Ingredients

• Ingredients for basic butter cookies
• 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups pine nuts (1/2 lb)
• Special equipment: 2 nonstick mini-muffin pans, each with 12 (1 3/4-inch) cups
• Garnish: confectioners sugar

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Instructions

1. Follow recipe for basic butter cookies to make dough, then divide dough in half. Divide 1 half (keep remaining dough chilled, covered) into 24 pieces (about 1 1/2 teaspoons each) and form into 1-inch balls. Press each ball evenly onto bottom and up side of an ungreased mini-muffin cup to form a pastry shell (use a piece of plastic wrap to prevent dough from sticking to your fingers). Chill until ready to fill.
2. Make filling: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk together brown sugar, butter, egg, vanilla, and salt until blended, then stir in pine nuts. Fill each pastry shell with about 2 teaspoons filling.
3. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
4. Whisk together brown sugar, butter, egg, vanilla, and salt until blended, then stir in pine nuts. Fill each pastry shell with about 2 teaspoons filling.
5. Bake tassies until filling is bubbling and pastry is golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Run a sharp thin knife around edge of each pastry, then transfer pan (with cookies) to a rack to cool 10 minutes. Remove tassies from pans and transfer to rack to cool completely. Make more tassies with remaining dough and filling.