Paleo Pecan Pie Tartlets

Newton's first law teaches us that an object in motion will stay in motion until pushed or pulled by an outside force.

Well, I guess you could say nothing's been pushing or pulling, because tartlets remain on a roll around here.

With fall breezes blowing all around and what I consider a pretty decent nod to pumpkin pie in the last post, a pecan-pie-inspired tartlet was the natural next step.

The crust is cashew-heavy to achieve the rich, buttery quality of a traditional pecan pie, while the filling employs dates for their sticky texture and super-sweet, brown-sugar-like flavor. Vanilla is a new addition in this tartlet, and of course, pecans are the star.

I played around with configurations of pecan halves and pieces (from purely pieces to three-to-six halves with pieces to fill the gaps), and I think I like this look the best:

If, however, you plan to cut the tartlets before serving, you may wish to go with purely pieces for easier slicing.

Whatever aesthetic you choose, I hope these tartlets make you fall for fall over and over again.

Pecan Pie Tartlets

for the crust:
1/4 cup chopped, raw, unsalted pecans
2/3 cup raw, unsalted cashews
2 T coconut palm sugar
1/4 tsp fine salt
2 T coconut oil

for the filling:
1/4 cup chopped, raw, unsalted pecans
20 pitted dates
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp fine salt
3 T coconut oil
3 T water

for garnish:
1 cup raw, unsalted pecan halves (and/or pieces)

Place muffin liners in each of six large muffin cups. I use regular-sized muffin liners in large cups--the larger cups allow the liners to lay out a little wider. If you do not have a large-cup muffin pan, just use six cups in a standard-size muffin pan.

Place all the crust ingredients except for the coconut oil in the food processor and pulse until the pieces are almost uniform in size and the mixture resembles very coarse sand. If you have a food processor with nested work bowls, use the smaller of the two.

 Add the 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and pulse until the mixture resembles moist sand. Divide the mixture evenly among the six prepared muffin cups, firmly pressing the mixture into the bottoms and up the sides to form mini tart shells. 

 Chill the crusts in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Rinse out and pat dry the food processor bowl, blade, and lid. Add all the filling ingredients to the processor bowl except for the water. Turn the processor on, and pour one tablespoon of water into the shoot on the top (the insert should be in place so that the water slowly drips out of the hole in the bottom). When the water appears to be gone, turn off the processor and scrape down the sides and lid. Repeat this process with each of the remaining tablespoons of water. Continue to process the mixture until it is completely smooth.

Use a greased spoon (just dip it quickly in liquid coconut oil and shake off the excess) to evenly divide the filling among the prepared crusts and to gently spread it out in each one--the filling will be very dense and sticky.

Arrange pecan halves and/or pieces on each tartlet, pressing gently to adhere the pecans to the filling. 

Chill the tartlets in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, right up until serving. 

The tartlets can be stored in airtight containers in the fridge for up to one week. Makes six tartlets.

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

Honey-Walnut Pie and Homemade Butter Crust

The Setting: Blue and gray are duking it out in the sky...looks like gray is winning.

The Soundtrack: The dishwasher. Oh, how I love that thing! Seriously, sonnets are in order.

Steaming up the Oven: Nothing. So far, it's been a peanut butter and Kashi kind of day.

The Scenario: An alternative to the sweet Southern staple that's become a holiday hit.

Growing up, I never liked nuts until I tried pecan pie. The first bite of that gooey, ultra-sweet filling transformed the nut from just another thing I'd been avoiding (like veggies or the obligatory glass of milk with dinner) to something I actually wanted to eat (like ice cream, or, well, pie).

Last year I all but burnt myself out on pecan pie attempting to perfect my recipe. So this year I decided to do something slightly different but equally festive for the holidays.

Honey and walnuts are a classic combination. Here, they are complimented by butter for richness, brown sugar for depth, and a combo of cinnamon and cardamom for subtle complexity.

The flavor will vary marginally depending on the type of honey used. Honeys are a lot like wines in that they can be blends or varietals. Tupelo, orange blossom, clover, and other varietals are made from nectar gathered from their namesake blossoms, while "local honey" and your standard supermarket squeeze-bear are generally blends. I have no idea what combination of plants the bees of Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan prefer to pollinate, but that's what went into my pie. Whatever honey you choose will bring its own nuances to the recipe--select accordingly.

When fully cooked, the top of this pie will puff and crack slightly, almost reminiscent of the top of a cake. But don't be fooled: underneath the puffy, nutty exterior lies a gooey, honeyed caramel that is nothing but pie.

Honey Walnut Pie
This is one of those recipes that makes you get why people say "easy as pie." Simply whisk up the filling, pour it over the walnuts in the unbaked crust, and bake!

1 unbaked pie crust (recipe follows), fitted into a greased pie pan, placed on a baking sheet
2 cups walnut halves
3 large eggs
1 ¼ cups brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
4 T melted butter
¼ tsp fine salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ cup flour
¼ tsp cinnamon
Dash cardamom

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and make sure a rack is positioned in the center of the oven.

Prick the bottom of the pie crust all over with a fork.

Spread the walnuts out evenly in the unbaked pie crust.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.

Pour this mixture over the walnuts.

Cover the pie with aluminum foil, and bake for 35 minutes.  Carefully remove the foil, rotate the pan in the oven, and bake an additional 32-35 minutes.  Don’t worry if the pie cracks slightly--this is normal and can actually be a good indication that the pie has cooked enough to set.

Allow the pie to cool at least 20 minutes to set before cutting.

The pie will keep, covered with aluminum foil, at room temperature for up to 5 days, but it is best eaten within 1-2 days.

All-Butter Crust

Shortening is often used either in place of or in combination with butter to produce flaky pie crusts, but I prefer an all-butter approach. Butter is more flavorful and is naturally free of trans fats. My favorite butter to bake with is Kerrygold, but more often than not, I use the cheap, store-brand stuff. For the liquid component, I have used everything from water to cream to coconut milk, and even spiced rum. Whatever liquid you choose, be sure that it is cold, and use only as much as it takes for your dough to come together. The instructions below are for the food-processor method, but this dough can also be made by hand. Use a fork or a pastry cutter to cut very cold (but not frozen, which is too hard to cut in effectively by hand) butter into the dry ingredients until the largest clumps are the size of a pea and the rest of the mixture looks like grated Parmesan cheese. Add the liquid about 1 T at a time, using either a fork or a wooden spoon to incorporate just enough of the liquid so that if you press a clump of the mixture together, it will form a soft dough.

3/4 cup (12 T, or 1 1/2 regular sticks) cold, unsalted butter
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry flour), plus a little extra for sprinkling
2 T sugar
½ tsp fine salt
3-6 T ice water or very cold milk or cream (substitute some of the liquid with vodka if desired*)

Use a knife to cut the butter into cm-sized cubes. Freeze the butter cubes for at least 15 minutes.

Pulse the flour, sugar, and salt together in a food processor several times to mix.

Add the butter to the processor and pulse several times until the mixture has a sandy appearance and the largest clumps are about the size of a pea. The mixture will resemble Parmesan cheese.

Remove the liquid-shoot insert from the processor. Turn the processor on and pour about 1 T of the liquid through the shoot at a time, just until the mixture starts to come together in a mass. Use only as much liquid as necessary and avoid over-mixing.

Turn the dough out onto a large piece of parchment paper and press into a large, flat disk.

Wrap gently in the parchment, and place in the fridge until ready to use (or up to 48 hours).  Allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before rolling if it has been in the fridge for more than an hour. This will make it easier to roll out.

When ready to use, unwrap the disk, lightly sprinkle it all over with flour, and place another sheet of parchment on top so that the dough is sandwiched between the two sheets. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to a thickness of ¼-1/8^th inch.

Gently peel the dough off the parchment and transfer to a buttered pie pan, aiming to align the center of the dough with the center of the pan.

Gently lift the edges of the dough and ease it into the sides of the pan to avoid stretching the dough, which would cause it to shrink during baking. 

Trim the overhanging edges of the dough so that about 1 inch hangs over the edge of the pan all the way around.

Gently tuck or roll the overhanging dough under itself so that it sits up on the edge of the pan.

Use your fingers and thumb to crimp the edges if desired. 

Gently press parchment paper or plastic wrap onto the surface to cover and chill until ready to use. The unbaked crust can be stored like this in the fridge for 1-2 days.

Note 1: I used to make this dough using my food processor's dough blade, but I have found that the metal blade mixes the dough more quickly and more evenly.

Note 2: If desired, dough scraps can be re-rolled, cut out with festive mini-cutters, and placed atop the pie either before baking or before the second phase of baking (after the foil is removed).

Use a paring knife to add detail, such as veins on leaves.

*Aggressively mixing water and flour helps to develop the flour's gluten, which makes for strong, crusty French baguettes, but tough, chewy, gluey pie crusts. This is why it is best to use as little liquid as possible and to mix the dough as little as possible. Alcohol does not activate the gluten like water does, so it may be used in place of some of the liquid to achieve lighter, flakier results.

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

Homemade GooGoo Clusters

The Setting: Gloomy day, but warm enough to leave the ski mask at home.

The Soundtrack: Hoosband flipping through papers and working out figures on the calculator. Hooray tax time!

Steaming up the Oven: Bread.

The Scenario: We're in the home stretch for Music City in the Midwest, with our second-to-last recipe, Homemade GooGoo Clusters.

In 1912, Nashville's Standard Candy Company brought the world its very first mass-produced combination candy-bar.

In a world of plain-Jane candy bars made exclusively of chocolate or taffy, the GooGoo Cluster proudly combined chocolate, marshmallow, caramel, and peanuts in a confection so tasty people would start asking for it from birth--that's right, the next time you hear a baby say "Goo Goo," you'll know what he's clamoring for.

My version uses dulce de leche instead of caramel (because it's easier to make, easier to work with, and pretty freaking delicious) and honey-roasted peanuts for an added flavor bonus.

This recipe is dedicated to my daughter, Oia, who is expressing her share of goos and gahs these days, and to the memory of my grandparents, who always had a stash of GooGoo Clusters somewhere in the house.

Homemade GooGoo Clusters
This recipe uses the same Marshmallow Cream recipe as the Homemade MoonPies, also featured in Music City in the Midwest.

1/3 cup powdered sugar, for sprinkling and rolling
1 1/2 cups cold water, divided
3 (1/4-oz) envelopes unflavored gelatin
2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 cups dulce de leche
1 1/2 lbs honey-roasted peanuts
16 oz semisweet and/or dark chocolate, divided
16 oz milk chocolate, divided
4 1/2 T coconut oil, divided

Make the Marshmallow Cream: Prop up each of two disposable pastry bags in each of two tall drinking glasses and fold the tops of the bags down a few inches (as if you were going to turn then inside-out). Set aside.

Line your counter with parchment paper and sift half the powdered sugar over the parchment.

Sprinkle the gelatin over 3/4 cup cold water in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.

Fix a 3-quart saucepan with a candy thermometer so that the bottom of the thermometer is just above, not touching the bottom of the pan. Make sure the thermometer is set to Fahrenheit. Add the sugar, corn syrup, sweetened condensed milk, salt, and remaining water to the pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Do not stir. Continue cooking until the thermometer reads 231 degrees F. The mixture will be light-golden-to-pale-amber in color. Remove from heat, turn the mixer on low, and very slowly and carefully stream the sugar mixture into the gelatin mixture.

Add the vanilla and increase the speed slightly. Continue increasing the speed slightly every 30-to-60 seconds until the speed is set to high. Beat on high until the mixture is white, fluffy, and voluminous and the bowl is almost cool to the touch, about 6 minutes.

Split the mixture between the two pastry bags, and pipe rough 1 1/2-inch puffs onto the prepared parchment.

Sprinkle with remaining powdered sugar, and roll each puff gently in the powdered sugar to coat (this will prevent the puffs from sticking to each other and make them easier to handle.

Top each puff with about 1 T dulce de leche.

Place the peanuts in a bowl. Press each puff, dulce-de-leche-side down into the peanuts so that the nuts cling to the dulce de leche.

Prepare the Chocolate Coating: Place 6 oz semisweet chocolate, 6 oz milk chocolate, and 2 T coconut oil in a medium-sized, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30-second intervals, stirring thoroughly after each, until the chocolate is almost completely melted. Stir till completely melted and smooth.

Line your counter with clean parchment paper.

Gently press each cluster, marshmallow-side down, into the chocolate so that the chocolate coats the bottom. Allow the bottom of the cluster to gently graze the side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate as you transfer the cluster to the parchment paper to set.

Once set, transfer the clusters to a cooling rack and set the rack over the parchment paper.

Prepare remaining chocolate ingredients as before.

Spoon chocolate over each cluster, using the spoon to help you coat the top and sides, getting the chocolate into every nook and cranny. Let set.

Use an offset spatula or a wide, flat cheese tool to help you remove the fully set clusters from the cooling rack without cracking the chocolate.

Store clusters in a plastic zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Makes approximately 50 clusters.

Guest Feedback:
Average Score on a scale of 0-5, 0 being "Never again. Need to set my mouth on fire to extinguish the memory" and 5 being "Woohoo! When can I eat that again?" 4
Comments:  "Good." "Very satisfying!" "Too tasty."

This recipe was featured in a post called Music City in the Midwest for Foodbuzz.com's 24x24 event, for which 24 food bloggers from around the world are selected to host dinner parties within the same 24 hours and blog about them.

Thanks for Reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.