Peter Piper Pecan Pies

I love cold, wet weather. It inspires me to get in the kitchen, turn up the oven high and start baking moreish treats. I had never attempted to bake a pecan pie before and this seemed like the perfect weekend to start. I suggest little attention is paid to the abundance of butter and sinful ingredients and more to the caramelised delights that emerge from the oven some 20 mins later.

Mini Pecan Pies

You'll Need:

3 eggs (beaten)

1/2 cup of Castor sugar

1 cup of treacle

1/4 cup of melted butter

1 tablespoon of all purpose flour

1 cup of pecans (chopped)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon of salt

To make the shortcrust pastry:

2 cups of plain flour

125g of chopped butter

iced water

Start with the pastry first by placing the flour and butter into a food processor and process until the mixture has formed rough crumbs. Gradually add the iced water until the dough is soft. Remove from processor and knead lightly forming into a ball. Cling wrap dough and leave to rest in the refrigerator for 30 mins.

Grease 24 mini muffin tins and pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees. Take all the above pecan ingredients and place together in a food processor until the mixture is thick and syrupy. Leave the mixture to rest.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface until the dough is approximately 1cm thick. Take a measuring cup and cut circles out of the dough and place into the greased muffin tin as the base of the pies. Fill each pie 3/4 full with the pecan mixture and lightly place a whole pecan on top. Place trays in the oven for 20mins.

Enjoy the pies warmwith whipped cream and coffee!