Combine flour, confectioners’ sugar, and salt together. Cut ¼ cup of chilled butter into small pieces and scatter them over flour mixture.
Using your fingers, work chilled pieces of butter into flour until the mixture has a coarse meal texture.
Add ice water, a tablespoon at a time, and mix until dough just hold together. Be careful not to over-moisten.
Form dough for pecan tassies into a ball, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for about 10 or 15 minutes.
Melt a tablespoon of unsalted butter (in this case, the easiest and quickest way is using a microwave).
Combine melted butter with finely chopped pecans, light brown sugar, corn syrup, beaten egg, and vanilla extract.
Just before you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly coat your mini-muffin cups with non-stick spray.
Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 12-inch log. Cut log into 12 equal pieces. Place each piece in a mini-muffin cup.
Using your thumb and index finger, form a deep well in each piece of dough, then press it upward along sides all the way around following shape of the muffin cup. Try not to break through dough because the filling will stick to the cup.
Repeat the same procedure with the other half of dough. Pecan tassie dough is very easy to handle and you may want to share the fun of shaping pecan cups with your favorite relatives or friends.
Fill each cup with pecan mixture. Set your muffin pan on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, or until top edges of cookies are brown and pecan filling is puffed and set.
Place the entire muffin pan on a wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes. Remove pecan tassies from muffin cups and cool them completely on wire racks.
