A twist on the traditional pecan version, these maple walnut tassies are little bites of texture paradise. Soft cream cheese cookie dough cradles a sweet maple-brown sugar walnut filling, and a snowy dusting of confectioners’ sugar is all the decoration they need to be ready for their holiday cookie tray debut. You won’t be able to stop at just one, so it’s a good thing the recipe makes 4 dozen!
“But Sally,” you may be thinking, “I thought this was Sally’s COOKIE Palooza, and these look like mini pecan pies! Have you finally run out of cookie recipe ideas?” Good question, dear reader! So let’s begin with:
What Are Tassies?
The word “tassie,” I learn, comes from the Scottish slang for a small cup, which in turn originated from the French word for cup, tasse. Baked in a mini muffin pan, these cute cookie cups are made from a soft cream cheese cookie dough, and can hold really any filling you’d like, though pecan tassies seem to be the most common. I actually have a recipe for those in my book Sally’s Cookie Addiction, which is where I started from when developing this new recipe.
(And, for the record, I will never run out of cookie recipe ideas.)
Here’s Why You’ll Love Them:
- Soft, crispy, creamy, nutty, and sweet all in one
- Unlike making mini pies, there’s no rolling out pie dough, cutting circles, and re-rolling
- Recipe makes a lot!
- They freeze well so you can make them ahead
- So much texture and flavor in one cute little cup
Start With the 5-Ingredient Dough
The dough is made from just 5 ingredients, and comes together easily in a food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, you could certainly use a mixer.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is the base of this dough.
- Sugar: There’s only 1/4 cup of sugar in the dough, as most of the sweetness in these cookies comes from the maple brown sugar filling.
- Salt: Flavor enhancer.
- Cream Cheese: Cream cheese makes the dough extra soft and creamy, which I love in so many cookie recipes, like apricot cream cheese thumbprints and cream cheese sugar cookies. Let the cream cheese soften to room temperature before you make the dough.
- Butter: Make sure you’re using room-temperature butter so it combines easily and completely with the cream cheese. My cookbook version uses cold butter, and that’s fine too, but I found this version produces a softer dough cup.
The dough is similar to the dough I use for rugelach cookies, though that dough is flakier and crisp just like pie crust. Here the dough is soft and tender, almost like a lightly-sweetened cookie.
Place the ingredients in the bowl of your food processor and turn it on. Watch as everything combines into a soft and thick dough at the push of a button:
Divide the dough in half, and flatten each half into a disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (This is the same way I recommend preparing cut-out cookie dough in how to freeze cookie dough.)
How to Shape Tassies
Remove one chilled disc of dough from the refrigerator—one disc is enough for one 24-cup mini muffin pan.
Pinch off a piece of dough, about a scant Tablespoon, or 18g, in size. Roll into a ball and place in a greased mini muffin pan. Press your thumb down into the dough ball to create a deep indent, and shape the dough up the sides of the muffin cup, to create the shell.
Once you’ve shaped the dough cups, place the pan in the refrigerator to keep the dough cold while you make the filling.
TIP: If you have two mini muffin pans, you can go ahead and shape the second disc of dough into tassie shells, but if you only have one pan, leave the second dough disc in the refrigerator until after you’ve baked the first batch and your pan is available.
Make the Maple Walnut Filling
The filling is as easy as the dough, and you need just a mixing bowl and a whisk to make it:
- Eggs: Eggs bind the ingredients together and set the filling.
- Brown Sugar: Molasses-spiked brown sugar is the main sweetener in these maple walnut tassies.
- Maple Syrup: You want that true maple flavor, so use pure maple syrup here, not “pancake syrup.”
- Melted Butter: Adds just a touch of richness, and flavor.
- Vanilla, Salt, & Cinnamon: Flavor-enhancing trio.
- Walnuts: Chop them pretty finely, so you can fit more nuts in each tiny tasse!
One addition I tested and really liked after I took the above photo, was a touch of maple extract. If you have it, go ahead and add some. You’ll love that extra maple flavor. You can find it in the baking aisle of most grocery stores, or online.
Whisk all the filling ingredients together. Easy peasy!
Remove the pan(s) of shaped tassie shells from the refrigerator. Use a teaspoon to spoon the filling into each cookie cup. The amount you can fit in each cup really depends on how deep you indent the dough, so you may have some filling leftover:
The maple walnut tassies bake in about 18–22 minutes. When you’re ready to serve them, dress them up with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar. This little snow flurry is optional, but makes for a sweet and beautiful finishing touch.
The crisp sugared edges, the soft and creamy dough, the crunchy nutty filling… they look so innocent, but they’ll probably be one of the most distractingly delicious cookies on the holiday cookie tray!
Yes, absolutely! You can swap out the walnuts for the same amount of very chopped pecans. Pecan tassies are the original and most common variety of this cookie.
I don’t recommend it, as nuts are the main ingredient in the filling. I haven’t tried the filling with oats, though they could be a fine substitute. For best results, I recommend a different cookie such as peppermint snowballs, shortbread, or brown sugar stamped cookies.
You need a mini muffin pan to hold the shape of the tassies. Unfortunately, you can’t make/shape them without it. The filling is too thin/liquid to use as the filling for a thumbprint-like cookie. A regular 12-count muffin pan is simply too large, and these would be pretty big. However, you can certainly try it and extend the bake time. See recipe Note.
Yes. You can halve the recipe by halving all of the ingredients in the dough and the filling.
Sally’s Cookie Palooza
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page including:
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookie Bars
- Peppermint Bark Cookies
- Flourless Monster Cookies
- Maple Cinnamon Star Cookies
and here are 75+ Christmas cookies with all my best success guides & tips.
Maple Walnut Tassies
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes (includes dough chilling)
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 15 minutes
- Yield: 44–48
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These two-bite maple walnut tassies are made up of tender cream cheese cookie dough and a gooey-sweet filling. A dusting of confectioners’ sugar on top makes for a sweet finishing touch. You can make the dough for the crust ahead of time, and assemble the tassies in advance as well. See Make Ahead Instructions.
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces (226g) full-fat brick-style cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
Filling
- 2 large eggs (cold is fine)
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) pure maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/4 cups (150g) finely chopped walnuts
- optional: 1/2 teaspoon maple extract
- optional for garnish: confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Make the dough: Place the flour, granulated sugar, and salt in the bowl of your food processor. Pulse a couple times to blend. Add the butter and cream cheese. Pulse until the dough comes together. **If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a mixer for this step. Mix the dry ingredients together, and then beat in the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until the dough comes together.
- Divide the dough in half (each half weighs about 430g each, or a little less than a pound). Use your hand to flatten each half into a disc, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to 3 days.
- After the dough has chilled, lightly grease two 24-count mini muffin pans (I use nonstick spray). If you only have 1 mini muffin pan, you can bake these in batches.
- Remove one disc of dough from the refrigerator (one disc is enough for one 24-count pan). Tear off a scant Tablespoon of dough, about 18g. Roll into a ball, then place in one of the mini muffin cups. Repeat with remaining dough to fill all the muffin cups in the pan. Use your thumb to press down in the center of each dough ball to make a large, deep indent. Place the pan in the refrigerator, and repeat with second disc of dough and second mini muffin pan (or if you only have 1 pan, wait to do this until the 1st batch is done baking). Keep the dough in the refrigerator while you make the filling.
- Make the filling: In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, maple syrup, melted butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt together until combined. Fold in the chopped walnuts, and maple extract (if using).
- Preheat oven to 375°F (191°C). Remove both pans of tassie shells from the refrigerator. Use a teaspoon to spoon the filling into each of the tassie shells. You may have a little filling leftover.
- Bake the maple walnut tassies for 18–22 minutes, or until the shell edges are lightly browned and the filling looks set. Let the tassies cool in the pan for 10–20 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. I use a spoon to help remove the warm cookie cups from the pan.
- Once cooled and just before serving, use a sieve to lightly dust the tassies with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.
- Cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the dough ahead of time and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 day, or freeze for up to 3 months. If using frozen dough, thaw in the refrigerator overnight before using. You can also prepare the maple walnut tassies through step 6 and keep them in the refrigerator for up to 1 day before baking them. Baked tassies freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and, if desired, bring to room temperature before garnishing with confectioners’ sugar and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Food Processor | Mini Muffin Pan or this one | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Cooling Rack | Fine Mesh Sieve
- Can I Replace the Walnuts with Pecans? Yes, absolutely! You can swap out the walnuts for the same amount of very chopped pecans. Pecan tassies are the original and most common variety of this cookie.
- Can I Make These Nut-Free? I don’t recommend it, as nuts are the main ingredient in the filling. I haven’t tried the filling with oats, though they could be a fine substitute. For best results, I recommend a different cookie such as peppermint snowballs, shortbread, or brown sugar stamped cookies.
- Maple Extract: A touch of maple extract adds exceptional flavor. If you have it, go ahead and add some. You can find it in the baking aisle of most grocery stores, or online.
- Halve the Recipe: You can halve the recipe by halving all of the ingredients in the dough and the filling. Yield is 22-24.
- Can I Make These Without a Mini Muffin Pan? You need a mini muffin pan to hold the shape of the tassies. Unfortunately, you can’t make/shape them without it. The filling is too thin/liquid to use as the filling for a thumbprint-like cookie on a baking sheet. A regular 12-count muffin pan is simply too large, and these would be pretty big. However, you can certainly try it and extend the bake time to about 28-30 minutes.
Keywords: maple walnut tassies
I didn’t have any luck with these! After baking them, the dough part was really dry, and I followed the recipe exactly. The filling was very good, but there was a lot left over.
I’ve had a lot of success with your other recipes and enjoy trying new ones out! Thanks Sally, keep up the great work!
I have quite a bit of filling left. Any ideas on what I can do with it
Hi Donna! Yes, there will be some leftover filling. It was hard to scale down the filling even more, because of the 2 eggs (1 egg wasn’t enough). You could use it to make some mini pies like these mini pecan pies, or even fill inside puff pastry to make turnovers or hand pies like this.
We made these for my husband’s work party and they were a hit! We loved the sweet maple, nutty filling with the slightly sweet but flavorful cookie cup base!
We ended up making the full recipe amount, but then only baked half of the tassies. Is there any other cookie or dessert recipe (other than more tassies) that we can use the remaining dough for? Just wanted to see if we can repurpose it for another recipe? If not, more tassies it is! Luckily they are delish!
Thanks for all your amazing recipes! You are always my tried and true baking blog! Happy holidays!
★★★★★
Hi Ashley! I’m so glad the tassies were a big hit! I haven’t played around with this dough much, only a little bit, and would love to try other fillings besides nut fillings. If you do try anything, let me know!
Absolutely loved these!! We loved making them and eating them! Like small handpies, so delicious!
★★★★★
I just served these with walnuts in one batch and pecans in the other. What a hit!
I bought the ingredients for this today and can’t wait to give it a try! I didn’t have a mini muffin tin so I had to buy that. And now I’m wondering, what other recipes do you have that I could bake with my new pan?? Thanks!
Hi Joanna! What a great question. I have many:
Mini Pumpkin Pies
Mini Pecan Pies
Mini Quiche
Mini Pumpkin Muffins
Mini Powdered Sugar Donut Muffins
Would it cause issues leaving the sugar out of the pastry crust? I’d like to try these with a savory filling. I did make the original recipe and it turned out amazing like all your recipes do.
Hi Paige, this dough would be great with a savory filling. I would reduce the sugar, instead of leaving it out completely. Try just 1 Tablespoon.
These are absolutely delicious! I did replace the walnuts with pecans. They remind me a bit of a rugelach cookie. For the readers that were concerned about the maple syrup, you can’t really tell it’s in there unless you were the one baking them. Also, the cream cheese just makes the dough more “tender”. SO good! Lastly, there is a tool that I had that made forming these tarts a breeze. I am not sure what it’s called but for lack of a better term, it’s a tart “punch”. It’s a wooden type dowel with a ball on each end with the bottom cut off flat. It fits perfectly inside the muffin tin to “punch” down the dough. Worked great!! I hope that helps. Happy baking!!
★★★★★
I brought these to 2 holiday parties today and they were a hit at both! I used low fat cream cheese and half the maple extract suggested but otherwise followed as written. If you have a round teaspoon measure, I highly recommend using that to press down the dough into the cups! It was much easier than using my finger.
★★★★★
This recipe is a keeper! It was a little work getting the cold dough into the muffin tin but the results are worth it. Everyone loved them!
★★★★★
Can I add chocolate bits to the filling mixture?
Hi Lulu, you could try adding mini chocolate chips to the filling. Let us know if you do!
These are in the oven as I type. I obviously didn’t push my thumb down hard enough for the first pan (did better for the second pan) because I have a cup of filling left. Any suggestions on what else I can use it for? (Not more tassies…)
Hi Barbara, there will be some leftover filling. It was hard to scale down the filling even more, because of the 2 eggs (1 egg wasn’t enough). You could use it to make some mini pies like these mini pecan pies, or even fill inside puff pastry to make turnovers or hand pies like this.
Can you use Apricot filling instead of the nut filling?
Hi Nancy, I’m not sure about just using jam (is that what you mean?) but I’m sure you could chop up some dried apricots and replace some of the nuts with those. Or you can tinker with the filling a bit to incorporate apricot jam.
I made these today. And it’s super easy but mine came out a little ugly cuz I think I over filled. But no matter the taste is still amazing. Love that the cookie is not super sweet and it all balances perfectly with the filling.
★★★★★
I attempted to make these tonight. The cookie seems borderline dough like in the middle. Is that the correct texture, or did I short the baking time?
Hi Shaena, after cooling, the dough sets up. Or, a few extra minutes in the oven would have helped. Again, they set as they cool.
Excellent recipe.
I halved the filling to make two different flavors. I did half as written, including the Maple extract- fantastic!
The other half I filled with a half portion of the frangipane recipe from Sally’s Cranberry Frangipan Tart. I layered the bottom with 1/4 tsp of strawberry jam and topped the frangipane with slivered almonds and a little sugar for crunch. Excellent!
★★★★★
What can I use instead of maple syrup? Thanks!
Hi Gordon, corn syrup is typically used in recipes like this, instead of maple syrup. Or you can skip the corn syrup, and use honey instead but reduce the amount down to 2 or 3 Tablespoons.
These look wonderful but is there a substitute for maple syrup? Some here aren’t fans of maple ! Thanks!
Corn syrup is typically used in recipes like this, instead of maple syrup. Or you can skip the corn syrup, and use honey instead but reduce the amount down to 2 or 3 Tablespoons.
What can we use in place of a food processor to mix the dough? I have a KitchenAid stand mixer.
Hi Aimee, you can use a mixer. See step 1.
These are SO DELICIOUS!!! Thank you Sally for another great recipe to make and share with others. I have added it into my Christmas baking line up. The only change I made was using low fat cream cheese, they were moist and delicious. The filling is so good.
★★★★★
Could you leave out the cream cheese in the dough? My husband unfortunately hates cheese
Hi V, you can’t taste it. It just tastes like a soft dough. You could try using pie crust instead, and rolling it out and cutting into circles just like I do with these mini pecan pies.
Should the chopped walnuts be toasted before adding them to the filling?
Hi Evangeline, you can certainly take that step if you’d like! Be sure to cool them completely before adding to the filling.
What a great idea Sally! The filling for my mother’s butter tart recipe (I’m Canadian, you see) is almost identical to this filling, and since I’m afraid of regular pie/tart pastry, this seems like a must-try alternative. And I bet it would be great with mincemeat as well…….
I wonder if I can use mini cupcake liners inside my mini cupcake pan?
That shouldn’t be a problem!
Hi Sally… can I use I/3 less fat cream cheese in this recipe? Also can these be frozen?
Hi Karen, we highly recommend using full-fat brick cream cheese for best taste and texture. Yes, these tassies freeze well! Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and, if desired, bring to room temperature before garnishing with confectioners’ sugar and serving.
I’m at the store & they only have imitation maple extract. I am loathe to use imitation *anything* in recipes. Should I leave it out or is imitation the only way that maple extract comes?
Hi Barbara, I believe you can find pure maple extract online. You can just leave it out if desired!
Hi Sally, do you think the maple filling could be replaced with your apple hand pie filling?
Hi Brianna, you can certainly try it. I’m not sure how nicely it will set in this dough, though.
Can’t wait to try these! Could you consider developing a cookie or two using mincemeat? Love it and can’t (or at least shouldn’t) eat an entire pie myself!
What a great idea!
These look amazing! Would these be okay to ship or is the baked dough too delicate?
Hi Shannon! You can absolutely ship these. They will hold up well.