These little individual homemade pecan pies are just the perfect size for eating with an afternoon coffee or indeed a dessert or to have at a party.

These homemade mini pecan pies are a pure delight!

The pies are sweet, and loaded with pecan nuts, the pastry is tender and buttery, and served with a lovely blob of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, these are just wonderful to eat!

They're also great if you want to make ahead and freeze, whether it is for a party you need to prepare ahead for, or if you have a small family and want to keep some handy in the freezer for whenever you feel like having one!

For this recipe, I've used four 3/4 inch individual pie tins, however, you can also use a cupcake pan, obviously, you will get even more pies from that! You use whatever pan size you wish.

Recipe adapted from our Lovefoodies friend, Carina Duclos

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

20 minutes

Yield

4 - 6 Mini Pies (using 4 3/4 inch pie tin) OR 8 - 10 Mini Pies (using a cupcake pan)

Ingredients

For the pastry

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup cold unsalted butter
3 tbsp of vegetable shortening ( cold)
4 Tbs. ice water

The Filling

4 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups toasted chopped pecans (reserve some pecan HALVES for decorating on the top)

The Topping

1 Tablespoon Apricot Jam
1 Teaspoon Hot Water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400F, and place the pecans on a bake tray and toast for 5 - 8 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.

Make the pastry

2. Using a mixer, add the flour, sugar, and salt to the bowl. Run the mixer at low speed for 10 seconds just to mix the ingredients evenly.

3. Cut the butter into cubes and add them to the work bowl and also add the shortening.

4. Mix at medium speed for a few minutes until mix appears like a crumble,..(like peas)

*** If making the pastry by hand, follow steps 2 - 4 by using 2 round-bladed knives and mixing together until the mixture resembles crumble.

5. Add the ice water one tbsp at a time with the machine at medium speed.

How see if your pie dough is mixed enough

To test the pie dough, stop the mixer and squeeze a piece of dough in your hand. Once squeezed, if the dough doesn't hold together but simply crumbles, mix for another 30 seconds.

Take a piece and try again to see if the dough will hold together. If not, add a tablespoon of water and combine until the dough holds together. ( I never had to add more than my 4 tbsp)

6. When the dough is done, it should come together in a rough mass in the mixer bowl but not form a ball. Do not over mix or the crust will be tough.

***** By hand - continue using your knives to mix the ingredients whilst adding water. When the dough begins to hold together, use your hands to bring the dough together into a ball. try not to handle the dough too much as this will result in the dough being tough and chewy.

7. Wrap well in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

8. Grease the pie tins very well with spray or butter.

When ready to roll, take it out of the fridge and roll it with a rolling pin.

9. Roll out the pastry to fit your pie tins, either 4 3/4 Inch (12 cm), cupcake pan, (use a suitable sized cookie cutter to fit whatever pan you choose) or one 9 1/2 inch pie plate so the pastry goes up the sides and a little over the edge of the pie tin.

Make the filling

Beat eggs and everything else but the toasted pecans and the pecan halves. Mix well and add the 2 cups of chopped pecans. Transfer to your prepared pie tins. Arrange pecan halves on top.

11. Cook for 10 min at 400 F in the lower rack then after 10 minutes, move the pies to the middle rack and reduce oven temperature to 350 F and cook for another 10 - 15 minutes.

****If using a cupcake pan, keep an eye on the pies in case the pastry starts to get too brown. If so, take them out of the oven after a total of 20 minutes.

12. As soon as the pies come out of the oven, add the apricot jam in a small bowl with the hot water and mix well to loosen it. Then, using a brush, brush the tops of the pies, including the pastry tops with the jam. This will give a lovely shiny glaze to the pies.

When done, serve warm or allow to cool and serve with some whipped cream or ice cream and enjoy!

We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our mini pecan pies recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other goodies? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!

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