I’ve had a couple comments on the picture on the header. Those are golden tassies which have been a favorite of mine for many, many years. They are like a miniature pecan pie! My first year of college, my Swedish Grandma who was a wonderful cook and baker, sent me (I was at the University of Puget Sound), my cousin Marilyn who was at Western Washington University, and my cousin John who was at Brown University, a shoebox full of these for Valentine’s Day. She did her baking in a wood fired cook stove – how she loved us all that she would spend the time it took to make all those tassies!
They are not difficult to make, just take time. You will need mini muffin pans for 4 dozen. Make sure they all fit in the oven together – saves baking time!
- Cream 1 cup butter,
- 6 oz. of cream cheese (and yes, neuchatel works fine)
- 2 cups of flour together.
This will be a little sticky, so chill it for about 1/2 an hour – if you chill it too long, then let it warm up a little as the butter will be rock hard!! I use a very small scoop to portion out the dough into the pans. Spray the pans first with a baking spray. If you buy pans, be sure to buy nonstick ones. 35 years ago when I first made these, there were no nonstick muffin pans and it took a lot of patience to get the little things out of the tins!!
When you have all the dough portioned out in the pans, dip your thumb in flour and then using it, work the dough to cover the bottom and sides of each muffin cup. You’ll have to figure out how it works best for you. Everyone I know does it a little differently.
Once the cup is lined with dough, then make your filling.
- 2 1/4 cups brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- a dash of salt (literally)
- a slosh of vanilla
Mix this together well. Put in a measuring cup and begin filling the muffin cups. Only fill them about 3/4 full or less. Because you are using butter, if you over fill, the filling kind of spashes out all over and they don’t look so pretty. It doesn’t seem to do that if you use margarine, but if you opt for that, be sure to use one that is for baking. Top each one with finely chopped walnuts or pecans. I generally use walnuts.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 250 degrees and bake 10 minutes more. Don’t know how Grandma managed this in the woodstove, but I suspect she had figured it out long ago!:-)
When they are done, remove the pans from the oven, let cool slightly and then use a very sharp knife to help lift out each tassie — then ENJOY!!
