Pecan Tassies for the Holidays {recipe}

Tradition holds that Thanksgiving and Christmas meal planning isn't quite complete until you start deciding what type of pies to make. At my house, Holidays aren't complete with Pecan Tassies. Tassies are bite-sized pecan pies made in mini-muffin tins -- a perfect mix of flaky crust, chopped nuts, and chewy goodness. Over the past few years, I've perfected making them both milk-free and gluten-free.

Pecan Tassies

Crusts:

1/2 cup softened butter

6 ounces cream cheese (3/4 of a standard 8 ounce block, can use soy-based cream cheese)

1 Tbsp sugar

1 cup flour (can use any gluten-free flour blend)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar together. Gradually add the flour and cinnamon. Divide dough into 24 1-inch balls and chill for 2 hours. Press one ball of tassie dough into each compartment of the mini-muffin tray so that it makes a tiny pie-crust.

Pecan filling:

2 eggs

1/3 cup sugar

dash salt

2/3 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup butter or margarine (melted)

1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Beat eggs with sugar, salt, corn syrup, and melted butter.

Fill each tassie crust with chopped pecans, and then pour the filling mixture over the nuts to fill each compartment. (Be careful not to let the filling rise above the top of the crust.)

Bake at 350* for about 30 minutes (until the crusts turn golden brown).

Egg free version of the filling:

1/2 cup margarine

1 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup honey

Combine margarine, powdered sugar, and honey in a small saucepan. Heat and stir until margarine melts and everything is combined. Pour mixture over the nuts as described above.

Further allergy note: This recipe has also been used to make pumpkin pie tassies suitable for the nut allergic members of our family.

Even though the Schoolhouse Review Crew is taking a short  break from product reviews, we're all still blogging. This week many of us are sharing favorite Christmas recipes -- both old and new. Be sure to click the cute Christmas Recipes button above to see what other yummy treat ideas you can find. (Note: the Round-Up post on the Crew blog will not be live until Wednesday morning.)

I'm also sharing my tassies with Lisa's New Recipe Tuesday at Home to 4 Kiddos.



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