These petite pastries feature the flavors and textures of pecan pie—tender, buttery crust, crunchy pecans, and brown sugar filling—all in one bite. Mascarpone, an Italian cream cheese, lends richness to the dough; look for it in the dairy section of large supermarkets, or at Italian specialty stores.
Recipe information
Yield
makes about 1 1/2 dozen
Ingredients
for the dough
for the filling
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Make dough: Process pecans in a food processor until finely ground (you should have about 1/2 cup). Put mascarpone and butter into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until well blended. Add flour, ground pecans, and salt; mix just until dough comes together. Alternatively, stir together ingredients with a wooden spoon in a large bowl.
Step 2
Roll dough into sixteen 1-inch balls; press into bottoms and up sides of cups of mini-muffin tins.
Step 3
Make filling: Whisk the egg, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, butter, and salt in a bowl. Stir in pecans. Spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons filling into each muffin cup.
Step 4
Bake until crust begins to turn golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely in tins on wire rack. Unmold. Tassies can be stored in single layers in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.
