This past Thanksgiving, I witnessed a friend eat pecan pie for the first time. Although she’s in her mid-twenties, the fact that she had never encountered it isn’t particularly shocking given that she’s Irish (and thus didn’t grow up with Thanksgiving as a staple holiday). She said she liked the taste, but the slab of pie on her plate was so gargantuan that she only ate her way through a third of it.

Last week, I witnessed myself try a traditional mince pie – a miniature, sweet-and-savory concoction that appears on the Brits’ gastronomic radar around Christmastime. The meaty-fruity filling made me shudder, even though there was only a tiny dollop of it inside a two-inch diameter pie.

I think another fellow American living in England put it best:

NB: Mince pies, which some trace back to the 13^th century, were originally made with mutton, beef, veal or even goose meat, along with dried fruits, brandy and spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.

But today, most mince pie recipes forgo the meat and only call for the sweet and fruity ingredients, which results in a pie filling reminiscent of the glop inside Fig Newtons.

To satisfy both my Irish friend and myself – while also contributing to a trans-Atlantic, cross-culturally appealing holiday meal – I decided to combine the two classics and make for a hybrid spin-off:

BABY PECAN PIES – a.k.a. what you would get if Mince Pie and Pecan Pie had babies together.

This recipe combines the size and shape of mince pies (which are perfect as a refreshment with afternoon tea or an indulgent late-night snack) with the simultaneously gooey texture and sugary, wholesome crunch of pecan pies.

INGREDIENTS

The Pastry:

• ½ cup of butter, softened
• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup icing or confectioner’s sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• an assortment of aluminum mini-pie tins or muffin / tart molds (anywhere from 10-20 tins, depending on their size)

The Filling:

• 1 cup pecan nuts
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 ¼ cup soft brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• whipped cream

DIRECTIONS

To make the pastry:

1 Butter the mini-pie, muffin or tart tins to keep the pastry from sticking to them.

2 Measure the flour, sugar and vanila into a bowl; gradually add bits of the butter while mixing the pastry with a wooden spoon. The mixture should become flaky as the butter is incorporated.

3 Using your hands, form the pastry into 1 inch diameter balls and press them into the bases and up the sides of the pie / tart tins. If there is leftover dough, re-form it into a ball to use for another mold.

NB: If the pastry is too dry or flaky to be rolled into balls of dough, add a little bit more melted butter to help it congeal.

4 Place the pastry-lined tins in the freezer to chill for 20 minutes until the pastry is firm.

NB: Start making the filling while you wait for the pastry to set!

5 Divide the nuts between the pastry-lined cups.

6 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 180 degrees C.

To make the filling:

1 Mix the butter, egg, brown sugar and vanilla until smooth and gooey.

2 Pour the mixture into each nut-filled pastry cup until it covers the pecans; top off each baby pie with more pecan bits.

3 Bake until the pastry is golden brown and the filling set and crisp; this should take about 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of the tart mold.

4 Remove the pies from the oven; let them cool for 5 minutes and then remove them from the tins to let them cool completely on a wire rack.

NB: If you are using aluminum mini-pie tins, you can keep the baby pies in them and serve them just like that.

5 Spray on a swirl of whipped cream right before serving.

This recipe is from my writing for #LetsLunch, a group of writers and food enthusiasts from around the world. Every month, we decide on a category of food, devise a recipe to make and then tell a story about our culinary adventures.

Peruse more Let’s Lunch holiday offerings below; if you’d like to join, Tweet a message with the hashtag #Letslunch — or submit a comment on any of the posts below!

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Charissa‘s Coconut Date Balls at Zest Bakery

Cheryl‘s Auntie Jane’s Potato Gratin at Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

Eleanor‘s Easy Festive Stir-Fry at Wok Star

Ellise‘s Lime-Chipotle Carrots at Cowgirl Chef

Emma‘s Mom’s Hot Crab Dip at Dreaming of Pots And Pans

Felicia‘s Chinese Butterfly Cookies at Burnt-Out Baker

Grace‘s Fruitcake at HapaMama

Joe‘s Maine Homestead Holiday Dishes at Joe Yonan

Linda‘s Baked Salad at Free Range Cookies

Linda‘s Trinidadian Baked Pastelles at Spicebox Travels

Lisa‘s Potato Latkes at Monday Morning Cooking Club

Lucy‘s “Not My Mama’s” Black-Eyed Peas & Greens at A Cook And Her Books

Maria‘s Grandma Dorothy’s Deviled Eggs at Maria’s Good Things

Rebecca‘s Grandmother Martha’s Potato Kugel at Grongar Blog

Renee‘s Cranberry Christmas Salsa at My Kitchen And I

Steff‘s Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Crumble at The Kitchen Trials

Victor‘s Roasted Parsnips, Carrots & Delicata Squash Tossed With Sauteed Mustard Greens at The Taste of Oregon

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