The blend of candy with cookies has always been an appealing idea. Twix is one of the better known brands that has done well by using this type of texture/flavor blend.
This recipe incorporates the same idea with very tasty results. The cup part of this treat is like a shortbread flavored with cinnamon. It is filled with a mixture of marscapone cheese and pecans and then baked. After the cups have cooled, the filling is covered with semi sweet chocolate.
One bite does have you enjoying the crunch of the cookies, then you move on to the creamy filling chock full of pecans. The filling makes me think of pecan pie or pralines, but without as much sweetness. Topping the filling with chocolate makes it more confectionary. Twix has the right idea, a cookie/candy combo is hard to resist. The little cups are great at parties and the texture/ flavor combo will have them coming back for seconds. This recipe makes about 2 1/2 dz cups.
Pecan Cream Cups
by Flourtrader
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups marscapone (softened)
2/3 cup chopped and toasted pecans
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Use a non stick mini muffin pan or butter the inside and top edge of mini muffin cavities. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Place the butter and sugar in a bowl. Beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. In a separate
bowl, whisk the egg with the cinnamon. Add the cinnamon/egg mixture to the creamed butter and
sugar. Blend with mixer on medium speed until incorporated into batter. Set aside.
Using another bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking soda. Fold the sifted ingredients into the wet batter. Place 1 tbs of dough in each muffin cavity. Press each tablespoon of dough into a cup form in the cavity, the same manner as you would in making tart shells. The dough cup should come up to the rim. Trim off excess and blend back in with the rest of the dough for forming additional cups.
Once all the cavities of your muffin tin have a dough cup, start making the filling. Fold the pecans into the marscapone until evenly distributed. Fill the dough cups with the filling right below the top edge, reserving some room for the top layer of chocolate. Smooth the surface of the filling.
Place in oven to bake for about 9-12 minutes, or until the cookie shell turns a golden brown. Remove and place rack to cool in pan for about 10 minutes. Then remove from pans carefully place each on cooling rack. Let cool completely.
While the cups are cooling, set up a double boiler and fill the top pot with chocolate chips. Once the chips start melting, stir a few times. When all the chocolate is melted and the cups have completely cooled, smooth the chocolate on top of the cup filling. Make sure you do not get the chocolate on the cookie edges.
Let rest about 1 hour for the chocolate to set up. Then serve. Store covered in the refrigerator.
Tips and Notes:
1. Filling will rise while cooking and sink when cooling, consider this when filling.
2. The dough cups are a good shell to use as a base for filling with the item of your choice.
3. Evenly shaped dough in the cookies cup will insure even baking.
**LAST YEAR: Chocolate Angel food cake**
