Mini Pecan Pie

I am back! I took a bit of time off from blogging over the holiday to visit some family. I had a lovely time filled with fun, lots of laughter, good conversation, and plenty of delicious food. I hope to share some of the lovely dishes that we had over the break. Matthew’s brother in law showed us a delicious and easy way to make some perfect bread, and his sister shared a Lamb Korma recipe that was incredible!

After returning home and settling back in, I was reminded of my focus this month which has been to share some of my favorite holiday treats with you. As we close out 2013, I will share with you another dessert that I enjoy and fits in perfectly with holiday sweets; the pecan pie. I used a pecan pie recipe from simplyrecipes.com.

Instead of making the whole pie I thought it would be fun to bake up some mini individual sized pies. These pies turned out so cute and they had the perfect balance of sweetness. We enjoy these pies served up with a nice scoop (or three) of vanilla ice cream. Hey, New Year’s resolutions haven’t set in… yet!

Pie Crust Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of sugar
11 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
7 tablespoons of vegetable shortening, cubed and chilled
1/3 cup of ice water

I began with the crust for my mini pies. In a large bowl I mixed together 2 1/4 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 2 tablespoons of sugar.

To the flour mixture I cut in 11 tablespoons of butter and 7 tablespoons of shortening. I made sure the butter and shortening were well incorporated and the mixture was nice and crumbly.

I added 1/3 of a cup of ice water. I mixed until incorporated and a nice dough had formed.

Then on a lightly floured work surface I shaped the dough into a round and lightly flattened it. I wrapped the dough in plastic wrap and placed it in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

With 30 minutes left on the chill time I preheated the oven to 375 degrees.

Filling Ingredients: (yields 4 mini pies)

1 3/4 cups of pecans, coarsely chopped
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup of light corn syrup
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of molasses
2 tablespoon of unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons of flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
a few whole pecans for decoration (optional)

To make the pies I used 4 mini non-stick tart pans with a removable base. The pans were about 4 1/2 inches in diameter by 1 inch deep.

Once the dough had finished chilling I rolled the dough out into a large thin round on a lightly floured surface. I cut out four circles slightly larger than the tart pans (about 6 1/2 inches in diameter).

Then I gently pressed and shaped each dough into its pan and removed any excess dough. I used a fork to gently poke a few holes onto the bottom of each crust. I made sure not to poke all the way through.

I evenly divided and spread the 1 3/4 cups of pecans along the bottom of each pie crust.

Then in a large bowl I mixed together 2 eggs, 1 cup of corn syrup, 1/4 of a cup of brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of molasses, 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 2 tablespoons of flour, 1/4 of a teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. I mixed by hand until well combined.

I evenly added the filling over the pecans in each pie crust. The pecans will rise to the surface. I made sure not to overfill the crusts. Then I gently placed a few whole pecans onto the top of each pie.

Then I carefully transferred my pies to a cookie sheet and baked them for about 20-25 minutes and until the filling was set and the crust was golden brown and fully cooked. I kept a close eye on the pies while they baked.

I removed the pies from the oven and let them cool completely.

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