Healthy and low calorie but full of flavor!
The summer I turned 10, Mom purchased plane tickets for my brother and me to tag along on her business trip to Arizona. The moment we stepped out of the airport, I thought we had walked into a furnace. With air so hot our skin threatened to blister, my brother and I swore to stay inside the hotel at all times, except when we ventured outside to splash in the pool.
After a day of water fights, cartoons, and riding up and down the glass elevators like the Tower of Terror Disneyland ride, Mom called her parents to pick us up and transport us far away to their flat one-story house. Without an elevator or stairs. So she could go to work without wondering how badly we bothered the other guests.
Down in southern Arizona, we rolled around on the guest waterbed, shot old newspaper rubber bands at each other, and slurped up every last Otter Pop and Firecracker to stay cool. Grandpa showed us how to refill their bird feeder with seeds from the Rubbermaid bin in the garage, and Grandma taught us to bake cookies.
Well, okay… More like “microwave-and-mix” cookies because we were still slightly too young to (safely) operate the oven. With hands washed and aprons on, we melted a bag of butterscotch chips, added almost an entire jar of creamy peanut butter, and stirred in a box of cornflakes. After plopping down spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet, we left our “cookies” in the fridge to set and firm up.
The next day, Grandpa opened the door to nibble on one. “Dear,” he called out. “Where did you hide the cookies?”
“I didn’t hide them anywhere. They’re right… Oh!”
Once we trekked to the store and mixed up a new batch, Grandma made sure she hid them in the back of the fridge on the tallest shelf where my brother and I couldn’t reach to prevent us from eating them all in a single day again!
My grandma has been in the hospital for a little while now, so after thinking about her all weekend, I wanted to make something that reminded me of her. Something with butterscotch. Something easy. (I also polled the Facebook page recently, and you unanimously agreed: you want some simpler recipes!)
With the calendar flipping to November, I thought my sweet treat should have a Thanksgiving twist too. After a few minutes, the light bulb in my head flickered on: Butterscotch Pecan Tartlets!
You only need 5 ingredients for this recipe, some of which may already be stashed in your kitchen!
» Butterscotch pudding mix
» Milk
» Wonton wrappers
» Sugar
» Pecans
Start by mixing up the pudding. Add the pudding powder to the milk, and whisk-whisk-whisk until your arm threatens to fall off. (About 5 minutes.) If you’ve already fit in a workout, feel free to use an electric mixer instead. I won’t judge!
While the pudding chills in the fridge, make the tartlet shells. Coat the backside of a mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray, and mold wonton wrappers onto every other cup. You’re doing this for two reasons:
(1) By placing the wrappers on every other cup, they won’t overlap and bake together.
(2) You’re going to sprinkle them with sugar, which tastes better on the outside where it hits your tongue first (instead of inside, where it blends into the pudding).
Just before serving, simply spoon in a little pudding and sprinkle pecans on top. Tada! Wasn’t that easy?
(But don’t assemble the tartlets too far in advance because the bottoms will turn soggy!)
These are like mini butterscotch pecan pies—completely perfect for Thanksgiving! You can prepare the pudding and tartlet shells in advance, but wait to assemble until just before serving to prevent the bottoms from turning soggy.
- Combine the instant pudding and milk in a large bowl. Whisk or beat vigorously for 5 minutes. Place the bowl of pudding in the fridge for at least 1 hour for it to continue to thicken and set.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and lightly coat the backside of a mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
- Working with one wonton wrapper at a time, place over the back of one muffin cup, and fold the excess over itself around the sides to mold it to the cup. Repeat with 5 more wrappers, placing them on every other muffin cup so none of the wonton wrapper edges overlap. Lightly coat the molded wonton wrappers with nonstick cooking spray, and sprinkle each with 1/16 teaspoon of sugar.
- Bake at 350°F for 7-9 minutes, or until light golden. Cool on the tin for 4 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining wonton wrappers.
- To assemble, fill each wonton shell with a scant 2 tablespoons of butterscotch pudding and top with ½ teaspoon of chopped pecans.
I’m sorry about your grandma! 🙁 Such a sweet story, and I love these tartlets, butterscotch yum!
Thank you Dorothy. 🙂 She’s finally doing better, and she actually asked if she could have some of my desserts through her IV!
creative use of wonton wrappers. looks yummy!
Thanks Dina! With such a small household, we always have leftovers when I buy packages of wonton wrappers. I made little apple pies with them once too!
I love the sounds of these…………got a heck of a sweet tooth to satisfy. my only complaint is you don’t post the calorie count for each.recipe
If you try the tartlets, I really hope you enjoy them Eilene! I include the Nutrition Information below almost all of my recipes. I use this website to calculate it, if you happen run across a recipe that doesn’t have the Nutrition Information. 🙂
I’m a dummy and blind too evidently……………..I didn’t see the place to click on for the information. I most humbly apologize. Thanks for answering me and setting me straight. And thanks for the great recipes
No need to apologize Eilene — it’s easy to miss! 🙂