Butter Tarts

Warm, flaky and sweet; these indulgent tarts are iconic Canadian treats. Typically made of butter-lots of butter- hence the name, sugar, syrup & eggs baked in a pastry crust. There are slight variations in the recipe depending on the location and also by the baker. Some of the variations can include flavorings (or flavourings for my Canadian friends) such as maple, chocolate or bacon and add-ins such as raisins and nuts.

I personally am a butter tart purist; made with maple syrup and absolutely no raisins or nuts! The best way to devour the tarts is when they are still warm from the oven and have a slightly runny center; similar to a molten lava cake. Which makes me think-maybe they should be called molten maple tarts.

Over the years, I have tried many different butter tart recipes and I’ll let you in on a secret; the best recipes include pure maple syrup. Don’t even think about using maple flavored corn syrup!

Butter tarts are quite simple to make. You can definitely make it more complex by preparing a homemade pie crust. Let’s be clear, I don’t have time for that and Pappy’s Pie Crust Dough is so flaky delicious that there is no need to waste precious time on homemade pie crust. The filling goes together with a breeze and once placed in the shells you’ll only be 15-20 minutes away from a delectable treat!

So, let’s get started! The stars of the show; Pappy’s Pie Crust Dough, eggs, butter (of course), light brown sugar, pure maple syrup, light corn syrup, vanilla extract, distilled vinegar and a pinch of salt. The maple syrup I used is homemade by a gent in Wisconsin-how much more pure can you get?

Start with the dough and roll out to approximately 1/8 inch thickness.

Then grab your trusty beer mug (or maybe if you’re fancy you have a biscuit cutter-I’m not fancy, so beer mug it is!) and cut out circles. For regular sized muffin tins, use a 3 & 1/2 inch diameter cutter. For mini muffin tins, 2 & 1/2 inch cutters are the perfect size. The different sizes are truly magical! The smaller size tends to cook all the way through so you’re left with a non-messy, pop-able treat. The larger size allows for a molten maple flow, so be sure to serve on a plate.

Carefully place the dough into the wells of the muffin tin and lightly press into place. At this point, throw the tins into the fridge to keep the dough chilled and let’s move on to the filling!

As stated before, the filling is a breeze to whip up. Combine your sugar, corn syrup, pure maple syrup, butter, eggs, vanilla, vinegar and salt in an appropriately sized bowl. I prefer to use a whisk in order to ensure a good mix, but feel free to choose your own kitchen weapon.

Now get those tart shells out of the fridge and start filling! Fill to your heart’s content, or almost to the brim of dough. You choose, but I like full tarts! The sugar does tend to settle out, so be sure to give the filling a good whisk throughout the filling process. Once filled, get those tarts in the oven!

The cooking time and temp for the tarts is a little tedious. From my trials and errors of butter tart baking, I have found that the best tart centers are made by baking the tarts for 8 minutes at 450 degrees F, then decreasing the oven temp to 400 degrees F for an additional 7-10 minutes. To decrease the oven temp quickly, just crack the oven door for about 10 seconds. You’ll know the tarts are done when you see the bubbling, sugary goodness and the edges of the crust start to turn a golden brown.

When the tarts have reached their perfect golden brown, take ’em out and let ’em cool for a few minutes. Once they have reached a temp where they don’t scald you; carefully remove them from the tin & finish cooling on a cooling rack. This is the tricky part-if you’ve adequately oiled up the tins, the tarts will hopefully just slide right out. If not, get a bowl ready, because now you’ve got a pile of deconstructed tarts! Still as delicious as the fully constructed version, just not as pretty to look at.

Final step; enjoy and try not to eat them all in one sitting. Easier said than done my friend.