Pecan Tarts
- Total Time
- 2½ hours, plus cooling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
Ingredients
Yield:9 tarts
- ⅔cup/151 grams unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pan
- 4ounces/114 grams cream cheese, softened
- 1⅓cups/160 grams pastry flour (or 1⅓ cups/171 grams all-purpose flour)
- ½teaspoon fine sea or table salt
- 1large egg
- ¾cup/165 grams packed brown sugar
- 1tablespoon melted unsalted butter
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½teaspoon honey
- ¼teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅔cup/79 grams very finely chopped pecans
For the Pastry Shells
For the Filling
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (9 servings)
380 calories; 26 grams fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 34 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 19 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 191 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Prepare the pastry: Beat softened butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer or by hand until thoroughly combined. If flour is clumpy, sift it into the bowl, then add salt. (Otherwise, simply add flour and salt.) Mix on low speed to combine into a pliant pastry dough (it will be somewhat sticky), then turn out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Use the wrap to press the dough into a square, then wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1½ hours.
- Step 2
Prepare the filling: In a medium bowl, beat egg with an electric mixer or by hand. Add the brown sugar, melted butter, vanilla, honey and nutmeg and mix until well combined, then stir in the pecans.
- Step 3
Make the tarts: Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 9 cavities of a mini tart pan or standard muffin tin with butter. Divide chilled dough into 9 even pieces and place 1 in a buttered cup. Press the dough against the bottom and side to form a shell. This may take a moment. Repeat with the remaining 8 pieces of dough. Be careful to smooth out any cracks, tears or holes in your pastry as you fill the pan.
- Step 4
Divide pecan filling among pastry shells, filling each no more than three-quarters of the way. Be careful not to overfill.
- Step 5
Bake tarts until browned and set, 27 to 32 minutes. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then carefully remove tarts from the pan, using a knife to ease them out. Serve at your leisure.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
Jerrold K.
There are many, many recipes out there for pecan pie and tarts. This one is good, but as far as I am concerned, the best add a little bourbon to the recipe. That and a little maple syrup are essential ingredients to a good Southern Bourbon silk pecan pie. Unbeatable.
Ellen
Always lightly toast the pecans before adding them in, they just taste so much better!
Annie
My grandma makes these for Christmas every year, and we demolish them every time :) She calls them "Mystic Nut Cups," and the recipe is on a handwritten 3x5 card. One day, I'll have to frame that recipe card!
Joyce
If you are using a mini muffin pan, how many tarts can you get out of this recipe?
TTran
Soak the pecan in cognac/bourbon before toasting them. Makes a huge difference
Deirdre
As Lauren wrote you can freeze them after baking. They also hold up wonderfully for about a week if kept in a plastic container at room temp. We used to make these (Tassies which are smaller like large cookies, not tarts) at Xmas to give to friends. The portion we kept for ourselves lasted until at least New Years.
Lauren
Yes, you can freeze pecan pie/tarts. Another way to do it is to freeze the dough for the crust or freeze the shells raw and bake off the pies the day before Thanksgiving. They shouldn't need refrigeration for a few days after baking.
Pam
This is simply a variation on the classic Pecan Tassie. The nutmeg addition was too strong did not go with the pecans at all. The honey was not as flavorful as the traditional maple syrup. I also missed the drop of bourbon usually added.
Cheryl
I had to cook these considerably longer than the stated time. When I turned them out, the bottoms were not done. Fortunately I was able to put them back in the pan. I cooked them for another 10 minutes plus however long it took the oven to reheat
jc
My sister-in-law and I made this recipe and both found that we got way more than 9 tarts using a mini muffin tin. This recipe made at least 20 mini tarts. Delish but that direction is off.
Lazuli
Agreed - more info about pans would be helpful, as mini-tarts come in different sizes. In the photo, they look about 2 inches in diameter relative to the coffee mugs. So I used a 24-mini muffin pan (w/more shallow cups like tarts) and paper liners. I divided the dough into 24 balls, filled each about halfway, and they baked to the top. They are soft and good. Another time I'd omit the honey and use a bit less sugar.
Jessica B
Can you freeze these and if so, how far in advance of Thanksgiving?
Zuni
I used half as much nutmeg the second time and they were perfect.
Dodiew
Do I bake minis and standard size for the same time?
Deanna
I was trying to duplicate my mom's "pecan tassie" recipe. I made these exactly to weights indicated - WAY too much dough for 9 tarts. I adjusted the dough weight for a 12 cup ribbed tart pan; the dough was still a tad thick & still had some left over. The filling rose to a weird crust on top. Flavors were okay. Fortunately, I found my mom's original recipe. Similar-but you sprinkle the chopped pecans on top of the filling, so they really look little pecan pies. And it makes 24!
Isabel
I must confess that I made two mistakes: Firstly, I added one teaspoon of honey instead of ½teaspoon. Then I heated my oven to 350 degrees and corrected it halfway through. However, non of the above mattered because the tarts are simply delicious.
Deborah Wythe
Way too little filling for 9 tarts when using a standard muffin tin -- I only got 6 from the recipe.
Janet W
The pastry was too thick, suggest making 12 tarts with this quantity. also the cooking time was too short, I added 10 minutes or so and the cases were still a little underbaked inside. Also there was too much sugar in the filling, so much that every tart contained a disc of crystallized sugar that settled out in the bottom. I would suggest baking at a higher temperature. The recipe needs adjusting.
Jan
These are delicious! Love the recipe. I used 4-inch tart pans.
PNW Baker
I found the resulting tarts to be okay. They are quite dry and I didn’t have time to make whipped cream - maybe that would have helped. Also, I think the dough was too thick when divided into 9 muffin tin units. Probably won’t make these again.
Janet W
I also found the dough a bit thick when divided into 9 muffin pans, it was a little underbaked on the inside. I would suggest using this quantity to make 12 tarts. Also there was too much sugar in the recipe - each tart had a little disc of crystallized sugar in the bottom
Monica
I changed it up quite a bit: 1/4 C maple syrup; 1/2 C brown sugar (not packed); 2 TBLS butter; 2 TBLS bourbon; a pinch of sea salt; no vanilla; no honey. I used puff pastry from the grocery store cut into nine squares and rolled; used paper lotus cups--saved a lot of time and very delicious. Regular muffin tin; made eight. I took the ninth square, scored the edges, put some goat cheese, cranberry sauce, and a drizzle of olive oil and baked--nice lunch while prepping thanksgiving dinner.
karen
The size pan is not well documented. I mixed the dough per directions and divided the dough into 9 pieces for a mini tin, also per directions. I could see right away there was too much dough, so spread it out to 12 mini tarts. I had a lot of leftover filling. The baking pan was a mess. Next time I’ll definitely use standard muffin tins.
Jade
I just made these for Thanksgiving and they are super easy and incredibly delicious. These are certainly going into dessert rotation.
Anna
Butter tarts are a tradition in Canada and the best are made with pure maple syrup. And always toast the pecans!
jc
My sister-in-law and I made this recipe and both found that we got way more than 9 tarts using a mini muffin tin. This recipe made at least 20 mini tarts. Delish but that direction is off.
Anne
Do you think these would freeze well?
Cheryl
I had to cook these considerably longer than the stated time. When I turned them out, the bottoms were not done. Fortunately I was able to put them back in the pan. I cooked them for another 10 minutes plus however long it took the oven to reheat
Private notes are only visible to you.
Advertisement
