Tea Time Tassies (Pecan Tassies)

It’s that time of year… the time to bake our Croatian Christmas cookies! Each year, we toss in a few traditional cookies in the mix, such as Tea Time Tassies – also known as Pecan Tassies. These happen to be my personal favorite because I love the buttery, creamy-cheese flakey crust combined with the sweet, nutty Pecan filling. These tasty little cups are super easy to make, but take a little bit of time in order to mold the cups for the filling – especially when you make between 48-64 like we do! This recipe comes from my Great Grandmother’s hand-written recipe book…

Crust Ingredients:

• 3oz cream cheese
• 1 stick of butter at room temperature
• 1 cup of flour

Filling Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbs of butter, melted
• 1 tbs of vanilla (I use vanilla paste)
• 1/2 cup of pecans, roughly chopped

Before we begin, you’ll need the proper pan for Tassies, which looks like a pan for mini-cupcakes. They typically come in a large 24-cup tin, or smaller 12-cup tin. No need to butter/spray the ban, the crust is super buttery so as long as the pan is non-stick, you’ll be good to go!

1. Preheat your oven to 325.
2. Mix together the butter and cream cheese until well-combined and smooth.
3. Add the flour, mix together.
4. Using your hands, briefly knead the dough on a floured surface to ensure ingredients are well-combined.
5. Grab a small chunk of dough, a bit smaller than the size of a golfball, roll it between your two hands to form a sphere, then drop it into the pan. Repeat this until you’ve filled up your entire pan and you’ve used all of your dough.
6. Use your thumb to press gently in the center of the ball, then use your fingers to mold it into a cup – creating space for the filling.
7. To mix your filling, start with mixing the brown sugar and egg together until the egg is blended with the sugar.
8. Add the melted butter and vanilla, mix until well-combined.
9. Lastly, add your roughly-chopped nuts.
10. Scoop out the filling and pour it into the molded dough cups; filling them till they’re about 3/4 full.
11. Bake for 3o minutes until cups are golden brown and filling has thickened.

You can serve these tasty Tassies warm, or at room temperature. Enjoy!

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