American inspired.

The first time I had pecans was when one of our Workawayers (Andrea from North Carolina) made Pecan Crisp for dessert. I haven’t made that myself but will one day – it was truly delicious. A very typical American dessert is pecan pie that is commonly served during Thanksgiving. However, these mini pecan pies are a spin on the larger pie recipe.

Baking with pecans is more common in USA than it is here in Australia. It makes sense. Pecans grow on trees in Southern parts of USA and Northern Mexico regions. The pecan is the state nut of Alabama, Arkansas, California, and Texas, and is also the state tree of Texas.

However, that shouldn’t stop anyone from trying a recipe with them. You can readily buy pecans at both Coles and Woolworths here in Australia.

What do pecans taste like?

Pecans have a distinctly sweet and buttery flavour. The flavour is mildly floral and foresty. The outside of the nut is slightly bitter with the flesh sweet and buttery.

Many think that pecans and walnuts are the same or similar. They aren’t. Pecans are smaller, sweeter, and cheaper than walnuts. Pecans also have a higher degree of fibre, monounsaturated fat, and vitamin E.

Making these mini pies

The pie crust is really simple to make with the added cream cheese giving it a wonderful flavour. These mini pies come together using a mini muffin tray (sponsored link) with each lined with the pie crust. I bought one of these trays a while ago and often use it to make mini cupcakes for birthday parties. This is another way you can use the tray and I highly recommend purchasing one if you don’t have it.

This recipe has a spin on traditional pecan pie with added almond meal into the filling. This creates a frangipane or almond cream with chopped pecans added. I have to say that adding the almond meal is truly optional but gives a firmer pie filling rather than a really caramel one. It’s up to you if you add in the almond meal or not.

Once these mini pies are baked, they aren’t overly sweet. This recipe only has 1/2 cup brown sugar so the molasses component of the sugar mellow out the sweetness.

Once cooled down, dust these mini pecan pies with icing sugar. Make these in advance and serve to guests with a cup of coffee or tea.

Mini Pecan Pies

These mini pecan pies have all the flavours of traditional pecan pie, but in mini form and individual servings. Easy to make and great for entertaining!

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Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings 40 mini pies

Ingredients

 

Pie Crust:

• 225 g package cream cheese, softened and cubed
• 225 g butter, cold & cubed
• 2½ cups plain flour
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt

Filling:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• ½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• ⅛ cup almond meal, (optional)
• ½ cup chopped pecans
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch salt

Instructions

 

Pastry:

• To make the pastry, combine the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse briefly to mix. Add the butter and cream cheese and pulse until the mixture just starts to come together in a ball.
• Transfer the dough to a work surface. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Roll each portion into a short cylinder tube. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Mini Pies:

• Preheat oven to 175 °C with rack positioned one level below the centre.
• Roll the dough out to 5mm thickness on a floured surface. Cut circles with a 7cm diameter cookie cutter or glass. Carefully press the dough rounds into the mini muffin pan that has been generously coated with nonstick cooking spray. The edges should go up to the top of the mini muffin pan. Prick the pie crust bottoms with a fork then chill in the refrigerator while mixing the filling. NOTE: a typical mini muffin pan will bake 24 mini pies. It’s likely you will have to make these in two batches.
• Mix together all filling ingredients until combined.
• Fill each pie crust with 1 tablespoons of the filling. Do not fill past the edge of the pie crusts. A little crust should stick up above the top of the filling in each mini pie. It won’t look like a lot, but the filling expands while baking.
• Bake for 25 minutes, or until the centre of the mini pies start to solidify and are no longer jiggly. If the tops begin to brown too quickly after about 15 minutes, you can cover the top with tin foil for the remaining time.
• After removing from the oven, check each mini pie to see if the filling has spilt over the edge of the pie crust. If it has, they will be hard to remove without damaging the crust once the sugar completely cools. While hot, use a small knife and gently work each mini pie out of the muffin tin to prevent them from sticking.
• Cool completely and sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

Notes

• Recipe cooking time of 50 minutes factors baking in two batches of 25 minutes each.
• Adding the almond meal is truly optional. If you do, it gives a firmer pie filling rather than a really caramel one. For a more traditional pecan pie filling, simply leave out the almond meal.
• Store these in an airtight container in the fridge for several days. Alternatively, you can freeze them - just let them defrost to room temperature before serving.