These Pecan Tassies with Honey have a buttery cream cheese crust and a rich, gooey pecan filling. They are bite-sized treats that taste like mini pecan pies and are a perfect addition to any holiday dessert platter.
What we love about these Pecan Tassies
These are so good. They are soooo good. The crust is amazing. It just melts in your mouth. The buttery cream cheese pastry is soft and pliable for shaping and makes a delicious, flaky pastry that perfectly complements the rich and gooey center. The dough is super easy to work with. It is easily shaped with your fingers, which I love. The crusts come together pretty quickly, bake perfectly, and are easily removed from the pan intact.
Pecan pie fillings often use corn syrup, but I love these mini pecan tassies with honey. They taste better and make them deliciously gooey as well. The combination of the brown sugar and honey filling with the crisp pecans makes every bite sweet, gooey, and nutty. They are literally little bites of heaven with the crust. I have to hide these deep in the freezer or they disappear. I love that they don’t take up room in your fridge to store them, and they last several days at room temperature. I like making them in advance and storing them in the freezer before serving them.
Looking for some more holiday cookie recipes? Try our delicious Cranberry and Walnut Cookies, our Chocolate Frosted Cookies, or our Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies.
What you need to make this Pecan Tassie Recipe
You will need the following ingredients:
- All-purpose flour
- Butter
- Cream Cheese
- Salt
- Brown sugar
- Honey
- Vanilla
- Egg
- Pecans
Pecan Tassies with Honey Substitutions
I know what it’s like when you don’t have everything on hand and the last thing you want to do is run to the store and pick something up. Here are a few ideas to substitute items on the ingredients list if needed:
- You could substitute maple syrup or corn syrup for the honey.
- You could substitute a different nut for the pecans, like walnuts or almonds.
- While I haven’t tried it, you could possibly substitute the brown sugar with granulated sugar.
Step-by-step Instructions
Step 1. Place the flour, softened butter, softened cream cheese, and salt for the tassies shells in a food processor (a stand mixer can also be used or an electric mixer if needed). Pulse the ingredients together a few times until the mixture forms a ball.
Step 2. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour.
Step 3. To make the pastry shells, roll one tablespoon of dough into a small ball and place it in the prepared mini-muffin pan. Repeat with the remaining dough. Use your fingers to press into the bottom and up the sides of the dough to make the tassie shell. If the dough sticks to your fingers, you can wet your fingers with a little water. Freeze the shells for 10-15 minutes while you make the filling.
Step 4. In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, honey, melted butter, vanilla, egg, and salt until completely combined. Stir in the pecans.
Step 5. Remove the shells from the freezer and fill each tassie cup with 1-2 teaspoons of the filling. Don’t overly mound the filling as it will rise when baking, and you don’t want it to seep over the shell’s edge.
Step 6. Bake for 20 minutes until the tassies are lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes. Use an offset spatula or thin butter knife to remove the tassies from the pan and place them on a cooling rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Tips
- These tassies are easy to make. The dough is very moldable and easy to press just by using your fingers. Tassies usually have cream cheese in the dough, which helps to make a more moldable shell and gives the shells a little bit of a cookie texture instead of a traditional flaky pastry shell.
- I love my USA Bakeware 24-well Mini Muffin Pan. Everything cooks evenly, and the pan cleans easily. It is high-quality and long-lasting.
Frequently Asked Questions
| Can the pecan tassies be made in advance? |
| a. You can prepare the dough and store it up to 3 days in advance, well covered. The filling can be made a day in advance. Be sure to stir it well before filling the tassie cups. b. The tassies freeze very well, and are a perfect make-ahead treat. They can be put on the counter to thaw at room temperature before serving. |
| How do I store Pecan Tassies with Honey? |
| a. Store cookies in an air-tight container. I use a Tupperware container and use parchment paper to separate the layers when stacking, so they don’t stick together. For best quality, store cookies at room temperature for up to 5 days, in the fridge for 1-2 weeks, and in the freezer for up to 2 months. |
Pecan Tassies with Honey
25
minutes25
minutes1
hour24
tassiesThese Pecan Tassies with Honey have a buttery cream cheese crust and a rich, gooey pecan filling. They are bite-sized treats that taste like mini pecan pies and are a perfect addition to any holiday dessert platter.
Ingredients
Tassie Shells
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup butter (one stick), softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
Pinch salt
Filling
½ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 large egg, slightly beaten
Pinch salt
¾ cup finely chopped pecans
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Lightly coat a 24-cup mini-muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- Place the flour, softened butter, softened cream cheese, and salt for the tassies shells in a food processor (a stand mixer can also be used or an electric mixer if needed). Pulse the ingredients together a few times until the mixture forms a ball. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour.
- To make the pastry shells, roll one tablespoon of dough into a small ball and place it in the prepared mini-muffin pan. Repeat with the remaining dough. Use your fingers to press into the bottom and up the sides of the dough to make the tassie shell. If the dough sticks to your fingers, you can wet your fingers with a little water. Freeze the shells for 10-15 minutes while you make the filling.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, honey, melted butter, vanilla, egg, and salt until completely combined. Stir in the pecans. Remove the shells from the freezer and fill each tassie cup with 1-2 teaspoons of the filling. Don’t overly mound the filling as it will rise when baking, and you don’t want it to seep over the shell’s edge.
- Bake for 20 minutes until the tassies are lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes. Use an offset spatula or thin butter knife to remove the tassies from the pan and place them on a cooling rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- The tassie dough is easy to work with. It is very moldable and easy to press just by using your fingers. Tassies usually have cream cheese in the dough, which helps to make a more moldable shell and gives the shells a little bit of a cookie texture instead of a traditional flaky pastry shell.
- I have tried using a pastry tamper to form the shells, but had problems with the dough sticking to the tamper and found that using my fingers was easier. If using the tamper, I would flour it with each use.
- If you like, you can dollop the tassies with whipped cream or sprinkle them with powdered sugar before serving.
These are just so cute! I’m definitely gonna be making these for our Girl Scout holiday party.
Love that these were made with honey instead of corn syrup! The cream cheese made the dough so easy to work with and gave these such a delicious flavor. Looking forward to making these again soon!
These are delicious. As a Canadian whose favourite dessert is pecan butter tarts and pecan pie- this is definitely up there!! Thank you.