pecans

Terrific Pecan Tart!

Something sweet for Valentine’s Day. I have a bag of pecan halves. Perfect. I wanted an impressive whole tart not some small individual tarts like I’ve made in the past, so I used my long rectangular tart, this is the correct amount of filling. A rectangular one is attractive and fun to cut in narrow slices across the width. And a tart is not quite as thick as a pie; I prefer the crust to filling proportions. You can also use a 9-inch round tart pan.

Notes: You have to use dark corn syrup.  Yes, I know corn syrup is an unhealthy item but sometimes you just have to go wicked!  It’s worth it, I promise. Cross my heart. Oh and NO margarine. Butter! Or Earth Balance if you don’t eat real butter. And the filling only uses 2 eggs so that’s helpful these days.

This tart was awesome as is but are also great with some freshly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream which is quite popular at my house.

Ready for the oven….

Angie’s GF Pecan Tart

Crust:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

2 Tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbsp granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbsp cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 large egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Crust directions: Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembles coarse meal.  Add egg and juice.  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes while you get the rest ready.

Filling:

2 large eggs

1/3 c sugar

1/4 tsp sea salt

2 and a half tbsp. melted butter

1/2 cup dark corn syrup

1 cup pecan halves

Sprinkle cinnamon

Filling: Beat eggs, sugar, salt, butter and corn syrup in a bowl until well mixed, can use a hand held mixer.  Stir in pecans and a good sprinkle of cinnamon.

Assembly: Roll out pie crust between the two long sheets of wax paper; try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! Peel off one side of paper and lay in long rectangluar tart shell or a round one if that’s what you got.  Crimp edges all around.   Fill your shell with pecan mix.  Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven on a low shelf for 25 or so minutes until set and crust edges lightly browned.  Cool at least 1/2 hour before serving warm or at room temperature or even slightly chilled. 

Freshly baked long pean tart!
My slice!

Nut Tassie Cookies

Nut tassies are a local favorite around here in eastern Pennsylvania. They look like a tiny pecan pie, the size of one gigantic bite! Heavenly sweet and best made with pecans.  I have eaten them at many people’s homes. In all fairness I never made them when I could still eat regular gluten all-purpose white flour. Perhaps it is that I was able to just snag them off a cookie plate at someone’s holiday party.  Now, that sort of noshing is no long a possibility, and I was craving a nut tassie. Several years ago, I started looking for a recipe and eventually I found them on food.com; a classic tassie recipe complete with cream cheese dough for the pie crust and a filling almost identical to the traditional filling. And it was gluten free for folks like me…eureka!

Notes: Sometimes my family has a small pre-Christmas gathering and I whip up a batch of these tassies.   After chilling the dough some I make a dozen.  I will make the rest of them another day…reason being that gf cookies don’t keep as well as regular flour cookies so best not to bake the whole batch at once shot.  This way you have fresh cookies twice.  I keep the dough and filling in the fridge nice and cold and it will last up to a week or so.

Speaking of filling, I often don’t chop my nuts really fine; leave some in chunks to give a bigger texture which I prefer. The filing is so simple; chop the nuts, then dump these sugar and eggs in a mixing bowl, add the softened butter and the vanilla and nuts; stir and it is ready to spoon into the little crust cups you just formed.

They are easy to make and totally yummy to devour.  I find it takes me 2-3 bites to down one of these treats.  Happy baking folks!

Nut Tassies

Crust Ingredients

3 ounces cream cheese softened

1⁄2 cup butter, room temp.

1cup gluten-free flour – King Arthur Basic GF Flour or Bob’s Red Mill GF All-purpose flour

1⁄2 teaspoon xanthan gum

2 tablespoons sugar

Crust directions: using a whisk combine the GF flour, Xanthan Gum and 2 Tbsp. spoon sugar in a small bowl, Mix and set aside.  Using a mixer combine the cream cheese, butter and sugar until cream.  Then slowly add the GF flour mix you set aside, continue to mix until well blended. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Pecan Filling

  • 1 cup finely chopped pecans
  • 3⁄4 cup coconut palm sugar or brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon softened butter
  • 1 lg. egg 

Directions – Using a mixer combine the pecans, brown sugar, vanilla, butter and egg until well blended

Assembly

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • Separate the chilled pie crust into 24 equal amounts (spoon or roll into balls).
  • Press the separated crust into a mini muffin pan, making sure that you press it most or all the way up
  • Fill each crust with a heaping mound of the filling.
  • Bake for approximately 30 min or until the crust is lightly browned.
  • Let cool and remove your mini pies from the pan. Use a butter knife to remove without damaging them

Enjoy!

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Pecan Pie: Thanksgiving Classic!

Thanksgiving pie – you gotta have it. Posted my go-to pumpkin pie recipe the other day.  Here is another classic pie. This is my favorite pecan pie recipe; been making it for a long while and I have shared the recipe before but not on this blog; right out of Betty Crocker, just now with a gluten free crust.  I add an extra quarter cup pecans to make the pie a bit fatter and I always use dark Karo syrup; it is really the only one you should use if you want a great result. The next time I bake it I want to test it with coconut palm sugar instead of granulated sugar in the filling. I love the lower spot for it on the hypoglycemic index so lately I use it whenever possible.

karopecans

I often don’t need a whole pecan pie so I make a half batch of filling to fill four flat bottom tartlets filled with pecan yumminess. Just a thought if you don’t want a whole big pie.  My tartlets were baked in 30-35 minutes.  They were scrumptious.

Pecan pie is awesome on its own but is also great with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.  A classic never goes out of style.  It looks just like pecan pie should; rich, dark and chock full of pecan halves. The crust is tender and flaky: it tastes exactly like the best pecan pie ever: no one will ever know it is gf!

pecan-pie

I keep forgetting to take a pic of my pie; this is from McCormick Spices but looks a lot like mine.

Angie’s GF Pecan Pie 

Crust:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix aka King Arthur basic gf blend (diy recipe is at the bottom of this recipe)

2 Tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbsp. granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 lg egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Directions: Spray a 9-inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour.  I don’t usually bother with this but feel free to take this extra caution. A glass pie tin works too.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal.  Add egg and juice.  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes while you get the rest ready. I use an OXO pie bag that is great for rolling out gf crust…better than wax paper by far.

Filling:

3 large eggs

2/3 c sugar (try coconut palm sugar!)

½ tsp salt

1/3 cup very soft or melted butter

1 cup dark corn syrup

1 1/4 cups pecan halves

Sprinkle of cinnamon

Directions: Beat eggs, sugar, salt, butter and corn syrup until well mixed, can use a hand held mixer.  Stir in pecans and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Roll out pie crust between the two sheets of wax paper or in a pie bag; try to get the thickness even, no thick middle is allowed! Peel off one side of paper and place in pie pan, centered.  Remove other slice of wax paper.  Crimp edges all around.  Fill with pecan mix.  Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 40-50 minutes until the filling is set.  Cool at least 1 hour before serving at room temperature or slightly chilled.

 

Brown Rice Flour Mix (same as King Arthur’s gf flour blend)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

Pecan Tartlets

As 2016 was my year to blog on pies I feel compelled to share yet more yummy pieness.  This one is a bunch of tartlets; about 4 inches across. Since I didn’t need a whole pecan pie I made a 2/3 batch of filling for six flat bottom tartlets filled with pecan gooey yumminess. Just an idea if you don’t want a whole big pie. Plus everyone loves a tartlet; like a whole pie just for you!  They keep about 3 days in a sealed container…if they last that long.

Notes: You have to use dark corn syrup.  Yes, I know corn syrup is an unhealthy item but sometimes you just have to go wicked!  It’s worth it, I promise. Cross my heart.

These tartlets are awesome as is but are also great with some freshly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream which is popular at my house.

Angie’s GF Pecan Tartlets 

Crust:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

2 Tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbsp granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbsp cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 large egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Crust directions: Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembles coarse meal.  Add egg and juice.  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes while you get the rest ready.

Filling:

2 large eggs

1/3 c sugar

1/4 tsp sea salt

2 and a half tbsp. melted butter

1/2 cup dark corn syrup

3/4 cups pecan halves

Sprinkle cinnamon

Filling: Beat eggs, sugar, salt, butter and corn syrup in stand mixer until well mixed, can use a hand held mixer.  Stir in pecans and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Assembly: Roll out 2/3 of pie crust between the two sheets of wax paper; try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! Peel off one side of paper and cut into four sections across the middle.  Take a section and fit into a tartlet pan.  I use the flat bottomed ones; come in a set of four attached together.  Crimp edges all around.   Roll out the rest and form into the other two tartlet shells.I don’t leave a lot of crust at the top so I actually got 7 tartlet shells; the spare one was for me! Fill your shells with pecan mix.  I filled my spare with homemade raspberry jam sprinkled with pie crumbs that I had in the fridge. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven on a low shelf for 25 or so minutes until set and crust edges lightly browned.  Cool at least 1/2 hour before serving at room temperature or slightly chilled.  The raspberry one was equally tasty and we actually each had half a raspberry and half a pecan tartlet with ice cream for dessert last weekend.  Perfection!

 pecan-and-raspberry-tartlets

Brown Rice Flour Mix (same as King Arthur’s gf flour blend)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

The crust is from Annalise Robert’s great cookbook.  Gluten-Free Baking Classics, second edition.

Pecan Pie: Fall Classic!

Thanksgiving pie – gotta have it. Posted my go-to pumpkin pie recipe last week.  Here is another classic pie. This is is my favorite pecan pie recipe; been making it for a long while and I have shared the recipe before but not on this blog; right out of Betty Crocker, just now with a gluten free crust.  I add an extra quarter cup pecans to make the pie a bit fatter and I always use dark Karo syrup; it is really the only one you should use if you want a great result.

karopecans

I don’t need a whole pie so I am thinking of making a half batch of filling for four flat bottom tartlets filled with pecan yumminess. Just a thought if you don’t want a whole big pie.  I think my tartlets would be baked in 30-35 minutes.  I’ll let you know how the tartlets turn out.

Pecan pie is awesome on its own but is also great with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.  A classic never goes out of style.  I wanted to get the post up so you can have it on Thursday; it looks just like pecan pie should; rich, dark and nutty.

pecan-pie

I haven’t made my pie yet; this is from McCormick Spices but looks a lot like mine.

Angie’s GF Pecan Pie 

Crust:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

2 tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbps. granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbps. cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 lg egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Directions:Spray 9 inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour.  I don’t usually bother with this but feel free to take this extra caution.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal.  Add egg and juice.  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes while you get the rest ready.

Filling:

3 large eggs

2/3 c sugar

½ tsp salt

1/3 cup very soft or melted butter

1 cup dark corn syrup

1 1/4 cups pecan halves

Sprinkle of cinnamon

Directions: Beat eggs, sugar, salt, butter and corn syrup until well mixed, can use a hand held mixer.  Stir in pecans and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Roll out pie crust between the two sheets of wax paper; try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! Peel off one side of paper and place in pie pan, centered.  Remove other slice of wax paper.  Crimp edges all around.  Fill with pecan mix.  Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 40-50 minutes until set.  Cool at least 1 hour before serving at room temperature or chilled.

 

Brown Rice Flour Mix (same as King Arthur’s gf flour blend)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour