Nut Cookie Tartlets Food

PINE NUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, fennel seed, and salt in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Add the flour and mix just until blended.
• Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap. Shape the dough into an 8-inch-long log. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line heavy large baking sheets with a silpat or parchment paper. Cut the dough log crosswise into 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick slices. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets, spacing evenly apart. Press the pine nuts decoratively atop the cookies. Bake until the cookies are golden around the edges, about 15 minutes.

CHOCOLATE NUT COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extract. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in the chips and nuts. , Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 7-9 minutes. Cool on pans for 1 minute before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

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.

WALNUT RAISIN TARTLETS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
• Cut the pie crust into 12 pieces and press them evenly into the bottoms and up the sides of the muffin cups to form a crust.
• In a medium bowl with an electric hand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla and mix well. Stir in the raisins and walnuts. Spoon the mixture evenly into the crusts.
• Put the muffin tin onto a baking sheet and bake until the filling is set, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Carefully unmold the tarts, put them onto a rack, and let them cool to room temperature.

NUT COOKIE TARTLETS

Steps:

• To make Pastry: Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add the 6 tablespoons white sugar, 2 cups flour and blend well.
• Shape into balls about 1 inch in diameter (flour palms of hands to facilitate rolling). Place ball in greased tartlet pan and flatten. Should fill pan by 3/4.
• To Make Filling: Mix together vanilla, egg, brown sugar, and chopped nuts.
• After flattening ball in tartlet tin make a thumb print in center and fill with a full 1/2 teaspoon of nut filling.
• Bake in a 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for 17 to 20 minutes. Cool completely before removing from pan.

NUTTY PIE-CRUST COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat butter, flour, confectioners' sugar and salt until crumbly. Beat in cream. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 1-1/2-in. round cookie cutter. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets., Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., Place pecans and coconut in a small bowl; toss to combine. Reserve 1/2 cup coconut mixture. In another bowl, beat butter, cream cheese, salt and, if desired, liqueur until creamy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Fold in remaining coconut mixture. Spread over bottoms of half of the cookies; cover with remaining cookies. Place reserved coconut mixture in a shallow bowl. Roll sides of cookies in coconut mixture., Freeze option: Transfer wrapped disks to a resealable plastic freezer bag; freeze. To use, thaw dough in refrigerator until soft enough to roll. Prepare, bake and fill cookies as directed.

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.

COOKIE NUT CRUST

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour and baking soda.
• Add the butter, brown sugar, walnuts and vanilla.
• Blend well.
• Press the mixture, a small amount at a time, into a 9-inch pie plate, building up the sides and fluting the edge.
• Cover the fluting with a strip of aluminum foil to prevent overbowning.