Maple Pecan Pie Puffs (Without Corn Syrup)

Close up of maple pecan pie puffs on nutcracker red and white plate

Serve these up after your Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner! They're not as heavy, so you can satisfy the sweet tooths without the heaviness of pie slices.

This recipe makes 12 Pecan Pie Puffs with a standard 12 cup muffin pan.

Author: Katia
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 25
Total Time: 40
Yield: 12 1x
Category: Desserts
Method: Oven
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

Scale

1 sheet of Puff Pastry

2/3 cup pecans, chopped small

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

2 tsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/3 cup 100% maple syrup

3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted & cooled

1 Tbsp bourbon, room temp.

1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

1 large egg, room temp.

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Flatten and stretch out the puff pastry and with a rolling pin roll out to about a 9 x 12" rectangle (All puff pastry sizes vary so this is how big you want the end product) *Quick Tip* I like to place a piece of parchment paper or wax paper over it to keep it from sticking.
Cut the puff pastry with a pizza or pastry cutter into even squares, about 3 x 3." Poke holes with a fork 3-4 times into each square and then place them into greased cups of a standard muffin pan.
Once the oven is fully pre-heated, bake the pastry squares for 10 minutes.
While the puff pastry bakes, make the pecan pie puff filling: Add chopped pecans, brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt to medium size bowl and stir to coat the pecans.
Then add the wet ingredients: maple syrup, vanilla bean paste, bourbon and melted butter. Stir well to combine. Then stir in the egg.
Remove the puff pastry immediately after the initial 10 minutes is up.
Lower oven Temp to 350 degrees F.
Grab a small spoon or Tablespoon and push down on the middle of the puff pastry to make a little divot in the center of each for your filling. You will not hurt the pastry, don't worry, the sides will puff back up.
Add a heaping Tablespoon of pecan filling to each pastry cup, don't worry if a little overflows. It'll bake in a little and just be a little sticky, but delicious! (Sorry if it makes a mess on your muffin pan)
Return the muffin pan to the oven and bake another 12-14 minutes or until the puff pastry corners have puffed up and the filling is quite bubbly. (The filling might puff up a bit as well)
Transfer muffin pan to a cooling rack and allow to cool at least an hour before removing from the pan. You might need to use a butter knife or a rigid spatula to help get them our of the pan.
Allow to cool all the way and then enjoy!