Pecanless Pie Tarts

Many food bloggers are not fans of repeating recipes. I, however, am a creature of habit and repeat good recipes often (hence the reason I don't post often). Why change a good thing? If I find a good go-to recipe for whatever I crave, I just make it. If a recipe is not satisfactory or if I find another recipe for the same item that seems more appetizing, then I try something new.
Well, in August, I made a double-crust pecanless pie. This time around, I felt too lazy to make a double-crust pie, and I wanted to save that other crust for something else for whenever I get another hankering for a pie.
Since I live alone, I made small versions of these pies/tarts. They came out great despite the fact that I overcooked two out of the four tarts (Um, where is the fourth pielet, you ask? Um, yeah, in my belly. I ate it last night. :D)
As I stated in the other post about this pie, I abhor any type of nut. However, I love the syrupy part of pecan pies and the buttery, flaky crust that tones down the sweet flavor. Since I knew these tarts were just for me, I just removed the nuts from the recipe.
I'm so glad and thankful I know how to bake (even though my jiggly body would disagree). I no longer have to spend hours removing the deeply embedded nuts from the sticky goodness of the pie. I can go right at it and enjoy. If you, however, prefer that nutty stuff in your pie, feel free to add two cups of it to the recipe. The filling makes five tartlets or pielets, but I made only four because I ran out of pie crust and didn't want use up the other crust.

Pecanless Pie Filling
adapted from My Home Cooking
(makes enough for 5 small pie/tarts)

1 Cup White Corn Syrup
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/3 Teaspoon Salt
1/3 Cup minus 1 Tbsp of Melted Butter
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
3 Eggs
(add 2 cups of pecans if you want a traditional pecan pie)

Put the butter in the microwave until it is completely melted. During this step, preheat your regular oven to 350.

In a medium to large bowl, mix or slightly beat eggs with a whisk. Then mix in the rest of the ingredients (if adding pecans, add them after you pour the filling in the pie crust).

Take one portion of the pie dough out of the refrigerator, and roll it out to about 1/8 of an inch in thickness. Then, apply more flour to the rolling pin. Wrap the dough around the rolling pin, and unroll it onto your pie pan. Allow the excess crust to hang over the pie plate or 8x8" pan so that the crust hangs 1 inch.

Place the pie shell (rolled-out dough) and plate/pan in the refrigerator as you roll out the second portion of the dough. Once you roll out the second portion, take out the pie plate/pan, and then pour in the pie filling. Place the second portion of dough on top of the filling and then fold the edges of the bottom pie dough over the second one. Make a few incisions on top of the dough before placing it in the oven.

Now, put your pie in a preheated oven set to 350F for 1 hour (with my hot oven, it took 40 minutes). After the pie has been in the oven for about 20-30 minutes, take it out, and put strips of tinfoil around the edge to keep the pie crust from burning. Be careful not to spill you pie! The filling is runny and quite hot. Then, put the pie back in the oven.

After you put the pie back in the oven, it will need another 20 to 30 minutes. After about 30 minutes (a total of 40 mins to 1 hour in the oven), test the pie to see if it is done. You can test the pie by sticking a knife in the middle. If the knife comes out clean, the pie is done; if it comes out dirty, it needs about 10 more minutes in the oven. It will also no longer jiggle.

Perfect Pie Crust
from Pioneer Woman
(makes 3 pie crusts)

3 cups AP flour
1 1/2 cups Crisco (vegetable shortening)
1 egg
5 Tbsp cold water
1 Tbsp Vinegar
1 tsp salt

Measure 3 cups All-Purpose flour into a mixing bowl; add the Crisco to the flour. Using the pastry cutter, gradually work the Crisco into the flour (3-4 minutes). Keep working until the mixture resembles “coarse meal,” or until there are no large chunks of shortening left. The flour should be integrated into the shortening.

Next, crack an egg into a bowl, and beat it with a fork. Now pour the egg into the flour/shortening mixture. Add cold water; add the white vinegar. Next, add salt, and stir together gently just until you incorporate the ingredients.

Remove one-third of the dough. Repeat to form three evenly-sized balls of dough (I weighed them out). Now place each dough into a large Ziploc bag and prepare them for freezing. Using a rolling pin, slightly flatten each ball of dough to make rolling easier later… seal each Ziploc and place bags in the FREEZER. (If you decide to leave the crust in the freezer, just defrost it for 15 minutes before rolling it out)

Flour the surface. Remove the disc of dough from the Ziploc, and place it on the floured surface. Sprinkle a little flour on top. Don’t be afraid to use a little flour to keep it from sticking. With a rolling pin, begin rolling the dough from the center, outward in one stroke. Don’t roll back-and-forth. When the dough begins to crack around the edges, just use your hands to form it back into the shape of a circle. If you feel as though the bottom is really sticking to the surface below, just use a nice, sharp spatula, and flip it over. Be sure to flour the surface again before you flip it.

Continue the rolling process until the rolled dough is about 1/2 inch larger (all the way around) than the diameter of the pie pan (or tartlet pan). With the spatula, if necessary, lift the dough from the surface and gently set it onto the pie pan. Gently adjust the dough so that it’s laying right against the pan. Then tuck the excess dough under the rim.

If you're using a tart pan, you do not need to tuck in the edges of the crust. Just lay the excess dough over the edges, and press down on the edges of the pan so that the dough cuts off. Pour the filling onto the pie crust, and follow the directions mentioned in the filling section above.