Preheat the oven to 180°C fan / 400°F.
To make the pastry, transfer the flour, margarine and sugar to a mixing bowl, and rub the mixture together with your fingers until it resembles a crumble.
Add the water and combine with your hands to make a dough. Keep adding a touch more water if the dough is still dry until it turns into a dough.
Wrap the dough in greaseproof paper and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, for the filling add the margarine, sugar, maple syrup and cornflour to a pan on a medium heat. Simmer for a couple of minutes, then add the vanilla extract and remove the pan from the heat. Stir the coconut cream into the syrup.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Dust a work surface and a rolling pin with flour, and roll out the dough on the floured surface until it’s roughly 3mm thick.
Using a stencil, cut out 12 circles from the dough and place one circle in each muffin mould, making sure the dough is flush against the sides.
Place 2 or 3 pecan nuts in each mould and spoon in the syrup mixture until the mould is 2/3 full.
Place muffin tray in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Remove the muffin tray from the oven and leave the mini pecan pies to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
