Easy Pecan Tassie Nut Cups

Pecan tassie nut cup cookies on white plate.

Calories:

Whether a holiday party or tea party, these Easy Pecan Tassies are the perfect bite-sized dessert to bring! They're like mini pecan pies but in cookie form and made with a homemade cream cheese crust!

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Ingredients

Nut Cup Dough

2 cups flour
½ lb butter, room temperature *see note
6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature *see note

Nut Cup Filling

3 large eggs
1½ cups light brown sugar
2 tablespoon salted butter, melted
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups pecans, chopped small *see note

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Reserve 1 egg. Mix together 2 eggs, brown sugar, melted butter and vanilla extract in a medium bowl until combined. Mix in crushed pecans. (Overmixing will lead to a foamy filling which is not what we want.) Refrigerate until ready to use.
In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and softened cream cheese. Gram did this using a fork but you can use a mixer if you have!
Then add in your flour and mix together using a rubber spatula until it comes together. Finish mixing using your hands! (This is what Gram did and it's fun!) :) Just make sure not to overmix it.
Next we need to roll our dough! You have two options. #1 is more rustic, #2 is more neat.
Option 1: Using your fingers, press enough dough into each mini muffin tins. (I found that some tins are smallers so the amount will vary).
Just make sure the dough is even on the bottom and sides of the tin. Use more dough if you like a thicker crust and less if the cavity is too small.
Option 2: Use a rolling pin to roll out your dough to no more than a ¼" thick. Use a round cookie cutter to cut each cup out. Aim for rounds about 3" in diameter. Then press pre-cut rounds into muffin tins.
Next, fill each cavity with your filling all the way up to the rim. (About 1-2 teaspoon of filling).
Scramble your third reserved egg in a bowl and brush the top of each filled cup. Concentrate on brushing the crust.
Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Use a thin metal spatula or knife to scrape the cups out of the tins while still warm. Enjoy!

Notes

*The cream cheese and butter will mix better if they are soft. Remove wrappers and pop both in the microwave for 15 seconds or so so soften.

*You can use a grinder to coarsely crush the nuts or use a mallet to smash them inside a plastic bag.

Store your nut cups in a sealed container for 3-4 days.