Holiday Teatime Treats

These bite-sized cookies are the kind of thing that disappears from a holiday cookie tray first. A tender cream cheese pastry shell pressed into mini muffin cups holds a sweet apricot filling studded with chopped nuts.

The dough is basically a cream cheese pie crust: softened cream cheese and butter beaten with just a touch of sugar and flour. It’s soft enough to press into tiny cups with your thumb but bakes up flaky and golden around the edges.

The filling sets up almost like a custard, with eggs binding the apricot fruit filling and nuts together into a soft, scoopable center. Each one is just two bites of buttery pastry and sweet, jammy fruit.

Pro Tips

• Soften the cream cheese and butter completely before mixing, otherwise you’ll get lumps in the dough
• Use the back of a small spoon or your thumb to press the dough evenly into the bottom and up the sides of each cup
• Don’t overfill. The filling puffs slightly as it bakes
• Cool completely in the pan before removing so the pastry doesn’t crack

Variations

• Swap the apricot filling for cherry, blueberry, or raspberry pie filling
• Add a teaspoon of almond extract to the filling for a more pronounced flavor
• Dust the cooled tassies with powdered sugar for a festive finish