- 24
- 25 mins
- 50 mins
Ingredients
- For dough:
- 3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature (do not use low-fat or nonfat)
- 1 cup sifted flour
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (may use butter substitute), at room temperature
- For filling:
- 1 large egg, slightly beaten
- 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup chopped pecans (not toasted)
Preparation
Step 1
For the dough: Use a spatula or your hands to combine the cream cheese, four and butter in a bowl until a firm dough forms and no flour residue remains. Pat the dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or as long as 2 days.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325. Have ready two ungreased 12-count mini muffin pans.
Take pinches of the chilled dough and shape them into twenty-four 1-inch balls; place in the wells of the muffin tins and use your thumb to press the dough against the bottoms and sides of the wells, creating space for the filling.
For the filling: Combine the egg, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and pecans in a medium bowl until well mixed. Fill each dough shell no more than ¾ full. Bake for 25 minutes or until the tops are golden. Transfer the pans to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 minutes, then run a sharp knife around the outside edges of the tassies to release them from the pans.