Old Fashioned Butter Tarts
Indulge in some sweet Old Fashioned Butter Tarts. This popular Canadian classic dessert recipe consists of flaky homemade pastry shells filled with a rich, buttery caramel filling. Passed down from my Mom, this is the best butter tart recipe you will find!
This best ever recipe for Old Fashioned Butter Tarts is always included in my Holiday baking. But these sweet tarts are so delicious you will want to bake them all year long! My Mom’s recipe for butter tarts has a perfect consistency of gooey, runny, sweet filling in made-from-scratch pastry shells. The tart shells are exceptionally buttery and flaky. Every family Christmas my Mom made Butter Tarts and they were always the first treat to disappear off her holiday baking tray!
Are Butter Tarts really Canadian?
Yes, Canada’s favorite dessert has origins which date back to the 1600’s! The Canadian Butter Tart is a small flaky pastry with a filling of butter, eggs, and brown sugar which are baked until the top is slightly crunchy and the filling is semi-solid.
Another incredible classic Canadian dessert you will love is my recipe for Nanaimo Bars.
Ingredients and Substitutions
The ultra flaky tart crust is a simple combination of flour, sugar, salt, butter, and ice cold water.
Can you use store bought tart shells?
Yes, although not as tasty and flaky as homemade tart shells, they do help make this recipe quicker and easier to prepare.
I love the filling exactly as my Mom made it in this recipe. A mixture of butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, eggs, vanilla and a pinch of salt.
Some tasty additions to try would be:
- raisins
- currants
- nuts such as pecans or walnuts
Can you use maple syrup instead of corn syrup in butter tarts?
Yes, although I find them a bit more runny, and you will have the distinctive maple flavor.
How to store Butter Tarts
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, and up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Can Butter Tarts be frozen?
Yes, butter tarts freeze well. Cool completely, place in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
How to make these tasty treats
For the pastry:
- Sift flour, salt and sugar together. Using a pastry blender cut the chilled butter into the flour mix. Blend until it resembles course meal.
- Add ice-cold water a bit at a time, just until the dough starts to hold together. Do not over-work the pastry dough or it will become tough. The same technique you use making pie crust.
- Press dough together forming a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Next, roll out the dough on lightly floured surface, to about 1/4 inch thick.
- Using a round cookie cutter, cut into 4-5 inch circles. Press dough into muffin pan, trying not to stretch the dough.
For the filling:
- Mix together butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Whisk until the butter is creamed and sugar dissolved.
- Add egg, vanilla extract and pinch of salt. Mix well.
- Fill the tart shells about 2/3 full.
- Bake in the oven at 400º Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from baking pan to cooling rack.
Mom’s favorite baking treats
My Mom was an incredible baker and these are some of her most loved recipes!
Old Fashioned Butter Tarts
Ingredients
Tart Pastry
- 2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter chilled and cut into pieces
- 1/4-1/2 cup ice cold water
Butter Tart Filling
- 1/2 cup soft butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup corn syrup golden
- 2 eggs slightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of salt
Instructions
Butter Tart Pastry
- Sift flour, salt and sugar together.
- Using a pastry blender cut butter into flour mix until it resembles course meal.
- Add cold water a bit at a time until dough just starts to hold together. Adding too much water will make for a tough dough. Do not over-work the dough.
- Press dough together forming a disk.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Roll out the pastry dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into sixteen 4-inch circles or twelve 5-inch circles.
- Press the dough into muffin tins being careful not to stretch the dough.
- Refrigerate until the filling is prepared.
Butter Tart Filling
- In a large bowl, mix together butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Stir until the butter is creamed and the sugar is dissolved.
- Add eggs, vanilla and pinch of salt. Mix well.
- Fill the tart shells about 2/3 full with the filling.
- Bake at 400º Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes.
- The filling should be lightly browned and bubbling.
- Let the butter tarts cool in pan for about 10 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Will be trying soon
These are exactly like my mom used to make. Her recipe was lost when she passed away so I can’t even tell you how thrilled I was when I tasted them. Thank you so much!
Those are cherished recipes. I lost my Mom last year and am so happy I have her old scribbler of recipes.
First time making butter tarts. This recipe was easy to follow and turned out fantastic. I also used paper liners in my muffin tin so they would be easier to remove. I filled a couple to full and they spilled over into the paper liners but were still easy to take paper off. Thank you 😊
Thank you Anna, this was one of my Mom’s favorite recipes.
I really like your recipe! I like the fact that they aren’t as sweet as some I’ve tried. These are more custardy than runny. I used store bought tart shells and made these in a jiffy. Thanks Laureen!
Thank you so much Kathy. It is one of my favorite recipes my Mom used to make.
I rolled out to 1/4 inch thickness for the mini size at 4” diameter as you mentioned but I found it way too thick for the mini muffin tins. I rolled them out to 1/8 inch thickness and put them in a large muffin tin instead. The pastry still turned out thick to me but I gave the rating 5 stars because everything tasted delicious.
Ive been planning on making these but I’m so confused, the recipe says corn syrup, golden. But I could only find light corn syrup and I looked it up but it said golden syrup and light corn syrup are completely different, but the recipe keeps saying corn syrup. I think it was meant to be light, otherwise which one is the right one? Mind you google never said golden *corn* syrup, just golden syrup.
Hello, sometimes ingredient name and variety by country. I live in Canada and can find both, but just plain corn syrup will work in this recipe.
Can maple syrup be substituted for the corn syrup or will it bake differently
Vic I haven’t tried with maple syrup, but I don’t think they would set the same as using corn syrup resulting in them being too runny.