarter-hour.

5. In the meantime, put together the filling: In a medium bowl, whisk brown sugar, maple syrup, butter, bourbon, vanilla, egg, zest, and salt collectively till clean.

6. Take away muffin pan from freezer. Spoon about 1 teaspoon reserved chopped pecans into every cup. Pour 2 teaspoons filling into every cup. High every cup with 1 reserved untoasted pecan half.

7. Bake till crust is flippantly golden and filling is effervescent, 25 to twenty-eight minutes. Let cool barely, about 5 minutes. Invert tassies onto a wire rack, then flip them right-side-up, and let cool utterly on wire rack, about half-hour.

Variations

• You’ll be able to add 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (1/2 teaspoon per tassie) together with the chopped pecans for chocolate-pecan tassies.
• You’ll be able to swap pecans for one more nut or a mix of nuts.

Particular Gear

Rimmed baking sheet, meals processor, versatile spatula, nonstick 24-cup mini muffin pan, medium bowl, wire rack

Make Forward and Storage

Dough could be ready as much as 1 day upfront and saved tightly wrapped within the fridge. Carry to room temperature earlier than urgent into muffin pan (chilly dough will lead to cracked edges).

Pies could be saved in an hermetic container for as much as 5 days.