Mini Chocolate Pecan Pies

Hey loves! Hope your weekend is going well!

We’re popping in today to introduce you to our friend, Chelsea of Taste and See Blog.

She’s here to share a recipe that will go perfectly with your Thanksgiving dinner.

Chelsea is a XL ad sponsor of Truly Lovely for this month, so once you’ve taken notes on this yummy recipe be sure to click over to her place and see the other AMAZING recipes that she creates on a weekly basis!!!

Take it away Chelsea!!!

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Hello Truly Lovely readers!

I am super excited to be here today to share a really fabulous little dessert, perfect for the holidays! Now, I have to admit that I don’t really like pecan pie. *GASP* I know. What kind of good Southern girl am I? There’s something a little too sweet and sticky about the filling with not nearly enough yummy pecans for me. So as part of my Thanksgiving cocktail party menu, I created these delicious little pies- heavy on the buttery crust and tasty pecan halves, held together by just enough chocolate-y filling.

I love the miniature size of these treats, too! They’re big enough to satisfy a dessert craving but small enough to satisfy your calorie-calculating concern. And that is definitely something to be thankful for

What You’ll Need:

for the crust:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled, cut into pieces

1/8 ice water

a disposable aluminum cupcake pan

for the filling:

1 1/2 cups whole pecans halves

4 ounces chocolate chips

1 large egg

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 tspn pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

What To Do:

In a medium bowl, place the flour, salt, and sugar and stir to combine. Add the butter and crumble into the flour mixture with your hands until the elements are combined, and it resembles course meal. Pour water in slowly while mixing, until the dough just holds together when pinched. If necessary, add more water. Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball. Flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour before using.

After the dough has chilled, divide it into eight separate rounds. Spray the cupcake pan well with cooking spray and flatten each round into individual cupcake portions, being sure to fill crust all the way up the sides. Cover and refrigerate again until other elements are ready. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place pecans on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. In increments of 20 seconds, microwave chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl until completely melted. Set aside to cool. In a large bowl, whisk the egg, and then whisk in the sugar, corn syrup, melted butter, vanilla extract, and salt. Then stir in the cooled melted chocolate.

Remove the chilled pastry crust from the refrigerator and fill each mini crust with pecans. Pour the filling evenly over the nuts. Arrange the whole pecans in a decorative pattern on top of the filling. Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until the filling has puffed but is still wobbly when gently shaken and the crust is golden brown. If your crust cooks before your filling, reduce the oven temperature to 250 and continue cooking, watching carefully (I did not have this problem.) Remove from oven and allow to cool.

These pies are fantastic served warm on their own, but I imagine that a scoop of vanilla ice cream would add a whole dimension of delicious!

Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking

Thanksgiving Cocktail Party Menu

Set Up

Appetizer

Creamy Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Soup

Entree

Turkey Sliders with Brie and Cranberry Chutney

Side Dishes

Maple Sausage and Cranberry Stuffing Shots

Sweet Potato Casserole

Homemade Green Bean Casserole with Fresh Fried Onions

Dessert

Mini Chocolate Pecan Pies

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Does that sound scrumptious or what!?! Don’t know about you but I will definitely be adding some of these yummies to my Thanksgiving menu! Thanks so much Chelsea for stopping by to share with us!
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday lovelies!