Granny's Pecan Tassies

Sharing food is a powerful way to honor traditions. Holidays are a great time to make special family recipes! Last year after Granny passed away I spent some time collecting her recipes. Granny loved to bake! Baking with her when I was a child definitely inspired my love of cooking. She was my original inspiration for gardening too. When I was a small child I remember giant cans dedicated to Christmas cookies, with wax paper between endless varieties. How did we ever eat all those cookies?

Pecan Tassies are my Aunt Cyn's favorites of all Granny's cookie varieties! Miniature pies, you bake them in muffin tins. They may look like a pretty complicated cookie but they are really pretty easy to make. I decided to try out making these and surprise Cyn with a tin of them for her birthday. They are so simple and delicious I made another batch for my son's New Year's eve party the very next day. I am happy to be able to carry on in Granny's honor.

Pecan Tassies

(makes 24 mini pies)

pastry:
6 oz cream cheese
1 cup butter
2 cups flour: (Granny used all purpose white flour)
                 my preference is 1 cup oat flour
                                           ½ cup brown rice flour
                                           ½ cup spelt flour
cold water to just moisten

filling:
3 eggs
1 ½ cups brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups chopped pecans

24 extra pecan halves

Let the butter and cream cheese come to room temperature. Cream them together. Cut this mixture into flour and add just enough cold water to form a ball. Do not over handle. Chill dough for a couple of hours.

Lightly grease 24 mini muffin tins with the butter papers. Split the dough into 4 equal parts. Form each quarter into 6 balls, about 1” diameter. Press the dough into the muffin tins, making little tart cups.

Mix the filling ingredients. Spoon into tart shells, being careful not to overfill. Top each with a pecan half.

Bake 25 minutes at 350 degrees. The shells will be lightly browned. Let them cool for 10 minutes in the tins before removing to finish cooling.

When thoroughly cool store in an airtight container.