Made these last week and got 48 EXACTLY. The only modification was that I made 1/2 the filling as others suggested (but added a lot more pecans just because I love them). Here are a few tips that I found worked great. First divide the dough into equal smaller parts (I did 4) then CHILL thoroughly before placing balls into muffin tins (at least 30 minutes to an hour). Just before taking my dough out of the fridge I made the filling. When you take the dough out of the fridge it may become quite firm but use a large sharp knife to cut into equal parts until you have your 48 pieces (if you have 4 dough balls you should get 12 "balls" out of each). Roll smaller balls with your hands and place into muffin tins. I tried a shot glass to form in the tin since I didn't have a tart tamper... didn't work. Tried a cork from a wine bottle... worked better than shot glass but not much better. What did work was my fingers! Stuck my thumb in first to make well then I used my fingers to form dough around muffin tin all the way to the top ledge. Here's the key... DO NOT FILL TO THE TOP! Fill no more than 2/3 the way full. Baked them for 25 minutes in ungreased non-stick mini muffin tins. Took them out of the oven and ran a knife around the edge. I let them cool for about 4-5 minutes and popped them out to a cooling rack. These little babies were DIVINE!
I've been using this recipe for 3 years now - always at Christmas time. My hubby took them to his work and people were begging him to hand out the recipe! They are always a hit at the cookies exchange too. The only changes I make are to double the amount of pastry otherwise there is way too much filling left over. Also to decorate the tops I melt chocolate chips and place the chocolate in a sandwich baggie to squeeze out thin ribbons of chocolate. It really dresses the tarts up and makes them look so gourmet!
These turned out great! I followed the above suggestions (make 1/2 the filling and fill each tart 3/4 full) and they came out perfect. No mess in the oven and just enough filling for 48 mini tarts. Definitely a keeper. The crust comes out like shortbread and not overly sweet.
These tarts are great! I bring them to work everytime we have parties and it's always a hit!One thing though make sure to just make half of what's called for the filling (e.g. 2 eggs 1 1/2 c brown sugar...)and another tip only fill the tarts 3/4 full or you'll end up with fillings all over the pan and oven.I'm pretty sure it wasn't a good sight just like what one reviewer had said. Also you can omit using salt I never use any when I make mine.Happy baking!
I made these for a friend who was requesting pecan tarts although I used muffin pans because I didn't have tart pans. That was the only change I made to the recipe. They were a little time consuming but worth it. The recipe made 18 muffins and there wasn't a problem with having too much filling and not enough dough. It turned out about right. They had a nice crunchy top with a gooey inside. Very good!
I made two separate batches of these tarts--they were AWFUL!!! I'm SO disappointed as I was going to bring them to a "bake-off" at work--instead I came empty handed. The tarts spilled way over onto the pan; and any that didn't spill over STILL couldn't be removed from the tart cups anyway! What I was able to remove was actually pretty flavorless. I've never been so disappointed with a recipe in my life!
The time consuming part with this recipe was making the actual tart. Otherwise it is very easy. -Refrigerate the filling for a few minutes so it doesn't drip everywhere when you are filling the tart. -only fill the tarts halfway; during baking it increases in size. -Even when halved this recipe makes too much filling. Next time i will use the whole 8 oz of cream cheese and add a tiny bit more flour. This way I won't have 2 oz of leftover cream cheese lying around and I will use up all the filling. -update: i made these again today and my mom suggested microwaving the butter and cream cheese for 30 seconds. they got soft and were easy to mix. but this was a really bad tip because the pastry was too soft to mold. i put it in the fridge and it became firm but while trying to mold the pastry was very sticky. Better to let the butter and cc soften at room temperature rather than using the micro.
I made these tarts exactly as described and took them to work the next day. The entire office asked for more! No changes necessary... These are outstanding!
This is my favorite dessert recipe. For years it's been very popular at home and at work. The tarts are conveniently sized for finger food and for helping to control calories... Making tarts is more time-consuming than making cookies but this particular recipe is well worth the extra time and effort. For sweeter tarts replace 1.5 cups brown sugar with 1.5 cups white sugar. I use 1.5 times the recommended amount of crust for the recommended amount of filling.
