Fall into Holiday Baking (aka How to Avoid Holiday Stress)

I started seeing Christmas decorations in the stores in August this year (i.e. craft stores in particular), which is pretty ridiculous in my opinion. I am definitely against Christmas commercialization by retailers, especially months before the holidays, but there are instances when it pays to get an early start for the holidays. And I'm talking about the annual baking extravaganza I perform every year. I know, I don't HAVE to do it, but as long as I can continue along with it and I feel up for it, I just keep on going.

I tend to stress out when I start my holiday baking, probably because I wait too close to the holidays to start it (usually right after Thanksgiving which is not enough time to bake, pack and mail out cookies). This year I promised it would be different. Here is it, the 3rd week of October and I am gearing up. Leaves are starting to turn here in Northern VA and I am making Christmas cookies! I have a few favorites I always make; this year I will continue that tradition and maybe try a few different ones too. But for sure, I will finish my baking before the end of the month, or the first week of November at the latest, and have them in the freezer so I can take them out the night before and start the packing and mailing.

One of my "Go To" cookbooks for holiday cookie baking is Rose's Christmas Cookies by Rose Levy Beranbaum.

 I have several recipes in this baking book I make for the holidays, including Lora Brody's Rugelach, which is a favorite of my family's and friends. But to start, I am making another favorite called Pecan Tassies. I have modified the recipe ever so slightly to save time....I use refrigerated pie dough from the grocery store, it is so much easier than making the cream cheese dough in the book. I just roll it out and cut it using a 2 1/8" round scalloped cookie cutter (another variation from the book; she rolls the dough into a ball and presses it into the muffin tin). I think the scalloped edge gives the cookie a more finished edge and looks a lot prettier. In the book, there is an option for adding a chocolate lace topping. Although I love chocolate, I think these are sweet enough without it, and of course I save a bit of time not adding it (especially when you are making 10-12 other varieties of cookies).

Based on PECAN TASSIES by Rose Levy Beranbaum, Copyright 1990 by Cordon Rose Inc.

Makes approximately 4 dozen tassies.

Equipment:
mini muffin tins (I used Wearever non stick, 2 tbsp capacity
round or scalloped cookie cutter,  2 1/8" or so

For the pastry:

I used Pillsbury Pie Crust
 
For the filling:
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup golden refiner's syrup or dark corn syrup (I used Karo, but recommend Lyle's Golden Syrup if you can find it)
1/3 cup (firmly packed) dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch salt
1 cup pecan pieces or coarsely chopped pecans

Slightly roll out the pie crust pastry and cut circles out with the cookie cutter.

Just plain store bought pie crust pastry will do fine.

 

Roll slightly and cut out circles.

 

Lift the pie crust dough up and you have your circles. Roll the extra dough out and repeat.

Place the pastry circles in the mini muffin tins. I use the handle of a wooden spoon to slightly press the dough circle into the muffin tin and against the sides. If the dough be­comes too soft to hold its shape, refrigerate it briefly.  Be careful not to let the tin show through as the filling will stick to it. Set muffin tins on cookie sheets and refrigerate them while making the filling.

Place 1 oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, combine the filling ingredients except for the pecans and stir them together un­til well blended. Stir in the pecans. Spoon about 1 heaping tea­spoon of filling into the pastry, filling it but not touching any ex­posed area of the tin.

Ready for the oven.

 Bake for 25-30 minutes or until set but still soft in the centers.

For even baking, rotate the cookie sheet from front to back halfway through the baking period. Allow the tassies to cool on the cookie sheets on wire racks. The tassies unmold more easily when cool.

Allow the tassies to cool slightly and they will just slip out of the pan.

Store: In an airtight container at room temperature. Keeps: 2 weeks at room temper­ature.  These freeze beautifully!

Finally got a decent stacking cooling rack (by Wilton).

I want to eat all of them!

What is your favorite cookie to bake for the holidays?

My notes:

As you fill the mini muffin cups up, after a while you might notice the liquid filling becoming a little lacking in chopped pecans, you can add more pecans as you go to make sure each tin has a nice amount of chopped pecans in the sticky liquid).

I use a silicone baking mat on the bottom and a piece of waxed paper on the top when rolling the dough.

I brush the inside of the muffin tins with a dry pastry brush between batches just to make sure each tin is nice and clean from crumbs.

I got 32 pastry circles from one circle of pie dough. Yield from 2 batches  of the recipe was 8 1/2 dozen.

Don't overfill! The filling puffs up.

These look really pretty when you put them in a holiday-themed mini cupcake case.

Try not to eat too many of these while you are baking! Somehow I only ate two, I was trying to be good.