And now, for our final Super Bowl recipe we had to end with something sweet.  It didn’t make sense to make a whole cake or pie, because the Super Bowl is all about finger food, so we decided to bake up a handheld dessert instead.  Luckily we had been meaning to try this recipe from the New York Times, and it adapted well to our game day spread.  These little treats aren’t too hard to make, and we were able to whip them up ahead of time so that they were ready to go when our dip, egg rolls and crackers came out.  They really enhanced the rest of what we cooked that day and made for a nice ending to everything, but they’re also perfect for any occasion where you want to make something fun and individually sized.  Here’s how!

You’ll need:

• Butter
• Cream cheese
• Flour
• An egg
• Brown sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Honey
• Nutmeg
• Pecans

For the dough, you’ll want to set up a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.  Take 2/3 cup of butter and 4 ounces of cream cheese (that should be half of a standard package) and let them soften, then place them in the bowl of the mixer and beat on a medium-low speed until they’re combined.  Add in 1 1/3 cup of flour plus a pinch of salt and beat on a low speed until a dough comes together, then scrape this dough out of the bowl and onto a sheet of plastic wrap.  Form into a rough square, wrap fully in the plastic wrap, and let this sit in your fridge for at least 2 hours, then when it’s ready to come out cut it into 9 equal pieces.

Use more butter to grease 9 cups of a muffin tin, then gently press each piece of dough into those greased cups, letting the dough come partway up the sides.

In your stand mixer, this time with a whisk attachment, beat your egg and then beat in 3/4 cup of packed brown sugar, a tablespoon of melted butter, a teaspoon of vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon of honey, and 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg.  Once you have a smooth liquid, chop up around 2/3 cup of pecans and stir those in by hand.  Then pour this filling into each dough cup so that they’re a little over halfway full.

Bake at 325°F for about 30 minutes, until the dough is lightly browned on the outside.  Once your pan comes out of the oven, let your mini pies cool off before taking them out, and then you can serve them!

These were a great sweet pairing for all the other Super Bowl food we made – they came out in perfect individual servings and looked nice stacked on a plate next to everything else.  And they were also a good treat, not overwhelmingly sweet and crisp on the outside but still gooey in the middle.  Since pecan pie is an American staple, you don’t have to limit yourself to serving these for the big game:  you could also cook these up for the fall holidays, or for a cookout, or really any time that you want an interesting dessert.

All in all, we had fun cooking for the Super Bowl this year, and we’re already brainstorming what interesting vegetarian fare we’ll be making next year!