These are my Great-Grandmother’s Pecan Tassies. This pecan tassie recipe tastes like miniature pecan pies and are completely addicting! The cream cheese crust presses easily into mini muffin tins and then bakes into a soft, flaky crust!
Day 1 of 12 Days of Christmas Cookies 2022
My great-grandmother Rosa, also known as RoRo, was a feeder. You know what I'm talking about -- there is one in every family. In addition to making a huge feast whenever family came to visit her, RoRo would bake up dozens of everyone’s favorite treats to send home with them. She baked Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies for my dad and date pinwheels for my mom. But these Pecan Tassies were just for me. {It's no surprise that I grew up with a great love of pecan pie, and we even sell pecan pies in my shop all year round!}
I would eat some tassies in the car on the way back to my grandparents’; I would eat some on the plane home; and I would eat some straight from the freezer at home. I can tell you from personal experience that they taste amazing frozen, so don't think you'll just pop half in the freezer for a later date because the freezer is no deterrent! These make a great addition to a Christmas cookie platter or box, but they are just as good all year round!
Table of Contents
What are Pecan Tassies?
Pecan Tassies are miniature pecan pies baked in mini muffin tins. They have a sweet pecan filling and a tangy cream cheese crust. The crust is pressed into the tins for an easy, rustic cookie. This particular pecan tassie recipe is from my Great-Grandmother!
Ingredients for Pecan Tassies
- Butter: I typically use unsalted butter for baking, because you want to control the amount of salt you are adding. Every brand is different and it makes adjusting the recipe a challenge. Just be mindful that if you use unsalted in the filling (as opposed to salted butter), you’ll want to add a pinch of kosher salt!
- Cream cheese: I use original Philadelphia Cream Cheese for all my baked goods. Working the cream cheese into the dough adds fat and a little bit of tang. Cream cheese does not behave the same as butter when baked and will create a soft, tender shell for my Great-Grandmother's pecan tassies.
- All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour has just the right amount of gluten to make a tender, flaky shell when handled properly.
- Whole Egg: The egg is here to add fat, moisture and leavening.
- Dark Brown Sugar: Using dark brown sugar adds sweetness along with a nice, rich molasses flavor.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla Extract adds a beautiful flavor itself but it also boosts the flavor of other ingredients around it.
- Pecans: I love to use Southern pecans in baking. Nothing beats fresh, plump pecans especially when it is the primary flavor in this pecan tassie recipe. But any pecan halves will do. If you keep them for longer than a month or your kitchen is consistently warm, store them in the freezer to preserve freshness.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pecan tassies stick to the pan if they are even slightly overfilled or if the crust was pressed too thin. Usually you can still remove them by sliding a paring knife around the edges and then twisting. If not, that one is yours! I call those the Chef’s bonus.
Properly filled pecan tassies will just twist out of the pan. I find it easier to remove them when cooled to room temperature because the crust is a little more stable and less likely to crumble. If they are over-filled or the crust was pressed too thin and some filling leaked out, you can run a paring knife around the edges to loosen. Twist out or use a small offset spatula to pry them out!
You can store my Great-Grandmother's pecan tassies in an airtight container layered between parchment or wax paper. They store well at room temperature, in the refrigerator or frozen for longer term storage.
These cookies will keep 1 week at room temperature, 2 weeks in the freezer or frozen for 3 months.
My Great-Grandmother's pecan tassies freeze wonderfully. Package them in an airtight container layered between parchment or wax paper. They will keep up to 3 months. They also taste delicious frozen!
To thaw pecan tassies allow them to sit at room temperature in their container. There isn’t a lot of moisture, so they will not get soggy. If you are not convinced, you can thaw them uncovered. Just don’t be shocked when some disappear!
You can make as a large a batch as you wish of these pecan tassies. The most I have made was 500. I had to bake it in batches because I didn’t have enough pans. If making a large batch, I strongly suggest sprinkling the pecans into each crust before pouring in the filling. This ensures an even distribution.
Chef Lindsey's Recipe Tips
Fill the pecan tassies using a liquid measuring cup with a pour spout. I find that this allows the best control. It minimizes the chance for drips and overfilling!
Recipe
My Great-Grandmother's Pecan Tassies
Ingredients
Shells:
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 3 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
Filing:
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar (packed)
- 1 tablespoon salted butter (melted)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅔ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
To make the Shells:
- Sift flour into a medium sized bowl. Cut butter into small cubes and add to flour. Add the cream cheese and cut the butter and cheese into the flour with two knives or a pastry blender. Continue until the dough holds together. Since we aren’t adding any additional liquid, you’ll want to continue to blend way past the stage at which you would normally stop with a pie crust.
- Gather the crust into a ball and divide into 24 little pieces. I used a kitchen scale and a board scraper to speed up the task but I’m sure RoRo tore little pieces off by sight.
- Press each piece into one cup of a miniature muffin tin to create a little crust. Be careful that none of the sides or the bottom get too thin. This will cause the filling to escape and glue itself to the sides of the tin.
To make the Filling:
- Mix egg, vanilla, sugar and butter together until no lumps remain.
To Assemble Pecan Tassies:
- Sprinkle a few pecan pieces in the bottom of each shell. Pour the filling into each cup until the filling is just below the top rim of the shell. I found using a liquid measuring cup the easiest way to do this.
- Sprinkle pecan pieces over the top of each tassie.
- Bake in preheated oven for 24-25 minutes.
- Let cool in the pan completely before removing. Twist and lift to remove!
Video Instructions
Notes
Before You Go!
Check out our other delicious, chef-developed recipes for Cookies!
Hi my name is Evelyn and I use your cookie recipe today for pecan Cassie's and I used to make these for years and years and I lost my recipe so I'm very glad that your recipe is the same as mine so the recipe turned out very good so I just want to let you know that and have a great Christmas bye-bye
Hi Evelyn, so happy to hear you were able to find the right tassies recipe, my Great-Grandmother sure knew how to make them! Happy baking! 💙
My grandmother's recipe is almost identical but since we moved to higher altitude we can't get the shells to cook properly. Any suggestions? My grandmother is gone and my dad loves these.
Unfortunately I am no expert at high-altitude baking and I don't want to lead you astray. Baking is a science and there are a lot of variables that are impacted by air pressure (altitude) but also humidity and other factors. King Arthurs Flour has a great starting reference guide to adjustments that also links to two other great resources! https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
My grandma had the same recipe called Tea Time Tassies. My cousin sent me my grandma's recipe and commented that my grandma used walnuts sometimes instead of pecans. I tried both ways and both are really good. These old recipes are so good and gin to try. Brings back such good memories.
Oh that is so wonderful to hear! They bring back so many memories for me too! Walnuts sound delicious!
I love that u have those old well used cards—I hope my daughter will cherish mine! I made my own crust but I tried this filling recipe n altho I made a mess filling it into the cups I must say that it was delicious n it has just the right sweetness I was going for.. Ty for sharing it !
I am sure they will, Diane!
If using tart papers in tassi e pans would you bake in tbem or add later
Hi! I'm not sure I totaly understand your question but these come out of the tins without papers, so if you want them for decoration, I would put them on after baking and cooling
Tassies are a great alternative to a full slice of pie. I think I will try subbing the all-purpose flour with pecan meal/flour to create a gluten-free option. I have had recent success with this and hope to see if if works in your recipe. We'll see! Either way, great recipe!!!