Tassies Recipes

Steps:

• In a small bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth; gradually beat in flour. Refrigerate, covered, 1 hour or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 375°. Shape dough into 1-in. balls; press evenly onto bottoms and up sides of greased mini muffin cups., For filling, in a small bowl, mix egg, brown sugar, butter, vanilla and salt until blended. Stir in 1/3 cup pecans; spoon into pastries. Sprinkle with remaining pecans., Bake 15-20 minutes or until edges are golden and filling is puffed. Cool in pans 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool. Freeze option: Freeze cooled cookies, layered between waxed paper, in freezer containers. To use, thaw in covered containers.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, mix together the margarine and cream cheese until well blended. Beat in flour, 1 cup at a time, until the mixture forms a smooth dough. Roll into small balls, and press into the bottoms and sides of tart pans or mini muffin pans.
• In another bowl, mix together the eggs, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt. Stir in the pecans. Use a spoon to fill each of the crusts 2/3 full with the filling mixture.
• Bake for 15 to 18 minutes in the preheated oven, until shell is light brown, and the filling has puffed up. Cool, and carefully remove from pans.

Steps:

• Make the dough: Beat the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until creamy, about 5 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the confectioners? sugar and salt until fluffy, about 1 more minute. Gradually beat in the flour until the dough comes together.
• Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead a few times until smooth. Divide the dough in half and roll each half into a 12-inch-long rope. Cut each rope into 12 pieces. Roll the pieces into balls and put the balls in a 24-cup mini-muffin tin. Use your thumb to press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the cups, making the bottom slightly thinner than the sides. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: Toss the apples, lemon juice, granulated sugar, apple pie spice and vanilla in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the apple mixture and stir to coat. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 20 minutes. There should be some liquid left in the skillet; if not, stir in 1/4 cup water.
• Mix the cornstarch and 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl; stir into the apple mixture and bring to a boil. Cook until thick and bubbling, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl to cool, about 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Divide the apple mixture evenly among the muffin cups. Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until the tassies are golden, about 30 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes in the pan, then use an offset spatula to remove the tassies and transfer to a rack to cool completely. They will crisp as they cool.

Steps:

• For candied lemon zest: Remove zest from lemons with a vegetable peeler, keeping pieces long. Remove white pith using a paring knife, and finely julienne using a very sharp knife. Place julienned zest in a small bowl; cover with boiling water. Let stand for 30 minutes; drain.
• Bring 1 cup sugar and the cool water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. When sugar is completely dissolved, add julienned zest, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand overnight. Remove zest, and drain on wire rack. Roll in sugar. Dry on wire rack. Store zest in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with rack in upper third. Lightly butter a 24-cup mini-muffin pan; set aside. In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flour and butter. Pulse until mixture is the consistency of fine crumbs. Add the sugar, egg yolk, vanilla, lemon zest, and salt. Process until evenly incorporated and smooth; do not overprocess.
• Divide the dough into quarters. Divide each quarter into 6 pieces. Shape into balls. Place each ball in a muffin cup; press down in the centers so that the dough fits the cups snugly. Set muffin pan on a baking sheet.
• Bake until lightly browned all over and slightly darker at the edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer baking sheet with muffin pan to a wire rack to cool.
• Make the filling: In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla until completely smooth. Using a 1/4-ounce ice cream scoop, fill the cooled crusts. Bake until filling is set and just beginning to color at the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer muffin pan to a wire rack. Garnish with candied lemon peel. Let cool completely before serving. The tassies may be stored in an airtight container, refrigerated, for up to 3 days.

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat flour into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to handle., Preheat oven to 350°. Shape dough into 1-in. balls; place in greased mini-muffin cups. Using floured fingers, press evenly onto bottoms and up sides of cups., Cook broccoli according to package directions; drain. In a large bowl, combine egg, condensed soup, milk and mayonnaise; stir in cheese and cooked broccoli. Spoon about 1 tablespoon filling into each cup. For topping, mix bread crumbs and melted butter; sprinkle over filling., Bake until edges are golden brown, 18-22 minutes. Cool in pans 2 minutes before removing to wire racks. Serve warm. To Make Ahead: Dough can be made 2 days in advance. Freeze option: Freeze cooled pastries on waxed paper-lined baking sheets until firm. Transfer to resealable freezer containers. To use, reheat pastries on ungreased baking sheets in a preheated 350° oven 14-16 minutes or until lightly browned and heated through.

Steps:

• Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Refrigerate, covered, for 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 350°. Shape dough into 1-in. balls; press evenly onto bottom and up sides of ungreased mini-muffin cups., Pulse pecans and coconut in a food processor until finely chopped. In a small bowl, whisk brown sugar, egg, butter, vanilla and salt. Whisk in chocolate. Stir in pecan mixture. Place a rounded teaspoon of filling in each cup. Bake until filling is set, 17-20 minutes. Cool in pans 5 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Steps:

• Combine 1 cup butter and cream cheese in a bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Add flour gradually, beating at low speed. Shape mixture into 48 balls and place on a baking sheet. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease the cups of a mini-muffin pan. Press 1 chilled dough ball into each cup and shape into a tart shell.
• Whisk brown sugar, eggs, 2 tablespoons butter, vanilla extract, and salt together in a bowl. Stir in 1 1/4 cups pecans. Spoon mixture into tart shells. Top with the remaining pecans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until edges of cookie shell are delicately brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
• Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Gently remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks, about 20 minutes.

Steps:

• With an electric mixer, beat the 1/2 cup butter and the cream cheese until smooth. Add the flour and beat until fully combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 24-cup mini-muffin pan with cooking spray.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, egg, brown sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth. Set aside.
• Shape the chilled dough into 24 balls, about 1 inch in diameter. Press each ball into a cup of the muffin pan, spreading evenly and up the sides, then spoon 1 teaspoon of the pecans into each muffin cup. Fill each cup with the egg mixture until evenly distributed, about 1 teaspoon in each. Bake until the filling is set, about 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, and then remove from the muffin pan.

Steps:

• In a bowl, blend butter, cream cheese and flour. Chill. Divide dough into fourths; divide each fourth into 12 small balls. Press each ball into miniature tart or muffin pans. For filling, combine all ingredients except cherries; fill tarts three-fourths full. Place on baking sheets. Bake at 325° for 25-30 minutes or until crust is browned and filling set. Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans. If desired, garnish with candied cherries.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually add flour and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle. , Roll dough into 1-in. balls; press onto the bottom and up the sides of ungreased miniature muffin cups. Prick bottoms with a fork. Bake at 375° for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks., In a large heavy saucepan over low heat, melt caramels with milk. Remove from the heat; cool slightly. Transfer to a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag; cut a small hole in a corner of the bag. Pipe filling into pastry cups. Cool to room temperature., For frosting, in a small bowl, beat shortening and butter until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar and milk until fluffy. Pipe onto filling. Store in the refrigerator.

Steps:

• Make the crust: Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, either by hand or with an electric mixer, beat together butter, cream cheese, sugar and salt until creamy. Beat in the flour just until combined and the dough begins to come together. Portion the dough into 24 1-inch balls (about a scant tablespoon each). Press each ball into a cup of a nonstick mini-muffin pan, spreading evenly over the bottom and 3/4 of the way up the sides, slightly higher if the cups are on the shallow side.
• Make the filling and bake: In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the filling ingredients. Add a heaping teaspoon of the filling to create a small mound in each cup, making sure to distribute the pecans evenly by stirring the filling every few scoops. Bake until the filling is set and the crust is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the tassies from the tin to cool completely.