Walnut Pastry Cups

Fall is in the air!
Ok fine, it's only early September but I think that's enough for a fall-themed treat. This year has already flown by.

 This recipe is almost Christmas-worthy. Sorry is it too early to be thinking about Christmas? 

Ingredients

Pastry Cups
 - 1 stick butter, softened
 - 3 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
 - 1 cup flour

Filling
 - 1 cup walnuts, chopped
 - 1 cup light brown sugar
 - 1 egg
 - 1/2 cup dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350. You will need a 24-mini cupcake tin.

For the pastry cups, mix well the three ingredients together. Divide the dough roughly into fourths, cover in a bowl, and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour. After an hour, take the dough out, and further divide each fourth into six (24 total). Roll the pieces of dough into a ball and then flatten into the mini cupcake mold.

Chill again in the refrigerator for 30 min.

While the dough is chilling, you can start the filling. Just mix the three (or four!) ingredients in a bowl until well distributed. The cranberries give the pastry filling a nice tart kick, plus it makes it taste more fall!

Take the pastry cups out of the fridge, and evenly distribute the filling into each cup.

Bake for 30 minutes or until pastry is a light golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes in the tin, then take out and cool on a wire rack. Slip them into a mini cupcake liner before bringing these treats to a friend's, and sprinkle confectioner's sugar on top if you want!