Apricot Pecan Tassies

I've made these great one-bite apricot pecan "pies" for my Christmas gift trays for a couple of years and always get rave reviews. I love the dried apricots, but you could substitute almost any dried fruit you like. I got this recipe from a Christmas Cookie cookbook that credits the recipe to the California Apricot Advisory Board.

• Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
• Serves: 24

Ingredients

• Base

• 1  cup all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 cup butter, cut into pieces
• 6  tablespoons reduced calorie cream cheese

• Filling

• 3⁄4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1  egg, lightly beaten
• 1  tablespoon butter, softened
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 2⁄3 cup  dried apricot halves, diced (about 4 oz)
• 1⁄3 cup pecans, chopped

Directions

1. For Base:
2. In food processor, combine flour, 1/2 cup butter and cream cheese; process until mixture forms a large ball. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 15 minutes.
3. For Filling:
4. Combine brown sugar, egg, 1 tbsp buter, vanilla and salt in a bowl until smooth. Stir in apricots and nuts.
5. Preheat oven to 325°F Shape dough into 2 dozen 1 inch balls and place in paper lined or greased miniture muffin tins. Press dough on bottom and up sides of each cup. Fill each with 1 tsp apricot-pecan filling. Bake 25 minutes or until golden and filling sets. Cool and remove from cups. Cookies can be wrapped tightly in plastic and frozen up to 6 weeks.