Canada’s famous butter tarts filled with that signature drippy, gooey, buttery syrup made easier with refrigerated pie crust pastry dough.
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If you’ve ever been to Canada, you’ve likely seen Butter Tarts. If you were in Ontario, you definitely saw them. If you’re lucky, you ate at least a dozen.
Butter Tarts are a huge part of Canadian dessert cuisine, particularly in the provinces of central Canada. They are a matter of pride there the same way pulled pork is here in the South, chowder is in the Northeast and fried catfish is in Texas.
They have festivals. They have tours (like wine trails). They put them on their postage stamps once. I’ve seen them at the counter in gas stations.
WHAT ARE BUTTER TARTS?
Butter Tarts are Canadian pastry cups made by shaping tiny tart crusts in a muffin tin, filled with a mixture made from butter, brown sugar, syrup, vanilla and egg. The filling is much like a pecan pie but looser. The filling is intended to run and drip a little when the tart is bitten into.
The syrup used in the filling can be corn syrup or maple syrup, though the recipe will vary slightly between the two as maple syrup is thinner than corn syrup (thus more/less of other ingredients will be used to maintain the right consistency.
Butter tarts are most commonly made plain but can be made with raisins and/or nuts too.
NOTES ABOUT THIS RECIPE
Traditional Butter Tarts have a slightly thicker pastry crust than the prepared crust used in this recipe.
Whether to use light or dark corn syrup and brown sugar is up to you and somewhat of debate among veteran bakers and connoisseurs. My mother-in-law (born and bred in Ontario between Kingston and Belleville) uses light corn syrup and dark brown sugar but assures me that any of these will work.
Feel free to add a few raisins to the tarts before adding the filling if desired. I actually add a few chocolate chips to half of mine, but Husband usually blesses himself and mutters something under his breath when I do, so I imagine that is taboo in Canada.
Husband’s family actually calls these Taffy Tarts but none of them can tell me why. I thought it was a family thing but have gotten a few hits online saying they are occasionally called this. I haven’t been able to confirm there is any variation in the recipe.
COOKING TIPS FOR THE BEST BUTTER TARTS
You can’t bake these in a traditional 8-inch or 9-inch pie shell. The filling is too loose.
The filling is best when all ingredients are at room temperature. Melted butter mixes into the filling much better than room temperature but you don’t want it to be hot. If you melt the butter before preheating the oven and prepping the pastry crusts, the temperature should be perfect.
These bake best on the bottom rack of the oven.
These suckers stick to the pan if you don’t take care to properly grease the tins. I use non-stick pans and brush them with homemade pan release (equal parts shortening, flour and vegetable oil), taking care to brush the sides liberally.
It is MUCH EASIER to fill the cups with the thin filling if you can pour it in instead of trying to spoon it. I have an old plastic 8-cup measuring pitcher that works perfectly for this. I love that thing and would likely grab it before my jewelry box if the house ever caught on fire.
It is important to mix the filling occasionally when pouring it into the prepared crusts as the sugar will settle to the bottom.
You can add pecans or walnuts to the filling but I never have because that’s just a little too close to Pecan Pie for me.
OTHER OLD-FASHIONED SWEET TREATS
RAISIN CAKE - A vintage Depression-Era snack cake made with raisins, molasses and cozy spices without any eggs, milk or butter that’s super moist and perfectly sweet.
JIM JAM COOKIES - An old-fashioned heirloom cookie recipe for molasses cookie sandwiches filled with raspberry jam.
LEMON MACAROON TARTS - Light, chewy coconut macaroon tartlet shells filled with luscious, bright sweet-tart lemon curd topped with whipped cream.
BLACK BOTTOM CUPCAKES - Chocolate cupcakes stuffed with chocolate chip cream cheese filling. Very much like a cupcake stuffed with cheesecake!
Recipe for Short-Cut Butter Tarts
Short-Cut Butter Tarts
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup corn syrup
- 1/4 cup real butter, melted and cooled
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 refrigerated pie crust pastries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Set pie pastries out to come to room temperature. Melt butter then allow it to cool a little before mixing.
- Combine brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, egg, vanilla and salt in a large measuring pitcher then mix very well; set aside.
- Grease a standard-size non-stick muffin tin (12 serving-size) with baking spray (flour/oil combo), brush with melted butter or brush with pan release (equal parts shortening, oil and flour).
- Unroll pie dough pastries. Do NOT roll out or flatten the dough. Using a large biscuit cutter or drinking glass (something about 4” in diameter or wide enough to create tarts about 1-inch deep), cut circles from the dough then fit them into each muffin cup, gently pressing into the bottom and up the sides. Gather dough scraps into a ball then roll out if needed to make all 12 circles.
- Stir filling well again then pour into tarts, filling each 2/3 full. Do not overfill. If you have extra filling, roll dough scraps out to make more tarts if desired.
- Bake on bottom shelf of oven at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until crust is light brown and filling is mostly set (some jiggle is OK).
- Cool for 10 minutes then gently run a thin knife around edges of each tart to remove.
Notes
- I use Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts for this recipe.
- Use light or dark brown sugar and corn syrup.
- Add raisins, nuts or chocolate chips to tarts before filling if desired.
- See sections in post above for more Notes and Tips.
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Hi there! While I’m not able to respond to every comment, I try hard to answer any questions that haven’t been addressed in the post, recipe or in other comments.
I can tell you now 1) I have no idea if you can substitute Minute Rice or brown rice in my recipes because I’ve never used them and 2) If I know how to convert a recipe to a Crock Pot version, I will make a note about it (otherwise, I don’t know).
And though I may not respond to them all, I do read each and every comment and I LOVE to hear from you guys! Thanks, y’all! - Mandy