Grandma's Shortcut Mini Pecan Tarts Recipe (7 Ingredients, 35 Minutes) Shortcut Recipes Cookies Desserts Holidays

You can count on a platter of these mini pecan tarts to be sitting on my mother-in-law's holiday table each year. These baked pecan tarts may be small in size, but they pack a sweet punch, especially during the fall months, Thanksgiving and Christmas. (I could eat these year-round!) 

The shortcut recipe has been used so much, that my sister-in-law had to rewrite it for me. That's a sure sign that this easy pecan tart recipe is a keeper.

The simple pecan filling has just five simple ingredients: pecans, an egg, vanilla, butter and brown sugar. Oh, and a pinch of salt. If you've ever wondered why salt is called for in dessert recipes, it's because it enhances the flavor of the other ingredients. You don't taste the salt, but it plays an important role. Check out the health benefits of pecans.

These mini pecan pies are wonderful for the holidays, for dessert after dinner year-round or as a sweet snack.

Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon melted butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 box refrigerated pie crusts, thawed

Here's how to make it: 

1. Stir melted butter, brown sugar and salt together.
2. Stir in the egg and vanilla.
3. Mix in pecans. (If desired, you could toast the pecans first.)
4. Unroll the pie crust dough. Using a small drinking glass or biscuit cutter, cut out circles of the pie crust. Push into mini muffin tins. (The easiest way to cut the thawed pie crust for these holiday pecan tarts is with the rim of a drinking glass, but a round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter would work, too. Save the scraps and roll together so you can get as many crusts as possible out of your dough.)
5. Pour in the filling. (A sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar would take these sweet pecan tarts up even one more notch.)
6. Bake in a preheated 325-degree F oven for about 20 minutes. Store the tarts in an airtight container to keep them fresh. 

Recipe cooking times, nutritional information and servings are approximate and provided for your convenience. However, 30Seconds is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe, nor may you have the same results because of variations in ingredients, temperatures, altitude, errors, omissions or cooking/baking abilities. Any nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and it is up to the individual to ascertain accuracy. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography.

Take 30 seconds and join the 30Seconds community, and follow us on Facebook to get recipes in your newsfeed daily. Food, fun, health, happiness.