High Altitude Pecan Tassies
Pecan tassies are a cross between bite-sized shortbread cookie cups and mini pecan pies, made with pecan cream cheese pastry dough, and filled with maple pecan filling.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Mini Muffin Pan (24 cup capacity)
- Electric Mixer (Stand or Hand-Held)
Ingredients
Dough
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 oz (1/2 block) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup pecans, very finely chopped
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
Filling
- ½ cup pecans, finely chopped
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk (save the extra white for another use)
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 24 pecan halves
Instructions
Dough
- With an electric mixer (stand or hand hold), beat the butter, cream cheese and pecans for several minutes on medium speed, until smooth and fluffy.
- Add the flour and salt, and beat on medium low speed, just until combined.
- Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Divide the dough into 24 equal portions. You can do this by weighing the dough, or just cutting it with a knife or bench scraper. Roll each portion into a ball.
- Thoroughly spray your mini muffin pan with non-stick baking spray.
- Lightly coat the dough balls in flour, then press them flat with the bottom of a measuring cup or other flat object, so that you have flat disks of dough about 3 inches in diameter.
- Press the dough into the muffin cups, using your fingers or the bottom of a shot glass. You want the edges of the dough to be slightly raised above the edges of the muffins cups. (Be sure you don't poke holes in the dough with your fingers, but keep it an even thickness when you press it in. Thin areas can leak filling or make the tassies prone to breaking apart when you remove them from the pan.) Set the pan in the refrigerator while you make the filling.
Filling and Bake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Chop 1/2 cup of pecans and set aside.
- In a liquid glass measuring cup, whisk together the egg, egg yolk, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla and salt, until smooth and very well combined.
- Divide the chopped pecans between the dough cups, about 1 tsp pecans each.
- Whisk up the filling again, and pour it into the cups, on top of the chopped pecans. Then place a pecan half on top of each.
- Bake the tassies for about 22-25 minutes, until the filling is set and the crust is golden brown.
- Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then gently remove and set on a wire rack to cool completely. If any of the tassies stick, gently loosen it by running a knife around the edge.
Notes
Store pecan tassies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.
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