Instructions: Oh my, are these good! There may be no health benefits from these little treasures, but they are good for the soul. Boiling the corn syrup, sugar and butter for 3 minutes reduces the liquid and heats the filling, which shortens the oven cooking time to prevent the crust from overcooking. The high sugar concentration and the starch (arrowroot or tapioca starch) prevent the eggs from curdling.

Shells and pecans:
3 boxes phyllo shells (see note)

3 tablespoons butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 cups pecan halves
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Filling:
1 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons arrowroot or tapioca starch 2 tablespoons water, at room temperature 2 tablespoons bourbon
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 eggs
1 egg yolk

Place oven rack a little below center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

To make shells and pecans: Place phyllo shells on baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray. In medium, heavy saucepan, combine butter, salt, corn syrup and light brown sugar, and cook about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in pecans and vanilla. Spoon mixture with 1 to 2 pecans into each shell.

To make filling: In medium, heavy saucepan, combine corn syrup, light brown sugar, butter and salt, and boil 3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to stand 2 minutes. In small bowl, stir together arrowroot and room-temperature water.

Stir in bourbon and vanilla. Add to hot syrup and stir well. In medium bowl, stir together eggs and egg yolk. Stir in about 1/2 cup of the hot syrup. Stir all this back into pan of hot syrup and fill each shell almost to the top with the mixture. Bake about 20 minutes or until beginning to set. Remove from oven and place 1 or 2 pecans on top of each. Return to oven and bake another 5 minutes. Cool on cooling rack. Serve at room temperature.

Note: The shells can be found in the freezer section of your market, next to the phyllo and puff pastry packages. There are 15 small shells in each package, already baked and ready to use.

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.