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Home » Recipe Index » Sweets » Cookies/Pastries/Bars

Pecan Tassies

Published: Dec 2, 2020 by Olga · This post may contain affiliate links

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Pecan Tassies are cute and delicious pecan pies - but better! The buttery and flaky dough for these individual little pastries is filled with crunchy pecans and a gooey brown sugar filling.

Pecan Tassies-12

Every  year for Christmas, we have a family tradition of baking all kinds of baked goodies. We spend days with flour, sugar and eggs, forming cookies and pastries that will fill pretty plates. 

Pecan tassies have always been at the top of the list. The mini pies are so cute and taste amazing. I really like the combination of the tender crust with the gooey, nutty and somewhat  crunchy filling. 

Ingredients for Pecan Tassies:

Dough:
- butter, softened - it's important for the butter and cream cheese to be softened to room temperature so that they are able to be mixed evenly
- cream cheese
- all purpose flour
Filling:
- eggs
- melted butter
- brown sugar
- pecans - you can also use just about any other type of nuts for this recipe

Video of How To Make Pecan Tassies

Preparing the Cookie Dough and the Filling:

  • In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or using a hand mixer, combine the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the flour just until combined.
  • Divide the dough into 4 equal parts, press into log shapes and wrap each into aluminum foil or parchment paper.
  • Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. I highly recommend making the dough in advance. You can keep it refrigerated up to 3-5 days in advance or frozen for up to 3 months.
  • Mix the eggs, melted butter and brown sugar until smooth and most of the brown sugar is dissolved. (You can use a whisk to mix it all together or mix it up in a standing mixer, hand mixer or in a standing mixer.)  I have found that when you mix the filling with a mixer, it's easy to incorporate too much air into in and sometimes the tops of the Pecan Tassies will become too crackly and and won't look as pretty after baking. That is not always the case, but keep it in mind.
  • When the dough has chilled and is firm, cut each cylinder into 12 equal portions, 48 total.
  • Press the dough into the cavity of the cupcake/muffin cavities of a mini muffin pan (greased).

Assembling and Baking the Pecan Tassies

  • Add about ½ teaspoon of chopped pecans into the the bottom of each of muffin cup.
  • Pour the filling into a large ziptop bag, snip off a small corner and pour the filling over the nuts. Fill each of the muffin cups almost full, but be careful not to overfill them.
  • Bake the Pecan Tassies in a preheated oven (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 25-28 minutes.

Tips For the Best Pecan Tassies

Pecan Tassies-11
  • For the dough, make sure to bring the butter and cream cheese to room temperature so that they mix evenly. If they are too cold, you'll have white flecks of cream cheese and butter in the dough and they won't be mixed in well. For this dough, it is best to have a very smooth dough.
  • Make the dough in advance. This is so convenient and makes the process of making these cookies so much more doable, breaking up the process. The dough is so easy to make and have in your freezer, ready to go for months in advance.
  • For the filling, whisk the ingredients together for a minute or so and set it aside for about 5 minutes, then whisk for another 30 seconds and repeat this process a few times. You can easily do this while you are shaping the dough in the muffin pan. The sugar will dissolve more naturally as they stand at room temperature and will melt better as they bake.
  • If your brown sugar is not the best quality or isn't very fresh, you can see that easily because it will be hard to dissolve when you're mixing the filling. Unfortunately, that will often mean that the filling will crystallize after you bake the pecans. Sometimes it helps to put the mixed filling over a hot water bath and whisk for a few minutes. The warmth will help to dissolve the sugar better. This doesn't always work, but in some cases, it does.
  • You can mix the nuts with the filling and spoon it all out together to fill the pecan tassies.
  • You can also portion out the nuts separately, filling the bottom of the dough and then pour in the filling. A ziptop bag works great for this.
  • Don't overfill the dough with filling. If the filling oozes out, it may drip down the sides of the pecan tassies and the the cookies will stick to the muffin pans and make it hard to remove the cookies out of the muffin pans.
  • Brush the cupcake/muffin pans with oil and use a paper towel to rub it around. You don't want to have too much oil, because the dough will slide around in there when you're shaping the dough and will be harder to manage. It is important to grease the pan, because the cookies will be hard to remove if you don't.
  • Remove the Pecan Tassies out of the muffin pans when they are still warm. They should pop right out. If they are sticking to the pan, use a thin butter knife to gently pry them out from the side.

Storing and Freezing Pecan Tassies

Store baked Pecan Tassies at room temperature for at least a week, covered.

Pecan Tassies also freeze really well. You can prepare the dough in advance and freeze it for up to 3 months and also freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months. Make sure to wrap both the dough and/or the baked Pecan Tassies in multiple layers (parchment paper, aluminum foil, freezer bags, etc) or in an airtight container to prevent freezer burn and to keep them as fresh as possible.

Pecan Tassies-14
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Pecan Tassies

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Pecan Tassies are cute and delicious pecan pies - but better! The buttery and flaky dough for these individual little pastries is filled with crunchy pecans and a gooey brown sugar filling.

  • Author: Olga from Olga's Flavor Factory
  • Prep Time: 1 hour
  • Cook Time: 25 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour 25 mins
  • Yield: 48 tassies
  • Category: Sweets

Ingredients

Scale

Dough:

  • 2 sticks butter, softened to room temperature (1 cup or 16 Tablespoons total)
  • 6 oz cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2 cups all purpose flour

Filling:

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 ½ cups brown sugar
  • ¾ cup pecans, finely chopped

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 mini muffin baking pans with oil.
  2. In a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and cream cheese together until combined.
  3. Add the flour and mix to combine.
  4. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts, press into log shapes and wrap each into aluminum foil or parchment paper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. I like to make this dough ahead of time. You can even freeze it.

For the filling:

  1. Mix the eggs, melted butter and brown sugar until evenly combined and most of the sugar is dissolved. Set aside. 
  2. When the dough is chilled and firm, divide each cylinder into 12 equal portions. You should have 48 total.
  3. Press each portion into the cavity of mini muffin tins.
  4. Place about ½ a teaspoon of chopped pecans into each.
  5. Pour the filling into a ziptop bag. Cut a tiny opening in one of the corners. Fill each muffin cup about ¾ full. (You can also use a teaspoon.)
  6. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-28 minutes.

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Pecan Tassies-13

This recipe was originally published on December 11, 2012. I have added a video to make it even more easy to follow the recipe and clarified the instructions, although the recipe is still the same. 

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Related

More Cookies/Pastries/Bars

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  • Pryaniki - Russian Honey Spice Cookies
  • Trubochki With Dulce De Leche Filling
  • Russian Walnut Shaped Cookies - "Oreshki"

Comments

  1. Yana says

    June 11, 2025 at 3:04 pm

    We make these on repeat for many many years now! Especially for big gatherings when we need to bring hundreds of sweets and no refrigeration required! Love them, they’re just perfect 👌

    Reply
  2. Yana says

    January 28, 2024 at 5:27 pm

    These are VERY GOOD!!!!
    We remake them all the time for years now!
    ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

    Reply
  3. Laura says

    February 05, 2022 at 8:09 pm

    Hi Olga,
    just made this with pistachio. Delicious! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      February 08, 2022 at 10:03 pm

      So happy you enjoyed them, Laura. What a great idea to use pistachios.

      Reply
  4. Svetlana says

    June 10, 2021 at 2:32 am

    Olga,
    have you heard from anyone successfully using dairy-free substitutes for this recipe?
    thanks

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      June 10, 2021 at 12:29 pm

      Hi Svetlana,
      I haven't heard anyone using dairy free ingredients in this recipe and haven't tried it myself, so I'm not sure if it will work or not. If you try it, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

      Reply
  5. Inna says

    January 06, 2021 at 8:13 pm

    Thanks for a great recipe! These are delicious 😋

    Reply
  6. Christine says

    December 21, 2020 at 11:11 pm

    I made them and they are delicious, however, mine are not as visually appealing as yours.
    How do you get that smooth, crisp, slightly puffed layer on the top?
    Mine were all bumpy-as if the nuts had all risen to the top.
    I was mindful of your instructions and did not over mix the filling.

    Reply
  7. Christine says

    December 15, 2020 at 12:49 am

    I was wondering why the pecans aren't mixed in to the sugar filling and spooned into the tart shells already combined.

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      December 15, 2020 at 12:51 pm

      You can do it that way too, if you want, Christine. After making them for more than a decade, I find them easier to fill separately. The nuts sink to the bottom with time, so you constantly have to mix it up while filling to make sure you are getting an even mixture of nuts and filling into each tassie. Try it and see which way you prefer.

      Reply
  8. Ruslana says

    December 04, 2020 at 2:46 am

    Made these for Thanksgiving. They were delicious! I added some heavy cream beat with powdered sugar and a little lemon on top to make them look prettier and topped with a raspberry. My sister loved them too, and she's very picky with dessert. She said they were a perfect combination of sweet and crunchy and soft and when you bite in you can taste all the different flavors. Thanks for sharing! I rolled my dough out and then used a cookie cutter to make my tassie shells more even and turned out perfec, since it was my first time making them I didn't wanna end up with different pieces of dough if I cut it the way you did. Maybe I'll try that next time now that I saw how they turned out.

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      December 04, 2020 at 10:02 am

      I'm so happy that you enjoyed the Pecan Tassies, Ruslana. Thank you for sharing.

      Reply
  9. Ruslana says

    November 26, 2020 at 6:52 pm

    How long in advance can they be made ?

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      November 29, 2020 at 6:02 am

      If you make the dough in advance, you can freeze it from 1-3 months in advance. The baked cookies can be made 5-7 days in advance.

      Reply
  10. Angela says

    November 24, 2020 at 8:01 pm

    Hi Olga I accident added 8oz of cream cheese, what will happen

    Reply
  11. Ruslana says

    November 23, 2020 at 10:13 am

    If I make the dough a day ahead do you think I should freeze it or putting it in the fridge is good for just one day ?

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      November 24, 2020 at 9:44 am

      You can keep it in the refrigerator up to a few days in advance and store it in the freezer if you want to store it longer.

      Reply
  12. Tetiana says

    December 08, 2019 at 8:32 pm

    These are the best! These are my favorite! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  13. Christine says

    December 20, 2018 at 4:52 pm

    Do you think that they could be made in individual mini fluted tart shells?

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      December 21, 2018 at 11:26 am

      I have never tried it, Christine, so I am not sure.

      Reply
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