• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius).

TO MAKE THE GINGERBREAD DOUGH:

• Cream the butter, sugar together until light and fluffy (approximately 3-4 minutes)
• Add the molasses, egg, and vanilla and blend until combined.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, allspice, ground cloves, ground cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
• Add half of the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and blend, scraping down the sides of the bowl, as needed.
• Add the remaining flour mixture and blend until a soft dough forms.
• When ready to bake, unwrap the chilled dough.
• Lightly flour a work surface and roll the gingerbread dough to an even ¼" thickness.
• Use 4" round cutters to cut the dough into circles, rerolling the remaining dough to make additional tart crusts as needed.
• Gently press the cut gingerbread rounds evenly in and up the sides of muffin tins that have been liberally sprayed with baking spray.
• Dock the bottom of each gingerbread tart dough several times with the tines of a fork.
• Chill the dough-filled muffin tins in the refrigerator while preparing the pecan pie filling.

TO MAKE THE PECAN PIE FILLING:

• Finely chop 3 cups of pecans and set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together 3 eggs, salt, granulated sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, maple syrup, softened butter, ground ginger, maple extract, and vanilla extract.
• Add the chopped pecans and stir well to combine.

TO FILL AND BAKE THE GINGERBREAD PECAN PIE TARTS:

• Fill the chilled gingerbread muffin cups just shy of full (using approximately ½ cup of the pecan pie filling) for each tart.
• Bake the tarts in a preheated 350-degree Fahrenheit oven (175 degrees Celsius) for 40-45 minutes or until the pecan pie filling is still only slightly jiggly and puffed in the center. *Note - the filling will drop slightly as the tarts cool.
• Remove the pan from the oven and cool the tarts entirely on a wire rack before serving.
• To release the tarts from the pan, run a butter knife around each muffin well and gently lift the tarts from the tin.
• Place each tart into a paper cupcake liner (if desired) and decorate however you see fit. I used mini bows to make them extra festive.