Suppose you’re thinking of calling them mini pies or giant pecan tassies. it is is an ideal dessert to have pre-portioned for gatherings during the holidays (or to store in the freezer for those occasions when you need a sweet indulgence). The most appealing thing is that these miniature dark chocolate Pecan Pies can be made easy to make, so if you are scared of pie baking, this is an ideal way to begin. Pecan pies are generally somewhat sweet for me, and I added some bitter dark chocolate to counterbalance the delicious caramel-ly sweet filling. I also played around with adding a little flakey sea salt on the top of two pecan pies, which was delicious!
INGREDIENTS
Crust
8TBSp salted butter at room temperature ($0.75)
Four oz. cream cheese, room temperature ($0.60)
1 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour ($0.13)
1 Tbsp sugar ($0.02)
Filling
Dark chocolate 75 grams, split ($1.19)
One large egg lightly beat ($0.26)
3/4 Cup brown sugar ($0.36)
1 Tbsp of butter that has been melted ($0.09)
1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.14)
1/3 cup pieces of pecans ($1.69)
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350oF. Mix the cream cheese and butter in an enormous mixing bowl. Once the mixture is combined, add 1 cup of sugar and flour, then beat until the combination is well combined. The combination could appear dry and crumbly. However, it should hold together when squeezed. Make the mixture into a ball, then add a tablespoon or two tablespoons of flour if it gets too sticky.
Split the dough into twelve equal pieces. The easiest method to accomplish this is tosplit the dough into equal-sized portions and then divide each into three parts. Then, roll the pieces into a ball and place them inside the hole of a standard-sized muffin tin (NOT an oversized muffin tray). The muffin tin doesn’t require grease.
Use your fingers to press the dough balls into the top and edges of the muffin tins’ wells. It’s OK if the dough isn’t quite at the highest point in the well. Make sure you push it down into the corners to prevent rounded corners. Put a dime-sized chunk of chocolate inside each of the pie crusts. I used approximately 50 grams of chocolate to fill the pie base while the remaining was drizzled on the top after baking.
To make the filling, include the beaten egg, brown sugar, butter that has been melted vanilla, pecans, and vanilla in a small bowl. Stir until the mixture is well combined, but avoid beating the mixture too vigorously or creating frothy air bubbles.
Spread the mixture evenly across each pie crust. The filling should only cover each pie around half full however, it will expand when it bakes. After filling, place the preheated muffin pan in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes.
When the pies are cooked after baking, melt another 25g of chocolate. You can melt it in an oven, heating it to 15 secs at a stretch and stirring every time, until the chocolate is melted, or simply by putting a tiny container over the double boiler. After it has melted, pour the chocolate over the pie.
Let the pies cool completely before using an ice-pick to lift them from the muffin pan carefully.