Mini "Pecan" Pies

I find it rather funny that I'm doing a post for mini pies / cookies right after a post regarding my weigh-in..LOL

Yesterday, Eric and I attended a get together on base to play some Bunco. That in itself it a whole other story, but we had a BLAST! To go to the event, you were asked to bring some sort of dish since it's like a potluck / game night sort of thing. Since it seemed like everyone was making hearty meals, I decided to go ahead and make "Mini Maple Cashew Tarts". I've made 'em before and they're pretty much amazing since they taste like baby pecan pies. You can't go wrong with 'em. Plus, they seemed to be a good hit with the ladies last night :)

Now, I'm giving you ingredient amounts to make twelve tarts. The pictures showing how to make the tarts show a quadruple amount since I had to make much more than twelve :)

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: About 1 hour, 40 minutes
Yield: 12 mini tarts

1 cup of salted cashews
2 eggs
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (DO NOT use maple flavored pancake syrup)
1 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp Double Strength Vanilla
1 package of refrigerated pit crusts, softened according to package directions 

Preheat oven to 375*

Coarsely chop cashews with Food Chopper.

In Classic Batter Bowl, combine eggs, brown sugar, 1/3 cup of the maple syrup, butter and vanilla. Whisk with Stainless Whisk until smooth.

Stir cashews into egg mixture; set aside.

  Unroll one pic crust onto Pastry Mat. 

Using wide end of the clear Food Chopper collar, cut out six pastry circles. (Circles will measure 3 1/4 in. / 9.5cm. Discard remaining dough.) Pinch edges of circles inward at 1/2 inch intervals, creating ruffled shells.

Place shells into Muffin Pan wells; repeat with remaining pie crust. I obviously didn't do that since it's rather time consuming, so it's up to you if you wanna make them with ruffled edges. Stir cashew mixture until combined; pour evenly into shells until two-thirds full. Bake 18-20 minutes or until shells are golden brown.

 

Remove pan from oven to Stackable Cooling Rack; cool completely. Brush tops of tarts with remaining maple syrup.