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Where is this recipe from? Modified from this recipe on Epicurious, originally from SELF, December 2006.

Why is this the BEST pie recipe you've got?Honestly, this recipe is the best because the results were totally decadent and it only used ingredients I already had. I found enough time for a little baking, but not quite enough to make another trip to the store. Luckily, these were incredible -- gooey and sweet like a pecan pie, but the semi-sweet chocolate added depth.

This recipe comes with a bit of a back story. My boyfriend and I don't do birthday presents; instead, we each give each other a subscription. He is the only card-carrying member of the cupcake-of-the-month club at our house, so every month I make him a batch of cupcakes (note: he makes me a different tomato soup every month because it is my favorite food).

After a couple of years of strictly cupcakes, I've expanded the term "cupcake" to include other things that come in cups or small portions, like pot de creme or these tarts. He loved these and finished them within 24 hours.

Chocolate Pecan Mini Tarts

Crust
5 tablespoons butter, softened
4 ounces light cream cheese
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Filling
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chopped pecans

Mix softened butter and cream cheese in a bowl until smooth. Blend in flour, a bit at a time, confectioners' sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Form dough into a disk. Cover in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 3 hours. If you're patience-challenged like me, you may want to pop the dough in the freezer for a half hour, then the refrigerator for another half hour to shorten the waiting time.

Heat oven to 325°F. Divide dough into 12 balls; press into one 12-cup muffin tin, pushing dough up over edges. Refrigerate.

Mix brown sugar, chocolate, egg, melted butter, vanilla and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a bowl until combined. Divide half the pecans among muffin cups; top with brown sugar mixture; sprinkle remaining pecans on top.

Bake 20 minutes or until dough is lightly golden around edges. Let sit 5 minutes. Run tip of knife around cup edges to loosen. Remove when cool enough to handle; transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

(Images: Brittany)