Sweet, crunchy, and buttery, these Mini Walnut Tarts are made with only a few ingredients you probably already have! These cookies are a staple over the holidays and perfect to add to a cookie tin!
These cookies are so good and so cute! The walnuts give them a delicious crunch, and they are perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. And who doesn't love a mini dessert?
If there is someone in your family who isn't a chocoholic, try making these! They are just a little bit sweet, since there is no sugar in the dough. These cookies are reminiscent of a pecan pie, but with walnuts.
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Ingredients For Mini Walnut Tarts
- Cream Cheese- Full fat cream cheese is best. Low fat or fat free tends to be too watery. Plus we are making cookies here, go with the good stuff!
- Butter- One stick at room temperature.
- Walnuts- Chopped. You can purchase whole walnuts and chop them yourself. If you've got extra walnuts, make some candied walnuts!
- Brown Sugar- Dark brown sugar gives these tarts the dark brown tops. If you have light brown sugar, you can use that instead.
- Egg- This will hold the filling together in the tart.
Equipment You'll Need
Let's Make Brown Sugar and Walnut Mini Tarts!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and cream cheese. Mix on medium speed for one minute until the butter and cream cheese are well combine. Lower the speed and add the flour to the bowl. Mix on low speed until combined, about 2 minutes. At first the dough will look crumbly, but then it will come together. With a spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is well mixed.
In a separate bowl, mix together the brown sugar, chopped walnuts, egg, and vanilla.
Roll the dough into balls and place each ball into a mini muffin pan spot. Press the dough ball into each of the muffin tin cups, evenly spreading out the dough on each cup. Make sure to get the dough up the sides of each of the mini muffin cups. Add a small spoonful of the walnut mixture to the dough.
Place the muffin tin in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes. The cookies will look slightly browned when they are done baking. Take the cookies out of the muffin tins as soon as they come out of the oven and place them on a wire rack.
Tips and Tricks
These cookies tend to stick to the muffin tins, and these are some tricks I've found that help avoid sticking.
- Do not overfill the tarts with the walnut mixture. There is a lot of sugar in the walnut filling, which will easily stick if overfilled.
- All ovens are a little different. Check the cookies after 20 minutes to ensure they are baking evenly.
- When adding the dough to the muffin tins, spread the dough up muffin cups as high and you can get it.
- Evenly spread out the dough in each of the muffin cups. If the dough is too thin, you will be able to see the bottom of the muffin tin cup. Try to avoid that because you don't want the filling to come out the bottom of the tart.
- Take the tarts out of the muffin tins as soon as they come out of the oven. With a small offset spatula or a butter knife, scrap any filling that is stuck to the muffin tin and lift the tarts out of the muffin tin.
- The longer the tarts sit in the muffin tin, the cooler the sugar will get and will be more likely to stick to the pan.
Frequently Asked Questions about Mini Walnut Tarts
If you do not have walnuts, you can use pecans instead.
Yes! These tarts last for a long time! When they are completely cooled, place them in a Ziploc bag or an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can also freeze these tarts, fully baked, in an airtight container for up to three months.
Yes! You can use a premade pie crust or premade phyllo dough cups. Use a cookie cutter or a knife to cut the dough to the correct size so that they will fit in the mini muffin tins.
Other Recipes To Try
Did you love these Brown Sugar and Walnut Mini Tarts? I'd so appreciate it if you would give this recipe a 5-star review! That will help other hungry readers find my recipes!
And don't forget to tag me on Instagram or Facebook and share this recipe on Pinterest! Thanks for sharing this journey with me and enjoy these delicious recipes!
- Sweet and Spicy Cranberry Dip
- Double Chocolate Oat Cookies
- Oreo Cheesecake Bars
- Nutella Swirl Cheesecake Bars
- Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars
- All in One Apple Cake
- Peppermint Bark Brownie Mix Cookies
📖 Recipe
Brown Sugar and Walnut Mini Tarts
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 ounces Cream Cheese Full Fat, room temperature
- ½ cup Butter Room Temperature
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour
For the Filling
- 1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 large Egg
- 1 cup Walnuts Chopped
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment add the butter and cream cheese. Cream together for 1 minute until well combined.
- Lower the speed and add the flour to the bowl. Mix on low speed until combined, about 2 minutes. At first the dough will look crumbly, but then it will come together.
- In a medium bowl, add the brown sugar, egg, chopped walnuts, and vanilla. Mix well with a spoon until fully combined.
- Roll the dough into balls and place each ball into a mini muffin pan spot. Press the dough ball into each of the muffin tin cups, evenly spreading out the dough on each cups. Make sure to get the dough up the sides of each of the mini muffin cups.
- Add a small spoonful of the walnut mixture into each of the mini muffin molds.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the mini tarts are slightly browned. Check after 20 minutes to ensure the tarts are baking evenly. Remove the tarts from the mini muffin tin as soon as they get out of the oven. This will prevent tarts from sticking to the pan.
Notes
- Pecans can be substituted for walnuts in this recipe.
- Make sure the dough goes all the way up the sides of the muffin tin cups.
- Do not overfill the muffin cups with the filling. If the filling is overfilled in the cups, it will spill over onto the muffin tin and stick to the pan.
- If you are concerned about the cookies sticking, add mini cupcake cups to the muffin tins and press the dough into the muffin cups.
- It's easiest to take the tarts out of the pan as soon as they come out of the oven. The longer they sit in the muffin tin and the cooler the sugar gets, the more likely it will stick to the pan.
Roy says
I’ve made these a few times and they are delicious and relatively easy to make. Definitely do not overfill, made this mistake the first time. So, for me, there has been more filling than dough/shells for every bake. I make 1 1/2 dough recipe and that works.
Ginger says
I love the wooden tart tampers. I’ve been making tarts for over 30 years and can’t make them without this tool. My favorite is the walnut but I also make apricot, cream and cream cheese. I like to make the apricot improve myself instead of buying the canned or jarred. That way you don’t get all the added preservatives.
As for your dough recipe I thought it needed a little bit more flour, so I added a 1/4 C, as it was sticky. You can also put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so to harden it up and make it easier to roll into balls. Thank you for sharing your recipe it’s a keeper.
kimberly Rager says
40 min was way to long I baked my first batch at 30 and too dark and crunchy second batch only 15 min and they were perfect... watch them carefully for them to be done
lynnswayoflife says
Thanks for trying the cookies! All ovens are a little different, so I'll make note of that in the recipe!