2000s Recipes + Menus

Pine Nut Tassies

Makes about 4 dozen cookies
  • Active time: 1 1/4 hr
    Total time: 3 hr (includes cooling)
These cookies are absolutely delicious made with regular butter, but they become downright amazing with Plugrá or Land O Lakes Ultra Creamy.
December 2003

INGREDIENTS:

For Shells:

For Pine Nut Filling:

  • 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 3/4 cups pine nuts (1/2 pound)

EQUIPMENT

  • 2 nonstick mini-muffin pans, each with 12 (1 3/4-inch) cups

GARNISH:

  • confectioners sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:

Make Shells:

  • Follow recipe for basic butter cookies to make dough, then divide dough in half. Divide 1 half (keep remaining dough chilled, covered) into 24 pieces (about 1 1/2 teaspoons each) and form into 1-inch balls. Press each ball evenly onto bottom and up side of an ungreased mini-muffin cup to form a pastry shell (use a piece of plastic wrap to prevent dough from sticking to your fingers). Chill until ready to fill.

Make Filling:

  • Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
  • Whisk together brown sugar, butter, egg, vanilla, and salt until blended, then stir in pine nuts. Fill each pastry shell with about 2 teaspoons filling.
  • Bake tassies until filling is bubbling and pastry is golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Run a sharp thin knife around edge of each pastry, then transfer pan (with cookies) to a rack to cool 10 minutes. Remove tassies from pans and transfer to rack to cool completely. Make more tassies with remaining dough and filling.

Cooks’ Note

  • Tassies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment, in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.
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