Dulce de Leche Pecan Tarts

I love the time between back to school and Christmas. Even though the weather sucks and the sun disappears way too early, I still embrace this season. Leading up towards Christmas the festive feeling in the air becomes thicker and everything looks more magical strewn with lights and covered in frost. People gather together to celebrate and embrace family and friends. This year I am excited to be celebrating two Thanksgivings - Canadian AND American!

With fall just around the corner, this recipe was perfect to celebrate the close of September. With the addition of chocolate and dulce de leche, it is a decadent twist on traditional pecan pie. The recipe comes from Gourmet Magazine. The only change I made is to bake these in small tart pans instead of as a large pie. Note: You may need to make pastry for a double-crust pie if you are making tarts, because the ratio of crust to filling will be higher for tarts.

Dulce de Leche Pecan Pie
9" Pie | adapted from Gourmet, October 2009

Pastry dough for single-crust pie
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar 2 large eggs
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup bittersweet chocolate (6 oz), melted
1 1/4 cups pecans (5 oz), chopped, plus whole pecans for garnish
1/4 cup dulce de leche

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with rack in middle. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin, then fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim and crimp edge.

2. Whisk together corn syrup, sugar, eggs, flour, butter, vanilla, and salt until combined. Stir in melted chocolate and pecans and pour into pie shell.

3. If dulce de leche is very thick, thin with 2 to 3 teaspoon water. Pour dulce de leche over top of pie and swirl with a fork (swirl will not be visible in baked pie). Arrange whole pecans on top. Bake until top is puffed but slightly wobbly in center, about 50 minutes. Cool to room temperature, at least 2 hours.