Mom's Pecan Tassies

Pecan tassies are miniature pecan pies baked in muffin tins, and the cream cheese pastry shell is what makes them special. Cream cheese blended with butter and flour creates a dough that’s richer and more tender than standard pie crust, with a slight tang that balances the sweet brown sugar filling.

The filling is essentially a simplified pecan pie mixture: one egg, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and pecans. Dividing the pecans between the bottom and top of each tassie ensures every bite has nuts throughout rather than just on the surface.

Chilling the dough for an hour before shaping is a must. Warm cream cheese dough is sticky and impossible to press into the tiny muffin cups. Cold dough holds its shape and presses neatly against the sides without sticking to your thumbs.

Pro Tips

• Press the dough thin and evenly up the sides. Thick spots stay doughy while thin spots overbrown.
• Don’t overfill. The filling puffs slightly during baking, and overfilled tassies bubble over and weld themselves to the pan.
• Beat the filling just until smooth. Overbeating incorporates air, which makes the filling puff up too much and then collapse.
• Let them cool completely in the pan before removing. Warm tassies crack and crumble. Cool ones pop right out.

Variations

• Chocolate tassies: Add mini chocolate chips to the bottom of each shell before adding the filling.
• Bourbon pecan: Stir a teaspoon of bourbon into the filling for a boozy, Southern depth.