Pecan Tassies

I realize y'all are stuffed and can't even begin to think of food because Thanksgiving just passed along with all of it's leftovers.  BUT, Christmas is right around the corner and that means holiday parties, entertaining, and more yummy goodness!

A friend of mine about 2 years ago made this Pecan Tassies recipe as a dessert for her Thanksgiving get together and so she shared it with me.  These would be a perfect dessert for a holiday gathering as they are bite size and super easy to just grab and go!  

I've always been meaning to make these little morsels and Mike's friend from work gave me just the reason!  She gave me an entire back of organically grown pecans from Mt. Aukum!  So...I got to crackin with my hammer...I don't own an actual nut cracker, just the Christmas decoration variety seen below ;-)  

So...I made due with what I had and got out the hammer.  It is tedious work crackin nuts ;-) I spent about a half hour getting just a cup of pecans.  The work was definitely worth it because these pecans were so maple-y in flavor!

What you'll need:

4 oz. of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, softened

1 cup of flour

1 egg

3/4 cup finely chopped pecans

3 squares of Bakers semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Beat the cream cheese and butter together on medium until well mixed.  Then add in the flour.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until chilled. 

Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray two 12 cup mini muffin pans with non-stick cooking spray.  Then divide the dough into 24 balls.  Press the balls into the base of each cup and up the sides.  Set aside.  

Beat the egg in a small bowl.  Add the sugar and vanilla and mix.  Stir in the pecans.  Fill each cup with the mixture until 3/4 full.  

Bake for 25 min. or until lightly browned.  Let stand for 5 min. in the pan and remove to a wire rack.  Cool completely and then drizzle with melted chocolate.  (Recipe courtesy of Kraft Foods)

Before I got to crackin nuts, I should have made the pastry dough because there's some down time in chilling the dough.  Silly me for not reading the recipe ahead of time.  

And...the recipe is correct when it says to wait 5 minutes before removing from the pan.  I'm a little impatient and they aren't very pretty when you have to rip them out of their pan.  So do the waiting and it'll be much easier to remove. 

The little morsels are a perfect texture...the crumbly buttery and creamy pastry and the crunchy and gooey goodness of the brown sugar and pecans.  

Of course, chocolate always adds a nice touch!

 And like I always say...they'd be fabulous for breakfast with coffee!!

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

I've been in somewhat of a baking mood this week.  I feel like with the so-sudden change of whether to something that actually resembles fall...it has brought with it my baking mood!  Mike was just talking about one of his favorite fall desserts that I make which also sparked the idea in me...so I went to town earlier this week and made a Cream Cheese Pumpkin Roll.  And Mike always says, "if you put cream cheese on a shoe, I'd eat it".  Not gonna lie, I could just gnaw on the block of cream cheese itself and be totally happy.  I think it's safe to say there is a cream cheese addiction in this household.  

So...I knew this new recipe would be right up his alley with the cream cheese and all.  I saw it on Tracey's Culinary Adventures and knew I had to make it...Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars!!  Caramel apples and cheesecake...two of Mike's favorite things all in one item! I couldn't go wrong!!

And we all know how I love to bake when I have ALL the ingredients just sitting right there in the pantry.  We are really down to the nitty gritty when it comes to actual fresh food.  We cleaned out the pantry before our recent trip to Hawaii and haven't stocked up yet...and we got back last Wednesday :-/  Yeeaa...the grocery and I aren't really best friends.  BUT, I had everything to make these delicious looking bars and a couple apples left from our trip to Apple Hill!

I made everything according to the recipe and did not substitute a thing.  I love how Tracey explains how the textures of the batters, crust, etc. should look once you're done mixing in everything.

I think some bloggers tend to leave out the details for the beginners (like me)...and although pictures help, if the pictures aren't there I need added description.  Tracey does a nice job at this!

Despite the fact that his recipe has several layers you make separately, it was very simple and easy to follow.

  Tracey has a caramel recipe on her blog, but I decided to use a caramel sauce that we had bought from High Hill Ranch at Apple Hill (my favorite of all the farms up there).

Mmmm...

Baking the crust

Adding the Cheesecake and Apple Layers

Ta-Dah! Now we wait...

The one thing that I just can't stand about cheesecakes...you've gotta wait so gosh darn long for them to set!  Can't they just be done out of the oven!?...a little impatient when it comes to my desserts. ;-)

Anyhoo, it was well worth the wait as you can see...the buttery crust, the sugary goodness of the streusel and the tangy apples and cheesecake in the center.  Oh yea, not to mention the gooeyness of the caramel drizzled on top.  It's quite a mouthful of textures and flavors but such a great combination.  I think this might be a new fall favorite for Mikey!