This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

These vegan tassies are made with a vegan pecan pie filling and wrapped in an irresistible pastry dough. They’re made with just 8 ingredients and ready in less than an hour! Impress your holiday guests this year with these to-die-for mini vegan pecan pies! 

Pecan Tarts in a Stack

Pie vs. Tart: What’s the Difference?

Although pies and tarts are similar, there are a few key differences that set them apart. The largest difference is often the crust. Pie crusts are typically light and flaky and made primarily of fat and flour. Tart crusts, on the other hand, are usually firmer and made from pastry dough. Tarts are also often baked in a pan with a removable bottom and ring so they can be unmolded before serving. 

This recipe is for mini tarts or “pecan tassies”. Like classic tarts, they’re made with pastry dough and baked into miniature pie bites! This is a recipe my mom used to make every Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it was something I looked forward to every year. After a few simple tweaks, we were able to veganize the pecan pie tarts recipe and carry on the tradition. 

Vegan Pecan Tart Ingredients | Butter, Sugar, Cream Cheese, Pecans, Marble

Ingredients You’ll Need 

  • Ground flaxseed: The original recipe my mom made growing up called for eggs. We swapped them for ground flaxseed mixed with water to make flax eggs. One of our favorite quick and healthy vegan egg substitutes! 
  • Brown sugar: Brown sugar is a must when making a pecan pie filling. The molasses flavor makes the filling rich and caramel-like. We used dark brown sugar, but light brown sugar will also work in a pinch! 
  • Vegan butter: This vegan tarts recipe uses vegan butter in both the filling and the pastry dough. We used Earth balance – they are a vegan brand that sells sticks of vegan butter that make it easy to cut and measure. Any vegan butter will work, but avoid using whipped buttery spreads. 
  • Vanilla extract: Optional, but enhances the caramel notes in the brown sugar and highlights the butteriness in the pastry. 
  • Pecans: You can buy whole, raw pecans, pecan halves or chopped pecans. Save your roasted pecans for recipes like Pecan Cranberry Shortbread Cookies or Vegan Holiday Bark!
  • Vegan cream cheese: In our pastry crust, we used the brand Kite Hill. Another brand of vegan cream cheese like Tofutti or Trader Joe’s will likely work, too. 
  • Flour: We developed this recipe using all-purpose flour and cannot advise on a gluten-free version. If you’re looking for vegan and gluten-free desserts, we have several to choose from in our collection of vegan desserts! 
Vegan Pecan Tarts Tassies Overhead

Equipment Needed

How to Make Vegan Pecan Pie Tarts

  1. Make the flax eggs. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the ground flaxseed and water. Set aside for 10 minutes to thicken.
  2. Prepare the pastry. Place the vegan butter and vegan cream cheese in a large mixing bowl. Then, using a hand mixer or whisk, cream together until uniform. Add in the flour and mix together to form the pastry dough. 
  3. Make the pecan tart filling. In the bowl with the flax eggs, add the brown sugar, melted vegan butter, salt, vanilla extract, and chopped pecans. Mix until uniform, then place in the refrigerator to chill. 
  4. Prepare your mini cupcake pans. Lightly grease 1-2 mini cupcake pans (this recipe makes enough for 24 mini pecan pie tarts. If you only have 1 pan, just bake these in 2 batches. 
  5. Fill the mini muffin holes with the pie crust. Cut the vegan pastry dough into 24 even-sized pieces, then roll each piece into a ball. Place each ball into one of the muffin holes in the pan. Using your fingers, press the ball down in the center, pushing the dough up the sides of the pan to create a “cup” for the filling. Continue until you have placed all the dough into the pans. 
  6. Fill the pastry cups with pecan pie filling. Evenly distribute the filling into the pastry “cups”. We recommend starting with 1 teaspoon of filling in each cup, then evenly distributing the remaining from there. Don’t fill the cups more than ⅔ of the way up to prevent the filling from overflowing while baking. 
  7. Bake! Place the pans into the oven for 35-40 minutes or until the pastry becomes light golden brown. Remove the vegan tarts from the oven and cool completely before serving. 
  8. Serve. We served our vegan pecan pie tarts with an additional pecan on top, but a small dollop of coconut whipped cream would also be delicious! 
Pecan Tarts Tassies Macro

Recipe FAQs

Can vegan pecan pie tarts be frozen?

Yes! These vegan pecan pie tartlets can be frozen for up to 3 months. To freeze, allow them to cool completely at room temperature before transferring them to a freezer-safe bag or container. Then, when ready to eat, thaw the tartlets in the refrigerator, then bring them to room temperature before serving. 

Are these pecan pie tarts dairy-free?

We used vegan butter instead of dairy butter and vegan cream cheese instead of dairy cream cheese, making these pecan pie tarts 100% dairy-free and vegan!

Will the vegan pecan pie filling thicken as it cools?

Like making cheesecake, the filling in these mini vegan pecan pie tarts will continue to thicken and set as the tarts cool. This is why it is important to allow the tarts to cool completely to room temperature before serving. 

Can I use pure maple syrup instead of brown sugar?

Although the flavor profiles of maple syrup and brown sugar are similar, we would not recommend substituting maple syrup or other liquid sweeteners in place of brown sugar in this recipe. This would make the pecan pie filling too runny and prevent it from properly setting. 

Storage Instructions

These vegan pecan tassies will store best at room temperature for up to 10 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. 

Enjoy leftovers at room temperature! 

More Holiday Dessert Recipes You May Enjoy: 

Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate any of our recipes, we love to see your photos!

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
Vegan Pecan Tarts Stacked

Vegan Pecan Tarts (8-Ingredients)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 7 reviews

  • Author: Jasmine @ Sweet Simple Vegan
  • Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: 24 pecan tarts
Print Recipe

Description

These vegan pecan tarts are to die for and are sure to impress your holiday guests! They require just 8 ingredients and are ready in less than an hour.

Ingredients

Filling

  • 1 tablespoons flaxseed meal
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoons melted vegan butter
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4  teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Pastry

  • 1/2 cup vegan butter (we used Earth Balance)
  • 3 oz. vegan cream cheese, softened (we used Kite Hill)
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, mix together the flaxseed meal and water. Set aside to thicken for 10 minutes.
  2. In the meantime, prepare the pastry. Using a hand mixer (or whisk), cream the vegan butter and vegan cream cheese in a large bowl until uniform. Add in the flour and mix well. Set into the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  3. Add the remaining filling ingredients to the bowl with the “flax eggs” and mix until uniform to form the filling. Set into the refrigerator.
  4. Lightly grease 1-2 mini cupcake pans (enough for 24 pecan tarts) and preheat the oven to 350°F. If you are using 1 pan, just bake these in 2 batches
  5. Divide the dough into 24 and roll each into a ball. Place each ball into one of the muffin holes in the pan. Using your fingers, press the ball down in the center to create a “cup” for the filling. You want the dough to fill up the sides of the pan as evenly as you can. Continue until you have placed all of the dough into the pans.
  6. Evenly distribute the filling into the pastry “cups”. We started by putting 1 teaspoon of filling into each cup, and then evenly distribute the remaining filling from there. We recommend not filling the cups more than 2/3 of the way up to prevent the filling from overflowing while baking.
  7. Place the pan into the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the pastry has become a light golden brown. Remove and cool completely before serving. It is important to cool as this will help the filling to solidify. We topped ours with pecans just to spruce them up a bit, but that is totally optional. Enjoy!

Notes

  • Store in an airtight container for 7-10 days.
  • The original recipe for this is from All Recipes. My mom used to make this exact recipe all of the time for me growing up, just not vegan, so I veganized it and it turned out amazing!
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 40 minutes
  • Category: Dessert, Holiday
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: Vegan

Nutrition facts label provided by Nutri Fox.

Disclaimer: The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional’s advice. This page may contain affiliate links, which simply means that we earn a commission if you purchase through those links, but your price remains the same. Thank you for supporting Sweet Simple Vegan!

Meet The Bloggers

hey there! we’re jasmine & chris.

Hi, we’re Jasmine and Chris! We share fresh and fun recipes to show you that vegan cooking is easy, approachable and delicious. When we’re not blogging, you will probably find us enjoying live music, tending to our backyard garden or playing with our dogs Berry and Louie

More About Us

You May Also Like

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

14 Comments

  1. Delicious. Simple. Taste and texture improved from 4 stars to 5 stars As the days went on. Absolutely better on days 3,4,5. Will definitely make again. I am not vegan, but have vegan family members.



    Reply

  2. Made these with my grandma and agree with the other reviewer that they’re a bit chewier than non-vegan pecan tarts, but delicious just the same:) thank you for this!



    Reply

  3. Crust was delicious and super easy to make. Filling was easy to make and a bit chewier then non vegan peacan tarts but still very good!



    Reply

  4. These were excellent! We made them gluten free with Bob Red Mill’s 1 to 1 GF flour. Had to almost double the flour to get the dough to the right consistency, but even with eyeballing it the dough turned out wonderful and very similar to regular pastry dough. Baked one batch in mini cupcake pans and they came out great, and another patch in full size muffin tins and the filling didn’t really bake, so definitely stick to the mini cupcake pans. Thanks for this amazing recipe!

    Reply

  5. Jasmine, thank you for the recipe! It’s in the oven now :). I had to add more flour to the dough as it was too sticky with 76g of APF. Also, this recipe is for 24 pecan mini tarts (not 12), right?



    Reply

  7. I haven’t even baked them yet that I’m already looking forward to it!

    I did have a question: Have you done this recipe with gluten free flour instead of regular? Please let me know.

    Thanks ever so much for sharing this recipe 😀



    Reply

  8. I made these today – some of them bubbled over a tiny bit – but they came out of the tart pan just fine. They taste great – the dough is just lovely Thank you will make again!! Forgot the half pecan on top – oh well!



    Reply