Nut Cookie Tartlets Recipes

LITTLE NUT CUPS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Stir in the flour and mix thoroughly. The dough should be somewhat firm. Roll into 36 small balls, place them on a plate and refrigerate for one hour.
• Make the filling in a medium bowl. Beat the eggs, melted butter, vanilla and brown sugar until smooth and well blended. Stir in the nuts. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Press the chilled dough balls into the bottom and up the sides of tart pans or mini muffin cups. Fill each shell with filling almost to the top. Use a squeeze top honey container if you have one, to drip about 1/2 teaspoon of honey onto the top of each cup.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until crust is lightly browned. Allow to cool in the tins completely before removing.

NUT TARTS

Steps:

• Make shells by mixing the butter, cream cheese and flour until dough is formed. (You can either mix by hand or use a food processer). Roll dough into balls, approximately 1", and press into ungreased mini muffin tins. Be sure to bring dough up sides of each muffin cup or filling will stick to pan.
• Make filling by mixing the eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, and walnuts. Place 1 Tbs. of filling into each muffin cup.
• Bake at 375F for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
• Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove tarts and cool completely on wire rack. Dust with powered sugar before serving.

MIXED NUT TARTLETS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out crust dough on lightly floured surface to 16-inch round (scant 1/8 inch thick). Cut out 3-inch rounds. Gather and reroll dough scraps. Cut out enough rounds to make 18 total. Spray 3-inch-diameter fluted tartlet pans with 1/2-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Line prepared pans with dough rounds. Freeze crusts 15 minutes.
• Arrange tartlet pans on large baking sheets. Bake crusts until pale golden, piercing bottoms with toothpick if crusts bubble, about 13 minutes. Cool crusts on baking sheets.
• For filling:
• Bring cream, sugar, honey and butter to boil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil without stirring 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in Grand Marnier, then nuts. Refrigerate until filling is thick, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Divide filling among prepared crusts. Bake tartlets on baking sheets until filling is golden brown and bubbles, about 12 minutes (filling may bubble over). Transfer tartlets to rack; cool 5 minutes. Using tip of small sharp knife, cut around crusts to loosen. Remove tartlets from pans. Cool completely on racks.

CARAMEL NUT TARTLETS

Steps:

• Make shells:
• Preheat oven to 325°F. and spray tartlet pans with cooking spray.
• In a small bowl whisk together yolk, water, and vanilla. In a food processor pulse together flour, sugar, and salt until combined well. Cut butter into 1/4-inch pieces and scatter over flour mixture. Pulse mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
• Add egg mixture with motor running and pulse just until dough forms a ball. Turn dough out onto a work surface and with heel of hand press dough together just until smooth and cohesive.
• Form dough into fifty 1-inch balls. Press balls into bottoms and up sides of tartlet pans, making 1/8-inch-thick shells (if working in batches, keep remaining dough chilled). Trim any overhang and with a fork prick bottom of each shell several times. Transfer shells in pans to shallow baking pans. Gather scraps together and make more shells in same manner.
• Bake shells in batches in lower third of oven, checking after 6 minutes for signs of blistering (if necessary, prick dough with fork to deflate any air pockets), 15 minutes total, or until surface of crust is no longer shiny and dough appears set and golden. Cool shells in pans on racks until cool enough to handle and gently remove shells from pans. All shells should be baked before proceeding. Leave oven on.
• Make filling:
• In a large shallow baking pan toast nuts (if using hazelnuts, keep separate from other types) in one layer in middle of oven until golden, about 15 minutes. (To skin hazelnuts, wrap nuts while still hot in a kitchen towel and let steam 1 minute. Rub nuts in towel to remove loose skins; do not worry about skins that do not come off.) Cool nuts completely and in a food processor pulse until coarsely chopped. In a 2-quart heavy saucepan heat sugar, water, and corn syrup over low heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Boil mixture, without stirring, until golden. Remove pan from heat and add cream (use caution; mixture will bubble up and vigorously steam), stirring carefully with a wooden spoon until combined well. (If lumps form, return pan to low heat and stir caramel until smooth.) Transfer caramel to a bowl to cool and thicken, about 10 minutes. Add nuts, stirring to coat.
• Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons filling into each shell. Tartlets keep, in one layer in airtight containers at room temperature or chilled, 3 days.