Easy Mini Pecan Tarts

Halloween. Amara's first real trick-or-treating year. She is three and she went as — wait for it — a cook. A tiny chef costume with a hat and an apron and a plastic spoon, and when people asked "What are you?" she said, "I'm Gah-gah." Not a cook. Not a chef. Gah-gah. She was me for Halloween. I cannot breathe when I think about it. I cannot breathe and I do not want to because breathing would mean feeling this less, and I want to feel this all the way to my bones.

Earl Jr. brought her to Thunderbolt. She trick-or-treated down the block — running to each door, holding out her bag, yelling "TRICK TREAT!" (no "or" — the child edits efficiently), and then running back to show me what she got. She got candy. She got admiration. She got the entire neighborhood saying, "Is that supposed to be Dot Henderson?" and Earl Jr. saying, "That IS Dot Henderson. The small version."

I gave out candy from the porch, same as every year. The sparkle in Amara's eyes when she saw the candy bowl — the same sparkle I remember in Michael's eyes on Halloween, in Earl Jr.'s eyes, in Denise's eyes, in every Henderson child who ever stood on this porch in a costume and believed that the world was generous. The world is not always generous. But the porch is. The porch always has candy. The porch always has me.

Made caramel apples and candied pecans. The traditional offerings. Plus hot chocolate for the adults, because October finally got cold enough to justify it. The hot chocolate had a pinch of cayenne because everything I make has a kick, and anyone who doesn't expect it hasn't been paying attention.

Now go on and feed somebody.

The candied pecans went fast — they always do — but the mini pecan tarts I set on the table beside the candy bowl? Those are what the adults come back for, and I mean that literally: two neighbors made a second trip to the porch and it was not for the candy corn. If you are going to stand outside in October giving out joy, you might as well give out something worth remembering, and these little tarts have the same warm, sweet, slightly caramelized pull as the pecans but in a form you can hand to a grown person without them feeling embarrassed about it. Amara grabbed one in her tiny chef’s fist and I let her have it, because Gah-gah’s porch has no rules on Halloween.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 24 mini tarts

Ingredients

For the crust:
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
For the filling:
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Instructions

Make the dough. Beat cream cheese and softened butter together in a medium bowl until smooth and fluffy. Add flour and mix until a soft dough forms. Divide dough into 24 equal balls, about 1 inch each.
Form the shells. Press each dough ball into the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased mini muffin tin cup to form a thin shell. Refrigerate the tin for 15 minutes while you prepare the filling.
Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 325°F (165°C).
Mix the filling. In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, egg, melted butter, vanilla, and salt until smooth and well combined.
Fill the shells. Divide the chopped pecans evenly among the chilled dough shells, then spoon the brown sugar filling over the pecans, filling each cup about 3/4 full.
Bake. Bake for 23–25 minutes, until the filling is set and the edges of the crust are lightly golden. Do not overbake — the filling will firm up as it cools.
Cool and remove. Let tarts cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then run a thin knife around the edges and carefully lift out. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Nutrition (per serving)

Easy Mini Pecan Tarts — The Sweet I Set Out Every Halloween for Whoever Comes to the Porch