Recipe by Damon Lee Fowler, featuring
Salt Table’s Cinnamon Sugar
Adapted from Damon Lee Fowler’s cookbook Essentials of Southern Cooking, these are perfect for tailgate parties. Kissing cousin to that old Southern favorite, those bite-sized pecan pie tartlets known as tassies, these get a nice lift from the Salt Table’s Cinnamon Sugar and since they don’t have to be shaped into individual tartlets are a snap to make.
Makes 2 dozen
Ingredients:
- 2 cups whole pecan halves
- 10 ounces (about 2 cups) Southern soft wheat or all-purpose flour, plus 1 tablespoon
- 2 tablespoons extra-fine white cornmeal
- 1 cup sugar
- Salt
- 10 ounces (1¼ cups or 2½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 large eggs
- 1/3 cup (tightly packed) light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons Salt Table Cinnamon Sugar
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
How to make it:
- Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375° F. Spread pecans on baking sheet and toast in center of oven until beginning to color, about 8 minutes. Let cool and roughly chop. Reduce oven temperature to 350° F.
- Sift together 2 cups flour, cornmeal, ½ cup sugar and small pinch salt. Add 8 ounces (1 cup, or 2 sticks) butter and work into flour until smooth. You may do first part of this step in food processor fitted with steel blade. Put in flour, meal, sugar, and salt and pulse several times to sift. Add butter and process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Turn out into mixing bowl and finish blending by hand. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- Press the dough into a 9-by-13-inch pan in a uniform layer over the bottom and about ½-inch up the sides. Lightly prick it with fork and bake in center of oven 20 minutes, or lightly browned, then remove and let cool slightly.
- Melt the remaining butter, let cool slightly, and beat it together with the eggs, remaining ½ cup sugar, brown sugar, Salt Table Cinnamon Sugar, and a small pinch salt. Stir in the bourbon and pecans. Sift in remaining tablespoon of flour and stir until smooth. Spread this evenly over the crust and bake until golden and set, about 25 minutes. Cool it in the pan on a wire cooling rack before cutting into 24 squares.