i have never understood pecan pie but i realize that it is a popular dessert with many people. for me, the rich and sugary filling is too much to handle. i can stomach about one maybe two bites before i am done with it.
when i saw this recipe on smitten kitchen - i was intrigued. i like walnuts (i eat them raw all the time) and this sounded less sweet and rich than a typical pecan pie. it needed to be tried.
i have made a couple different pecan pies over the years - mainly because members of my family enjoy it. they turned out well and everyone seemed to enjoy them. but after i made these walnut tarts, i knew i would never have to make another pecan pie again.
my godmother is a fan of pecan pie. for christmas last year, i made gifts for everyone. i knew these tarts would be a hit with her and i was right!
the shortbread crust is a perfect buttery container for the filling. the filling is not overly sweet - i would venture to say that it is more spicy than it is sweet. the original recipe called for aniseed which i am not a fan of - so i substituted cinnamon and a bit of apple pie spice. the result was wonderful - the cinnamon, orange zest and apple pie spice give these tarts a spicy warmth unmatched by pecan pie. the best part is the filling bubbles up in the oven and overflows to cover the pastry in a gooey caramel.
i believe that pecan pie and non-pecan pie fans will agree - these walnut tarts rock!
walnut tarts
adapted from bon appetit, may 1999 via smitten kitchen
serves 6
1 recipe Sweet Tart Shell (recipe below), unbaked
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
zest of an orange
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp apple pie spice
1 3/4 cups walnuts chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 370°F. Cut pastry dough into six pieces, and roll out each one to a 6-inch circle. Transfer to a lightly-buttered 4 1/2-inch-diameter tartlet pan with removable bottom. Press crust onto bottom and up sides of pan; trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold overhang in and press, forming double-thick sides. Repeat with remaining dough disks and 5 more pans and prick them all over with a fork.
Freeze crusts for 30 minutes. Lightly butter six pieces of foil and press them tightly against frozen tart shells. Bake crusts for 10 minutes before taking them out, carefully removing the foil, pressing down any pastry that has bubbled up gently with the back of a spoon and baking them for an additional 7 minutes, or until lightly golden at the edges. Take them out of the oven and let them cool.
Increase oven temperature to 400°F.
While the crusts are cooling... Stir cream and next 7 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat; boil until mixture bubbles thickly and color darkens slightly, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in walnuts then salt.
Place crusts on baking sheet lined with foil. (do NOT skip this - clean up would be awful) Divide filling among crusts. Bake tartlets until filling bubbles thickly and crusts are golden, about 25 minutes. Cool tartlets in pans on rack 5 minutes. Remove pan sides while tartlets are still warm. (don't wait too long on this otherwise they will be very difficult to get out of the molds)
Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. (i think they are even better the next day)
sweet tart crust
from dorie greenspan - baking from my home to yours
ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 tablespoons; 4 1/2 ounces) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk
put the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in - you should have pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas. stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. when the egg is in, process in long pulses - about 10 seconds each - until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change. turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.
you can work with the dough as soon as it's processed. just press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. don't press too hard- just enough so the edges of the pieces cling to one another, but don't press so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture.
freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking.
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these carrot cake cookies almost converted me from a pumpkin lover to a
carrot cake lover. yes, they are that good. the cookie itself is soft
and moist - yet strong enough to hold up as a sandwich cookie. i added
more spice to the mix because that is how i roll. i think it is a major
improvement over the original recipe. i usually could leave the frosting
out of the equation but in this case - the frosting makes these
cookies. the cookie itself is not very sweet and the creamy sweetness of
the cream cheese frosting balances out the cookie with the perfect
amount of sweetness to compliment the spices in the cookie. these carrot
cake cookies would be the perfect picnic or backyard barbecue dessert. 
i love the idea of using rice krispies in a cookie. i have adapted the
recipe a bit by adding toffee and cinnamon but i think the rice krispies
are what make them special. the cookie itself is crisp but the middle
is still chewy. the toffee melts the perfect amount to be chewy but
still hold that toffee texture i love. ever since i made 
these cookies are INCREDIBLE! i am not exaggerating - they are
perfection. the crispy cookie and the white chocolate would be amazing
on their own but the addition of the sea salt - oh my! the salty crunch
on top makes these cookies one of the best i have ever made.Session dataSession data 
these peanut butter and jelly bars fit the bill perfectly. not only are
they simple to make - you can easily double the recipe for a large
crowd. i need my peanut butter to be chunky - the smooth stuff just
doesn't feel like peanut butter to me - so i substituted chunky for
smooth. any kind of berry jam will work great and for those of you
grape jelly fans - that would work as well. i added a bit on honey to
the batter and honey roasted peanuts to the top because i think peanut
butter and honey are naturals together. 
the mixed apple pie was probably one of my favorite pies i have
made because each apple was so different - different flavor and
texture. they combined perfectly. the all butter pastry crust was flaky
and i had a lot of fun making up the top crust. i have done lattice - i
have done full crust - i have done crumble topping. i wanted something
special this time. i took the top crust and cut out circles with a
biscuit cutter and overlapped the circles. it looked like a flower. i
will be using that one again - it makes a traditional pie new again. 
this cake met every expectation i had and then some. i used a different
recipe for the cake because i have one i love and the baked recipe makes
a three layer cake which i thought was overkill. i made everything else
from the baked recipe. this was not an easy cake for me to make as i
seem to be cursed when it comes to caramel but it was worth all the
effort. the balance of the sweet & salty flavors is perfection. the
cake itself is pure decadence but with fleur de sel and caramel it puts
it into a whole other world.
i get why people love these brownies and i am sure they are equally
fabulous on their own but i am telling you they are a little slice of
heaven when marbled with a cream cheese swirl. i upped the amount of
espresso powder and decreased the sugar by a bit because i do that in
most recipes. both adaptations worked really well and i think they
enhanced the deep chocolate flavor in these brownies. 
