Gluten and Maize-free Mini Pecan Tarts

I practiced a lot this past holiday with some of our family’s favorite home-baked cookie recipes, a tradition among the women in our extended family that dates back to a time long before I was born. This was our first gluten free Christmas, and it began with several mishaps and a lot of perseverance. Here is my all time best success this year.

These mini-muffin sized sweets are perfect for entertaining or that special occasion you’d like to attend. Also known as “Nut Cups”, this allergy friendly treat passed the test with all our gluten eating friends and family. They couldn’t taste the difference, nor did they see one. Taste, texture, and consistency are very like the familiar recipe that my grandmother and mother once prepared.

This yummy dessert is gluten and corn-free, and also feingold friendly. I don’t believe the crust can be made without adding the dairy, as I believe it would be too crumbly. An alternative for casein-free eaters is to make a special batch of filling in a lightly greased and floured ramekin dish. If someone can make a casein free crust that doesn’t crumble please post your secret!

Ingredients:

Crust:

2 cups of Betty Hagman’s all-purpose gluten free flour recipe * see below for details

1/2 cup of unsalted Kerrygold Irish Butter (or any other unsalted butter from the safe foods list)

1/2 cup of spectrum shortening

6 oz of regular cream cheese (make sure brand is corn-free, which omits all low fat varieties as far as I can tell. Cream cheese contains casein)

Filling:

4 tablespoons melted butter (or spectrum shortening if you are doing casein free)

2 eggs, beaten well.

1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar (I like to use organic sucanant)

2 cups of chopped pecans

Directions:

In a mixer, combine all crust ingredients and mix well until dough forms a solid ball. Remove from mixer and chill at least one hour.

In a separate bowl combine melted margarine, beaten eggs, brown sugar and pecans. Mix well.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll dough into teaspoon sized balls and place them into the individual mini-muffin molds. Using your knuckles and fingertips, mold the dough into mini pie crusts. Fill each finished crust 2/3 high with nut filling. Bake 20-25 minutes. Remove from pan immediately and cool on a wire rack. (They should pop right out, granted you did not over-fill the individual cups and cause the filling to stick all over the rim of the tin.)

Makes about 36 tarts. Corn-free confectioner’s sugar can be sprinkled on top if you’d like.

*(To prepare Betty Hagman’s flour recipe I usually mix 2 parts white rice flour, 2/3 part potato starch, 1/3 part tapioca flour in large batches and store it for future use ‘on the fly’ in many regular recipes that require all purpose flour.)

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Caryn Talty

The editor of this website has a master's degree in English from Northern Illinois University and a bachelor of science degree in special education. She has taught students from early elementary school through college freshman level. Today she enjoys reading and writing about both hot topics and those not so commonly discussed on other websites. Most of her days are spent playing all kinds of make-believe with her three very young and active sons. | All articles by Caryn Talty.

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