I’ve been doing enough appetizers and easy recipes, don’t you think? Because the December 2003 Gourmet issue was all about cookies….

I decided to try one of the recipes from “Cookie Magic,” Pine Nut Tassies. First, here’s some tips when making these mini tarts.

Now for the recipe.

Pine Nut Tassies

Based on a recipe from Gourmet, December 2003.

Ingredients

Make the butter cookie shells:

• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• ½ t. baking powder
• ½ t. salt
• 1 ½ stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 large egg
• ½ t. vanilla

Make the filling:

• ⅔ c. packed light brown sugar
• 2 T. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 t. Vanilla
• ½ t. Salt
• 1 ¾ c. pine nuts (½ lb.)

Instructions

1. Make the butter cookie base for the shells. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low, then add flour mixture and mix until just combined. 
3. Form between 1-2” balls (depending on the size of your muffin tins. (I used a medium “mini” tin so my shells were formed from about 2” balls of dough. Press each ball evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the tins. A shot glass was the perfect size to press the dough into my muffin cups. Chill until ready to use.
4. Make the filling and preheat oven to 375 F.
5. Whisk together the brown sugar, butter, egg, vanilla and salt until well blended. (Feel free to also use a blend for this.) Stir in the pine nuts. Fill each pastry shell. (This could be anywhere from 2 t. to 1 full T., again, depending on the size of your tins.)
6. Bake tassies until filling is bubbling and pastry is golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately run a sharp thin knife around the edge of each tassie. Place the entire pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Remove tassies from pan and transfer to rack to cool completely. 

Yield: 2 dozen to 4 dozen depending on size of mini tins.

Tassies keep, layered between sheets of wax or parchment paper, in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 week.

Serve as a special holiday dessert (or just because).

I know. Pine nuts are expensive. The only reason I made these is because The Hubs had bought a huge bag at Costco for a bread recipe. We had plenty left over so I decided these would be great to make. I did love that subtle pine nut flavor. Obviously, you could use chopped pecans or walnuts instead.

The other cookie recipes in this vintage Gourmet include the following:

• Basic Butter Cookies (which is the shell of this recipe)
• Almond Spice Cookies
• Lemon Cookies
• Chocolate Cookies
• Coconut Cookies
• Caramel Pecan Cookies
• Petite Lemon Curd Cookies
• Brownie Squares (a brownie on top of the butter cookie recipe)

What to make next? I’m leaning toward the Almond Spice Cookies. Stay tuned for more almost-vintage recipes.