Old Fashioned Butter Tarts, the best homemade to die for Butter Tart Recipe. A delicious Canadian tradition that can’t be missed.
A flaky pie crust filled with a sweet raisin filling. If you don’t like raisins just leave them out! This old fashioned butter tart recipe is one of the best you will taste.
Old Fashioned Butter Tarts
Old Fashioned Butter TartsButter Tarts, they are always the first to go in my house!
Here I am again Celebrating #Canada150 this time I am sharing one of Ontario’s favourite fabulous foods, Old Fashioned Butter Tarts.
Ontario is situated in Central Canada with probably one of Canada’s most famous and popular cities, Toronto, my place of birth.
Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, home of the Toronto Blue Jays and The Toronto Maple Leafs (those poor leafs or should I say fans)! And of course half my heart, my eldest daughter has now moved back to Toronto.
I don’t know if you have ever tried or made a butter tart, but if not this is one tart that has to be on your to make list.
I have made these tarts a few times this past couple of weeks, and we made them again when my cousin came to visit. This time we made a few different types. Pecan, Chocolate Chip and Plain Butter Tarts, you can add raisins.
Fillings – Pecan, Chocolate Chip & Plain
How to make Butter Tarts
- Make your pastry dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out to 1/8″ thickness, cut our circles with a round cookie cutter or glass.
- Gently from into a prepared muffin or tart tins. Prick the tarts with a fork.
- Pour the filling into the tart shells and bake for 15 minutes at 400°F, reduce heat to 350°F and continue baking for approximately 10 – 15 minutes (until they start to brown).
- Let cool before serving.
The best Pastry Dough for Butter Tarts
Butter tarts are best made with a flaky pie crust therefore I like to use either a Simple Pie Dough or a Brown Sugar Pie Dough, either work perfectly.
How to Store Butter Tarts
Butter Tarts should be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated, they will keep for up to five days. If you keep them at room temperature remember they will only keep for up to two days.
Butter Tarts
Can Butter Tarts be Frozen?
Yes they can be frozen, be sure to freeze in an airtight freezer container. Properly stored they will keep for up to two months. You could also make the dough in advance and freeze it.
And of course even this time they were gone in minutes. Because guess who goes absolutely insane for these? Yup, the Italian.
If you asked him what his three favourite desserts would be he would choose Tiramisu, Butter Tarts and then Pineapple Dessert. And the order depends totally on the season or which one I have just made.
These Old Fashioned Butter Tarts are the perfect sweet treat that you could be looking for. If you try them let me know. Enjoy!
Old Fashioned Butter Tarts
Ingredients
PIE PASTRY
- 1 Pie Pastry Recipe or 12 pre-made tart shells
BUTTER TART FILLING
PLAIN FILLING (without add ins)
- 1/4 cup butter (melted / cooled) (50 grams)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (lightly packed) (90 grams)
- 1/2 cup corn syrup (170 grams)
- pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
RAISIN FILLING (add in)
- 3/4 cup raisins (120 grams)
- boiling water
CHOCOLATE CHIP FILLING (add in)
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (45 grams)
PECAN FILLING (add in)
- 1/3 cup coarsely chopped pecans (or walnuts) (41 grams)
Instructions
PIE PASTRY
- Prepare either the Simple Pie Dough or Brown Sugar Pie Dough. Or you can use prepared store bought tarts.
- Pre-heat oven to 400°F. Grease and flour a 12 size medium muffin tin.
- Remove pastry from fridge roll out to 1/8" thickness and cut out with a round cookie cutter. Gently form into muffin tin, use a small lightly floured shot glass to gently form the rounds into the tin.
BUTTER TART FILLING
- If using raisins then place them in a medium bowl and cover with boiling water, let sit 5 minutes then drain. Immediately add hot raisins to butter mixture and stir until butter has melted. Then add beaten egg and vanilla, brown sugar, salt and corn syrup stir to combine well.
- If not using the raisins then melt the butter, let cool slightly, then add the beaten egg, vanilla, brown sugar, salt and corn syrup stir to combine well. At this point you can either stir in the chopped pecans, chocolate chips or leave the filling plain.
- Pour the filling into the prepared tart shells and bake for 15 minutes at 400°F, reduce heat to 350°F and continue baking for approximately 10 - 15 minutes (until they start to brown). Let cool before serving. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Updated from May 3, 2017.
Zara says
should I use salted or unsalted butter in the filling.
Rosemary says
Hi Zara, I always use salted, but if you want you can use unsalted just add a pinch or two of salt to the filling.
Carm says
Can I replace corn syrup with maple syrup?
Rosemary says
Hi Carm, sure I think it would work, maybe add a little less because maple syrup is thinner than corn syrup. (maybe 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons).
Evelyn Bailey says
Butter is essential! Currents are also a very Canadian tradition. Great recipe
Rosemary says
Hi Evelyn, I agree and thank you.
Jazz says
Me and my family loved these! I used your pie crust and it worked perfectly. at first i didn’t grease the tin well enough but otherwise it was awesome.
Rosemary says
Hi Jazz, thanks so much, so glad you and your family enjoyed them. Take care.
Lawrence Yanover says
I am very picky about butter tarts. The taste is really subtle and requires the right balance of pastry to filling, with all elements in balance. I live in Canada and am not far from a tourist destination called butter tarts and buggies in Grey Bruce region of Ontario. You follow the trail to numerous bakeries that feature butter tarts and try them out. The buggy part is because this is Mennonite country where families still travel by horse and buggy and live in traditional farming communities. Those are my credentials. I have been very disappointed by the butter tarts I have tried. Doughey and tasteless pastry. Insipid filling. I wanted to try my hand at making them as it had been some time since I had done it. I am accomplished at pies so I used my own pastry recipe. For the filling, I added double the vanilla and a bit more egg. I prefer the filling less runny and I enjoy a stronger vanilla note. What really helped was the 15 minutes at 400 then then ten minutes at 350. For the first 15 minutes I placed them closer to the top of the oven and brought them closer to the middle for the last ten minutes. This produced a beautiful caramelized top to the filling and a perfectly baked pastry shell. I also used OXO non stick muffin tins which are award winning, and provide very even heat. As well, they clean up nicely because the filling can overflow and attach quite tenaciously to the muffin tin, making removal difficult. Great web site for Italian cooking, which I also very much enjoy. Just finished a batch of pesto from basil in the garden. We are blessed with access to high quality Italian foods in Hamilton area with Fortinos nearby and so many with Italian ancestry who demand great Italian ingredients. Again, I thank you for your passion regarding about great food. Life is too short to put up with bad food
Laura says
My Canadian husband requested butter tarts (I’d never heard of them.) This is my third time using this recipe and they are DELISH! They also get the Canadian Authenticity seal of approval from the hubbie.
Rosemary says
Hi Laura, thanks so much, haha nothing like a Canadian Butter Tart, my Italian husband loves them. Take care.
Marion says
First time making butter tarts and these were very easy and delicious. My daughter said I have to make them for dessert every Sunday.
Rosemary says
Hi Marion, thanks so much, I think my husband would agree with your daughter! Take care.
Anne Reilly says
Delicious! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Fortune Goulais says
First time making tarts always been afraid of pie crust, lol, but these were fun to make
Rosemary says
Hi Fortune, thanks so glad you enjoyed them. Take care.
Erika says
These turned out perfectly! I used the simple dough recipe as well and it was amazing! I usually mess up dough but not with this recipe! Will make these again for sure.
Rosemary says
Hi Erika, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Take care.
sally says
Butter tarts are canadian not american that is why i gave a low rating
Rosemary says
Well Sally if you read the post you would have noticed that I actually state they are Canadian!
brian says
I’ve made this recipe twice now. Not sure how you get them to look so nice. First time everything bubbled over, so I reduced the temp by 50 degrees and made the sides higher. It worked generally, but I can’t put much filling in each tart otherwise it will boil over, so I’m left with mostly dough. Used the simple pie dough, but disappointed in that the pasty comes out very hard. I used margarine instead of butter, so not sure if this is why, but it makes the tarts hard to enjoy as the pastry is too hard. Maybe someone can help me solve these problems.
Diane says
Brian, this is now the 2nd reply I left because I had problems getting the reply function to work. You must not use margarine. Margarine is basically water and chemicals so all the water forms a ‘hard’ or tough dough. You must use butter because it’s the fat in the butter that creates a nice flaky crust. I really like Rosemary’s recipe.
Kelly says
Tried the pecan butter tarts yesterday. They were a big hit! Definitely the best recipe I’ve tried!