My absolute, all-time favorite holiday dessert is pecan pie. I think that’s why the Universe made me allergic to all nuts EXCEPT pecans, so I could fully appreciate and savor the deliciousness that is known as pecan pie. What’s even better than a pecan pie?? My own mini-pecan pie in the form of a tart. Am I right?? And if I’m being totally honest, I really just love the guts of a pecan pie so I mean if I could get away with making a pecan pie minus the pecans, I’d be in heaven!
I even made these individual pecan pie tarts gluten-free for my fellow gluten-free foodies. If you don’t require gluten-free, feel free to substitute in your own pie crust recipe. This recipe is actually a family heirloom, passed down to me from my great-grandmother. It’s so interesting to me to read how recipes from decades ago were written. On this particular recipe she noted using a walnut sized amount of butter. I’m guessing butter back then didn’t come packaged in nice, neatly wrapped packages with measurement markings on the paper. This traditional recipe also used Karo syrup which doesn’t include the best ingredients. So I ventured out to adjust the Karo syrup for something a little less chemically laden, but not necessarily less in sugar content. I mean, it’s pie.
I also topped these individual tarts with a maple coconut cream. You can use your cream topping of choice, but this is my go-to anytime I fix dessert. It’s a super easy, dairy-free choice. Note: I played with my photography this time around. I absolutely love the dark, shadowed, brooding food photos I see floating around Instagram. I still have a LONG way to go, but it was fun playing with these photos.
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Gluten-free Pecan Pie Tart Recipe
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Gluten-free Pecan Pie Tarts
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Prep Time: 20 minutes -
Cook Time: 45 minutes
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Total Time: 65 minutes
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Yield: 4 -
Category: Dessert -
Cuisine: American
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Pin RecipeDescription
What’s better than a full pecan pie?? Individual pecan pie tarts!
Ingredients
Crust Ingredients
- 2 cups Gluten-free flour blend (I use Cup4Cup’s Multipurpose Gluten-free flour)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
- 2/3 cup palm shortening
- 6-7 tbsp cold water
Filling Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup organic cane sugar
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp melted butter (Use ghee for dairy-free option)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup organic maple syrup
- 1 tbsp organic molasses
- 1 1/2 cup pecans
Maple Coconut Cream
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk (cream only)
- 3 tsp organic cane sugar
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2-3 tsp organic maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- In a large bowl, combine the gluten-free flour, salt, and baking powder.
- Using a pastry cutter or fork, cut in the palm shortening until the mixture becomes crumbly. You don’t want large chunks of shortening, the texture will be similar to sand.
- Stir in cold water. Start with 6 tbsp. of cold water and begin mixing until dough forms. If it appears too dry, add in a slight bit more cold water but you don’t want the dough to be too wet.
- Then, form dough into a 4 equally sized balls, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for 10 minutes.
- In another bowl, add the eggs and whisk, then stir in the remaining pie filling ingredients.
- Remove dough from refrigerator. Lay out one sheet of parchment paper and dust with flour. Place one of the dough balls onto floured parchment paper. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top and, using a rolling pin, roll out crust until you have about a 5 in. circle.
- Lay the individual tart pan onto the dough and cut out a circle one inch from the sides of the pan.
- Carefully place the crust into the tart pan and gently push the sides until the crust firmly covers the entire inside of the tart pan, with no gaps between the crust and the pan. Remove any extra crust from the edges. (Tip: If you roll the rolling pin along the edges of the tart pan it will perfectly remove any excess crust)
- Continue this process for all four tart pans. Place tart pans onto a baking sheet.
- Stir the filling, then pour into the four tart pans, filling to the top.
- Cook for 45-50 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
- While tarts are cooking, make the maple coconut cream. In a small mixing bowl, add all cream ingredients and blend with a hand mixer. Cover and place in refrigerator until ready to serve.
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