Maple Pecan Tartlets

Baking Illustrated is one of my favorite Cooks Illustrated cookbooks. My second favorite being The New Best Recipe and my third being The Best 30 Minute Recipe. In general there seems to be a love/hate relationship going on with Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen. I personally trust their recipes enough to make them for a dinner party without prior testing. They do know what they're talking about and the food tastes great, however, I've noticed that they publish a lot of the same recipes in different books with a slightly different spin on them. That is why of all their publications, these 3 are my favorites. They each provide a sufficiently different approach to cooking so the recipes aren't redundant. While you are prepping your filling, bake your crust. Try to time it so that the filling is ready to be poured immediately into the hot crust. Maple Pecan Pie 24 minis | Baking Illustrated 1 recipe for basic 9" Pie Crust 1/4 cup butter 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 tsp salt 3 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 1 cup pure maple syrup 1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped (I left mine whole) 1. Prehat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out your pie crust and line your mini muffin or mini tart tins.

2. Filling: Melt butter in a double boiler. Add sugar and salt and stir to dissolve. Cool slightly then add eggs, vanilla and maple syrup. Continue stirring, still using the double boiler, until it reaches 130 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. It will be glossy and smooth. Stir in pecans. 3. Pour filling into hot crust. Bake 50-60 minutes or until the center is not jiggly. (It will continue to cook as it cools too, from the residual heat). Cool fully, at least 4 hours, and serve at room temperature.