12 Treats of Christmas: #8 Tiny Holiday Tarts

This recipe came from a friend of mine who also enjoys cooking and baking—probably as much as I do. She included these cute little tarts in the tin of treats that she gave our family, and then was generous enough to share the recipe with me. I haven’t had a chance to try making them yet, but I did taste the Pecan Pie Filling version and the Brownie-Nut Filling version. On the copy of the recipe there were a couple of other fillings that sounded interesting, so I am including them, too!

TINY HOLIDAY TARTS
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
Desired Filling

In a small mixer bowl beat together butter and cream cheese. Stir in flour. Cover and chill about 1 hour or until easy to handle. Shape into 1 inch balls. Press onto the bottom and up sides of un-greased mini-muffin cups (1 ¾ inch). Fill each with 1 rounded teaspoon of filling. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until done. Cool slightly in pan. Remove and cool well. Makes 24.
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Pecan Pie Filling: Beat together 1 egg, ¾ cup packed brown sugar; 1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in ½ cup coarsely chopped pecans.
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Brownie-Nut Filling: In a small saucepan heat and stir ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces and 2 tablespoons butter or margarine over low heat until melted. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/3 cup sugar, 1 beaten egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Place a whole filbert or peanut in each pastry. Top with 1 rounded teaspoon chocolate mixture.
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Almond-Raspberry Filling: Divide ¼ cup red raspberry preserves among pastries (about ½ teaspoon each). Beat together 1 egg, ½ cup sugar, and ½ cup almond paste (crumbled). Spoon 1 level teaspoon of the almond mixture over the preserves. Sprinkle with coarsely chopped sliced almonds. If desired, drizzle cooled baked tarts with additional raspberry preserves.
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Pumpkin-Sour Cream Filling: Beat together 1 egg, ½ cup canned pumpkin, 1/3 cup sugar, ¼ cup dairy sour cream, 1 tablespoon milk, and ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice. If desired, pipe or dollop whipped cream on cooled baked tarts. This one would be fun to serve at Thanksgiving time!