Pecan Tassies from Mississippi Vegan

Last month I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of Timothy Pakron’s gorgeous new cookbook Mississippi Vegan. The southern inspired cookbook is chock-full of Cajun and Creole vegan dishes along with some recipes that happen to look a very familiar…like these gooey tassies. Overflowing with mouthwatering recipes and moody photos, Mississippi Vegan is the perfect book for those advanced in vegan baker to newbie bakers. From Timmy’s hummingbird cake to his pralines, to his strawberry shortcakes crunch bars, I was at a loss of what to share this week.

Finally, I settled on these tassies which just like the Canadian butter-tart, are filled to the brim with chopped pecans, vanilla, some caramel sauce, and a splash of bourbon (for that southern twist). Using coconut sugar and brown rice syrup instead of white sugar and corn syrup, these buttery tarts a little bit better for you while not sacrificing any of the richness of the original. They’ll sure to be a hit this holiday season!

For more info on Timmy check out his blog here or his new book Mississippi Vegan. 

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Yield: 18 standard or 24 miniature tassies

Pecan Tassies (from Mississippi Vegan)

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Slightly adapted from Mississippi Vegan Recipes and Stories from a Southern Boy's Heart, copyright © 2018 by Timothy Pakron. Published by Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House NYC.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 recipe vegan pie dough 
• ¼ cup brown rice syrup
• ¼ cup coconut sugar
• 1 tbsp melted vegan butter
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• Splash of bourbon (optional)
• Pinch of sea salt
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 tsp corn starch
• 2 -½ cups chopped pecans

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, stir together the brown rice syrup, coconut sugar, melted vegan butter, vanilla, bourbon (if using), and salt.
2. In small bowl, combine the water and corn starch. Stir this into the sugar mixture along with the chopped pecans.
3. Roll out the pie dough until it's approximately ¼-inch thick. Using a cookie or biscuit cutter, cut the dough into circles (see notes for more details).
4. Line muffin cups with pie dough, depending on your size preference (again, see notes). Place muffin tin (with dough) in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to chill.
5. Preheat the oven to 350° F and distribute the pecan mixture evenly throughout the chilled pastry cups. Fill until just under the pastry line, otherwise the mixture will bubble over making it difficult to remove the tassies from the tin. Less is more!
6. Bake 25 minutes, or until golden and bubbly. Let cool 20 minutes and serve warm.

Notes

• If you're not vegan, you can use our basic pie crust recipe and swap the vegan butter in the filling to regular butter.
• To make mini pecan tassies, use a mini muffin tray and cut your pastry into 3-inch rounds. This will yield miniature tassies.
• To make standard-sized tassies, cut your pastry into 5-inch rounds. This will yield 18 standard muffin-sized tassies.
• If you make the standard sized tassies, you will have leftover pie dough. We recommend making these puff pastry cinnamon twists with the extra. Simply adjust the amount of sugar and cinnamon needed.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 438Total Fat: 33gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 26gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 155mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 4gSugar: 12gProtein: 4g

This is an approximation of the nutrition offered in this recipe, and is created using a nutrition calculator.