Lemon Tassies

Welcome back Spice! I knew she was still alive, but I'm sure some of you have been worried. I'll try to keep her posting as long as I can!

Onward:

My favorite pie is lemon. No meringue. Just lemon. My Dad makes it the best. Going home for Christmas this year, I got to taste my first Dad-made lemon pie in several long, lemon-missing years. It was bliss. Unfortunately, I only got a few slices in my pie hole before I headed back to the big apple.

These little dudes were supposed to help in my current lemon pie lacking situation (which is pretty awful). I was trying to not be a fat kid and make individual sized mini pies. Unfortunately, these were more like lemon cheesecake filling in a crust. Not bad! But not what I was looking for. I think I'm going to have to break down and make some lemon pie soon.

Lemon Tassies

Martha's Cookie Book

For the Crusts:

2 cups all-purpose flour

10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

For the filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1 large egg

3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat two 24-cup mini-muffin tins with cooking spray.

Make crusts: Process flour and butter in a food processor until mixture is the consistency of fine crumbs. Add sugar, egg yolks, vanilla, lemon zest and salt. Process just until combined and sandy in texture; do not over-process.

Divide dough into quarters. Divide each quarter into 12 equal pieces, and shape into balls. Place each ball in a muffin cup; press into cup, stretching dough up the sides. Set each muffin tin on a baking sheet.

Bake crusts, rotating halfway through, until lightly browned all over and slightly darker at the edges, 18-20 minutes. Tap down any puffed centers of the shells with the end of a wooden spoon or your finger. Transfer sheets with muffin tins to wire racks to cool.

Make filling: With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg, lemon zest and juice and vanilla on medium speed until smooth. Using a 1-inch ice cream scoop, fill the cooled crusts with filling.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until filling is set and just beginning to color at the edges, 10-12 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.