Your Grandma's Pecan Tassies Were Invented in 1954 to Sell Margarine

That tray of tiny pecan pies isn't a Depression-era family heirloom. It was invented October 5, 1954 to sell margarine and today we recreate the original pecan tassies and the forgotten story behind them. In 1954 Lever Brothers, later Unilever, needed to make Good Luck Margarine exciting. So their home economists in a Manhattan test kitchen built a cookie from spare parts: a three-ingredient dough of margarine, cream cheese, and flour adapted from traditional Jewish rugelach dough, filled with a gooey pecan center borrowed from Southern pecan pie. They called it a "tassie," an old Scottish word for a small cup. On October 5th and 6th, 1954, they debuted it to food editors at a national conference in New York. The Philadelphia Inquirer covered it the next morning as "Nut Tassies Delightful New Dessert." The earliest recipes tell you exactly what to buy: Good Luck Margarine. #ForgottenRecipes #FoodHistory #Nostalgia #VintageRecipes