Old-Fashioned Butter Tarts - Weekend at the Cottage Skip to content
Old-Fashioned Butter Tarts

Old-Fashioned Butter Tarts

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Prepare the butter tart pastry: In a medium-sized stainless steel bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Cube the butter and shortening and drop into the flour mixture. Toss lightly. Rub the butter and shortening into the mixture until it forms small pea-sized crumbs.
  2. Whisk egg and vinegar together in measuring cup. Add cold water until mix measures ½ cup and whisk again. Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of liquid onto the flour mixture and combine using a fork, forming larger clumps. Work dough briefly and gently by hand until it forms a ball. If the dough feels dry and fails to hold together, add a bit more liquid, one tablespoon at a time. Transfer onto a sheet of plastic wrap, seal and refrigerate for at least one hour before use.
  3. Prepare the filling: Melt the butter. Place the sugar and corn syrup into a bowl and add the butter. Stir these ingredients together. Add the remaining ingredients and mix together using a hand mixer on low speed until all of the sugar dissolves. Transfer the filling mixture to a measuring cup until use.
  4. Create the shells: On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a ¼-inch thickness. Cut out 4½-inch circles using a cookie cutter, glass, cup or bowl. Transfer the rounds of dough to a large, 12-cup muffin pan, pushing them down into each well. Gather the remaining dough, roll it out and repeat until it has all been used. Transfer muffin pan to refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.
  5. Prepare the butter tarts: Preheat the oven to 425°F. If preparing the butter tarts with currants and/or nuts, add 1 teaspoon of each into the centre of each pastry-lined cup. Pour tart filling into each cup, ½ full if plain, ¾ full if made with add-ins. Transfer to oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until pastry is golden and centres no longer jiggle and seem firm.
  6. Cool tarts in pan for about 15 minutes before removing. Enjoy!
Pin It

Old-Fashioned Butter Tarts

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars
Loading...

Discover the magic of this beloved baked good savoured and revered in Canada’s cottage country…

  • clock icon
    45 MIN
  • 12 SERVINGS
old-fashioned butter tarts

We’re completely over the moon with this OLD-FASHIONED BUTTER TARTS – they’re truly out-of-this-world!

Of course, just mentioning OLD-FASHIONED BUTTER TARTS gets people excited. That said, if you’ve never tried them and want to find out what all the fuss is about, here’s your chance. Our recipe will exceed your every expectation.

Before I jump into the details of this recipe, a few reminders: please remember to BOOKMARK this page and PIN it to one of your PINTEREST boards for easy access. We’ve also added a couple of suggestions at the end of this post for an easy and super-tasty main course as well as a salad to go with.

We tested the recipe over and over and over again until we perfected it. We nibbled our way through countless pans of these mouthwateringly spectacular treats. Then we made little tweaks and adjustments along the way. We even made our friends and family try them too. Can you imagine? It was a tough job, but someone had to do it, right? LOL!

Here then is our step-by-step guide for OLD-FASHIONED BUTTER TARTS recipe! Making this uniquely Canadian treat from scratch should be on everyone’s bucket list. Trust us when we say that there’s nothing quite like grabbing a still-warm butter tart and taking that first bite. It will bring you great joy, and yes, you will FEEL PROUD!

Here’s our take on how to make OLD-FASHIONED BUTTER TARTS:

Ingredients for the pastry used to create butter tarts

THE PASTRY

We decided the go with a flaky yet firm pastry for our BUTTER TARTS and the result is spot on. I also chose to add a tablespoon of GOLDEN YELLOW SUGAR into the mix. It adds a lovely golden finish to the pastry. To learn more about the sugar we use, click HERE.

I also followed my mom’s approach and whisked an egg and vinegar into the chilled water before bringing the dough together. This helps keep the pastry flaky. If this post inspires you to test your pastry-making skills, why not make this recipe and then, whip up a pie? Head HERE to learn about my mom’s PIE DOUGH RECIPE.

One thing we learned during the testing of this recipe was to chill the tart cups in the pan for 30 minutes before filling and baking. This prevents the tart shells from baking faster than the centres.

Ingredients for the filling for the butter tarts

THE FILLING

One of the hallmarks of BUTTER TARTS is the filling and this recipe yields firm-centred tarts. This is achieved by using a higher quantity of dark brown sugar and less corn syrup. We also added an extra egg into the mix, which again firms things up.

For those of you wanting a soft-centred tart, prepare the filling with one less egg than the recipe calls for. You’ll end up with tarts where the centre oozes out when you bite into it.

Filling butter tarts with raisins and chopped pecans

ADD-INS

We’re going to let you decide whether or not to enhance the centre of your BUTTER TARTS with one or more of our suggested add-ins. Without these add-ins, your tarts will be less filled. Just remember to only fill each shell half full, then go back and add a bit more into each to even them out.

For those who want to amp up the flavours, we suggest adding chopped pecans and currants. Although raisins are often considered a must-include ingredient in BUTTER TARTS, we excluded them on account of being too sweet. Dried currants are more well-suited to the sweet filling, and the idea came to us from our friend, the amazing ELIZABETH BAIRD, whose opinion and advice we always appreciate. We think the use of currants provides a more pleasing flavour profile and perhaps is more in keeping with this century-old recipe.

That said, of course, we’re already thinking about other variations. Don’t be surprised if we make the recipe again adding in things like walnuts, cranberries and chocolate. Just the thought has us ready to head back into the test kitchen. Blame us?!

A few final tips on this OLD-FASHIONED BUTTER TARTS recipe:

Old-Fashioned Butter Tarts

LOVE AT FIRST BITE

We do hope we’ve inspired you to make this recipe and would like to request one thing – make that first bite count. Find a quiet moment and savour it. It will amaze you and instantly transport you to a VERY happy place.

Old-Fashioned Butter Tarts

BE PROUD

We believe that everyone should feel proud about who they are, what they do, and just as importantly, what they make. In this case, it all comes down to you. Make this recipe and give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back – feel the PRIDE in everything you do!

For those of you looking to create an entire evening of good food shared with good friends, how about a suggestion to keep things relaxed and casual? We know you and your guests will enjoy our TUSCAN RIBS or EASY GRILLED CHICKEN as the main course. Serve either of these tasty mains with our easy-to-prepare CAESAR SALAD. After that, it’s BUTTER TARTS for everyone!

OLD-FASHIONED BUTTER TARTS – there’s nothing (and we mean nothing!) quite like them!

PIN ME!

Click the Icon to pin this recipe to your board.

Old-Fashioned Butter Tarts

YouTube

Old-Fashioned Butter Tarts

Cook Mode
Use cook mode to keep your screen on while cooking.

Ingredients

  • For the tart pastry:
  • cups cake and pastry flour
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon golden yellow sugar
  • ½ cup butter, cold
  • ½ cup vegetable shortening, cold
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 6-8 tablespoons cold water
  • extra flour for rolling the pastry
  • For the filling:
  • ¾ cup dark brown sugar
  • ¼ cup corn syrup
  • ¼ cup butter, melted
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • Optional:
  • ½ cup dried currants
  • ½ cup pecans, chopped

Directions

  1. Prepare the butter tart pastry: In a medium-sized stainless steel bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Cube the butter and shortening and drop into the flour mixture. Toss lightly. Rub the butter and shortening into the mixture until it forms small pea-sized crumbs.
  2. Whisk egg and vinegar together in measuring cup. Add cold water until mix measures ½ cup and whisk again. Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of liquid onto the flour mixture and combine using a fork, forming larger clumps. Work dough briefly and gently by hand until it forms a ball. If the dough feels dry and fails to hold together, add a bit more liquid, one tablespoon at a time. Transfer onto a sheet of plastic wrap, seal and refrigerate for at least one hour before use.
  3. Prepare the filling: Melt the butter. Place the sugar and corn syrup into a bowl and add the butter. Stir these ingredients together. Add the remaining ingredients and mix together using a hand mixer on low speed until all of the sugar dissolves. Transfer the filling mixture to a measuring cup until use.
  4. Create the shells: On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a ¼-inch thickness. Cut out 4½-inch circles using a cookie cutter, glass, cup or bowl. Transfer the rounds of dough to a large, 12-cup muffin pan, pushing them down into each well. Gather the remaining dough, roll it out and repeat until it has all been used. Transfer muffin pan to refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.
  5. Prepare the butter tarts: Preheat the oven to 425°F. If preparing the butter tarts with currants and/or nuts, add 1 teaspoon of each into the centre of each pastry-lined cup. Pour tart filling into each cup, ½ full if plain, ¾ full if made with add-ins. Transfer to oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until pastry is golden and centres no longer jiggle and seem firm.
  6. Cool tarts in pan for about 15 minutes before removing. Enjoy!

Related by Recipe Type

Related by Ingredient

For More Great Ideas Visit:

Related Recipes