Sweet Chocolate Pecan Filling Recipe for Shortbread Mini Tarts
Browned butter provides the base for this pecan lover's dream dessert. You don't have to make the crusts but this recipe for shortbread crusts makes them the BEST pecan tarts ever!
1tablespoon(1tablespoon)heavy cream or half and half
Pecan Filling
½cup(113g)butter
⅔cup(133g)sugar
¾cup(255g)corn syrup - such as Karo, not the same as high fructose corn syrup
¼teaspoontable or sea salt
1teaspoon(1teaspoon)vanilla extract
Lemon juice from half a small lemon
3(3)eggs, mixed with a fork
1⅔cup(165g)pecans, coarsely chopped and toasted
15(15)unbaked and frozen tart shells
Chocolate Drizzle:
¼cup(45g)semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
Instructions
Mini-tart crusts:
Combine 1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, ⅓ cup powdered sugar, and ¼ teaspoon table or sea salt in a food processor. Cut ½ cup unsalted butter, chilled into 8 slices, and add to flour mixture, pulsing several times until mixture resembles oatmeal. Add 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon heavy cream or half and half. Pulse until all ingredients are moistened. Then, allow the machine to run for a few seconds until the dough sticks together. (Add additional drops of cream if the dough seems too dry.) Press dough into a roll like refrigerated cookie dough. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
Spray molds generously with Baker's Secret or something like it. (Baker's Secret is an aerosol spray that mixes flour and oil.) If using silicone molds, no greasing is necessary.
Slice the roll of dough into 15-16 pieces. Using a rolling pin, flatten dough between two pieces of plastic wrap into a circle slightly larger than tart molds. Press into a mold with fingers, being careful to keep the thickness consistent. Use a knife to trim off any extra at the top. I usually have enough scraps to make another tart or two. Freeze for at least 30 minutes, overnight, or up to a month.
Pecan Filling:
Preheat oven to 375˚F (190˚C).
Brown ½ cup butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. This will take a few minutes. You don't have to stir it constantly, but you must keep an eye on it. Pull off the heat when the butter starts to turn brown and gives off an amazing aroma. You'll know it when you smell it.
Stir ⅔ cup sugar into hot butter until it dissolves. Add ¾ cup corn syrup , ¼ teaspoon table or sea salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and Lemon juice from half a small lemon and stir. Then add 3 eggs, mixed with a fork and whisk gently into the butter mixture until combined and smooth. Add 1⅔ cup pecans, coarsely chopped and toasted.
Pour about 1/4 cup of filling into each 15 unbaked and frozen tart shells and place them on a rimmed baking sheet.
Bake in oven at 375˚F (190˚C) until browned and set. My mini tarts take about 25 minutes, but the time may vary depending on the size of your tarts.
Decorating with a Chocolate Drizzle (optional):
Place ¼ cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips in a small zippered plastic bag. Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute, 15 seconds, or until melted. Snip off the tiniest corner of the bag. Squeeze chocolate out of the hole over the pie in the design of your choice. If you want to squirt the leftover chocolate in your mouth, go ahead. It's our secret.