Pecan Tarts
Pecan Tarts
From the Kitchen of Karen Kamm
Crust: 1 cup butter
6 oz cream cheese
2 cups sifted flour
Filling: 1 cup chopped pecans
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp melted butter
1/4 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
Crust: Cream butter, add cheese, cream again. Add half of flour and mix well, then add rest of flour and mix thoroughly. Chill 15 to 20 minutes. Press into mini sandbakkel tins. Fill 1/2 to 2/3 full of filling which is mixed well in order given.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, makes 4 dozen
When I saw the words “sandbakkel tins” on this recipe card, I was so intrigued and had to learn more. I love getting to know tidbits about my ancestry and some of the cooking practices (or in this case, a common baking apparatus) that may have been used.
I don’t know how much Grandma June used these tins, but I did learn that sandbakkel are norwegian sugar cookies shaped in tins, and are often used as tart shells.
The kids loved pressing the crust dough into the tins.
I found some mini tart pans to emulate the sandbakkel element for these tarts.
Though it takes a little more effort to make individual tarts, the dough and filling come together with ease, and the result is a couple dozen irresistible tiny pecan pies.
I ended up with half the amount of tarts compared to what the recipe suggests. I would guess that either making these in smaller tins, or making the crust much thinner in each tart would produce the amount suggested.