Pecan Tassies (Pecan Tarts)

April 14: National Pecan Day

Pecan trees grow abundantly in Texas—it is the official state tree. There is even a grove on the college campus in Texas where Islander’s brother works.  When she visited his university, Islander gathered some raw nuts, hoping to use them as an ingredient in a recipe. But it was time consuming and messy to crack their tough shells.

Instead of picking pecans from a tree, picking up a package of pecans at the local grocery store is easier and convenient. The nuts are recipe-ready, like for this blog post about pecan tassies (also known as pecan tarts) in observance of National Pecan Day and National Pecan Month.

Recipe

(Adapted from The Pampered Chef)

Crust

• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• 1 cup flour

Filling

• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup pecan pieces

Directions

To make the crust, mix the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add the flour to make a soft dough. Roll into a ball, cover with a plastic wrap and chill it for at least an hour to harden. Then divide the dough into one-inch balls. Flatten, press and shape the crusts in the wells of an ungreased muffin pan.

To make the filling, combine the melted butter, brown sugar, beaten egg, vanilla and pecan pieces. Fill each crust with the pecan mixture. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until light brown. Remove from the oven and cool for five minutes. Transfer the pecan tassies to a wire rack and cool completely.