This is another one of those Pampered Chef recipes that come in that little $1 cookbook. I have made these for a variety of social gatherings and they have always been a hit. They are great for dessert or as a brunch addition. Just factor in the hour for the dough to firm up. The recipe is done in 2 parts so I am splitting it up totally. The recipe says it yields 30 but I always make 24 (the size of the mini-muffin pan).
Crust:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup flour
Process
Mix the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Then mix in the flour until it is smooth. Then wrap it air tight and put it in the frig for 1 hour but it can stay until overnight. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put walnut sized pieces of dough into a mini-muffin tin. Then use a Mini-Tart Shaper (from Pampered Chef but it is a little wooden dumbbell) dipped in a little flour and press each ball into the tin until is forms a cup. Now it is important that it actually come up around the sides and form a full cup.
Filling:
Ingredients:
2 tbls butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
Process:
Mix all the ingredients together and fill each uncooked cup, do not over fill. Bake for 15-20 minutes of until the dough looks golden. Dust with powdered sugar when cool.
These are pretty easy and delicious. You can let your kids come in a crush the candy. They also look very impressive. Put a few in a bag and pair with a mason jar of French Vanilla Cocoa Mix!
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
3 eggs
3 cups AP Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies (I use mini candy canes)
1/2 cup mini- chocolate chips
Semisweet chips for dipping
1 tbl Crisco for dipping
Crushed peppermint for covering
Process:
First thing I do before any cooking is prep the peppermint. I use a meat tenderizer and put the peppermint in a zip bag. By the time you are done the bag will be perforated so us a cutting board to catch the dust.
This is what my NerdPie did for me in my last batch. Now onto the regular procedure.
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet or use a silpat (or generic version). Mix sugar, butter, peppermint extract an eggs until blended. Then mix in flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in 1/2 cup mini-chips and 1/2 peppermint. The dough at this point will be very stiff. Cut the dough in half and form 2 rectangles that will be about 10 by 2 inches.
2. Bake 30 to 35 minutes until it is light brown. Then allow them to cool for 15 minutes on the cookie sheet. Then cut it crosswise into 1/2 inch slices (I use a serrated knife). Then put the slices back on the cookie sheet with the cut sides down. Bake 15 minutes more until light brown and crisp. Immediately remove to cooling racks.
3.I put 1 cup of chocolate chips and 1 tbl of Crisco in a microwave safe glass. Then microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring until all melted. Then dip each piece half way and place on wax paper. Then sprinkle with peppermint and let cool.
That is it, really.
A Pro Nerd Family of Pro Family Nerds.
