Powered by Mom shares a Butter Tart Recipe
A Canadian Holiday Treat
One of my absolute favourite Christmas treats since I was a kid are butter tarts a sweet raisin/walnut combination in small bite size flaky pastry shells who wouldn’t like them?! I always thought butter tarts should be a year round treat but for some reason most of us only make them at Christmas or maybe that’s a good thing as I would probably eat too many of them year round instead of just at Christmas.
I was surprised to learn last year that butter tarts are very much a Canadian thing and I here I thought everyone in North America must love butter tarts like I do. I went online to look up some butter tarts recipes as my mom never wrote her recipes down so I had to do some testing to come up with a recipe as close to my mom's as I could.
Butter Tarts Recipe
Butter tarts are a Canadian tradition for the Christmas holidays. They have a gooey filling and can have raisins, pecans or walnuts in them with a slight caramel flavour mixed in. Of course there are many variations of this Canadian treat, see which one/s you like!
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup melted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar (we use Demerara)
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. maple syrup or vanilla (I favour maple syrup but vanilla is always great)
- 2 tbsp. heavy cream (whipping cream works)
- ¾ cup raisins (use less if you don't want as many raisins but I like lots)
- 15-18 frozen tart shells (don't defrost)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Melt your butter.
- In a bowl mix the melted butter, maple syrup (or vanilla), brown sugar, egg and whipping cream and mix well (by hand not in a mixer)
- Stir in the raisins
- Place the frozen tarts on a cookie sheet. Fill the tarts with the mixture about ¾ of the way and bake for 15 minutes or until crust is a golden colour.
- The filling mixture will rise/puff up but it will fall and settle during the cooling process.
Notes
Why frozen tart shells? I found when I defrosted them they would leak when baking. I saw a tip somewhere about using them frozen and what od you know that worked like a charm.
Butter tarts are meant to be eaten at room temperature. You can eat them slightly warm, I know some people like it that way and it is tasty.
These should be slightly gooey when cooled but not dripping everywhere.
Enjoy!
For the shells I just use pre-made ones they taste fine for me and save me time but feel free of course to make your own pastry 🙂
I don't have a fav holiday recipe, but use spices more generously. This is the first time I've heard of a butter tart - I was happy to see it doesn't have too much butter, you can enjoy it and not feel guilty! Sounds delish and looks so good!
My Mom used to make something similar to this. Yummy!
Yes the filling is the best part,if it is done correctly.I have had some real bad ones.Some make it with TOO much sugar!
These butter tarts sound so good. I can't wait to give them a try. thank you for sharing
Sounds amazing !! cannot wait to try it.
These do look good. I pinned them; think I'll try them with dates instead of raisins. (I have a nephew who won't eat raisins, lol.)
My hubby would love to have these. They look so good. He might make me bake them every week.
Never had these before...have to put it on our "to make" list!
Thanks for the recipe for your Butter Tarts! I make almost the same thing, but they are called Pecan Tarts/Tassies! They basically have the same exact ingredients, however, they only contain the chopped pecans. They are my favorite! I love them! As soon as I saw this recipe, I thought "gee these are exactly like the pecan tarts that I make"! I don't put raisins or anything else in my recipe! I guess I could but I just love them with just the pecans! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe! I really do appreciate it! Have a Terrific Holiday! Thanks, Michele 🙂
These are so good. I love this recipe.I've made these a few times and we enjoyed it.
These sound great and would be awesome at parties, thank you for sharing with us....
Looks soooo delicious 🙂
Good portion control and the walnuts are a good replacement for the raisins. They look pretty and cute but yummy to eat up.
I think these would be so good. I really have to try them.
I don't think anything in the world could possibly be better than butter tarts!! 🙂
I keep meaning to try these. They look delicious. The size is perfect. My husband and I rarely can eat a whole pie. These can be wrapped and taken for lunch.
I've never tried these before but they sound amazing! I love that they are small, individual sized servings.
I love love love Butter Tarts! I will definitely try these!
These look so good! But, being decadent when I make something like this, I think I'd opt for the pecans!
How yummy these look!! They're like mini pecan pies!! off to pin the recipe, thanks!!
These look so good! Thank you for sharing this recipe with us.
I have never heard of butter tarts before reading about them here. I would love to try these, thank you for sharing this recipe. My favorite holiday recipe is apple pie.
OOooooo these look delicious and you laid out the recipe so well! My husband would absolutely flip if I made these with pecans. I'll be off to the store for the pastry shells though, what a great idea! I was also surprised to learn that these are a Canadian favorite, I lived next door to Canada and visited very often but didn't run into a recipe like this. Thank you!
Love butter tarts. A true butter tart has no raisins or nuts or replace the raisins with dried currants. Also, substitute the corn syrup with maple syrup for a unique taste.
These look so good! I had never heard of them! (From KY)--I'd eat them all by myself!
Love homemade buttertarts they are the best!!
OMG I tried these babies last night and they were great, everyone must try this recipe, thank you very much for all your hard work and effort to keep us informed with all kinds of goodies
They may be Canadian but this American thinks they look yummy enough to make this weekend!
Love Butter Tarts! Thanks for sharing the recipe, I will have to make up a batch one of these days!
These tarts looks so delicious my family would just love them to munch on and the kids would have baking them too thanks for sharing this recipe.
These sound and look delicious. I'd really like to make them, I know my family would love them.
Im going to try these my husband would love them
I just love tarts! I make them the same way you do. Except I cheat a lil bit with the crust. I buy frozen pastry crust.
I make small pecan tarts/cookies which are very similar to these, but my recipe calls for making the dough and carefully pressing it in the bottom & around the sides of each muffin tin. This takes sooo long! Your recipe would be much easier since the crust is already made. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, these are so easy to make and they look yummy!!! And it would be great for my diet because they are individual ones!! That is my kind of dessert!!!
They look yummy!
They sound and look really good. Wish I had one now. It's nice that it comes in a personal size, less temptation to eat more. Thanks for the recipe.
That is a very good recipe...and seems so old fashioned...I love it. Thanks!
The recipe seems pretty easy and they look really good. I pinned it so we can make some and give them a try. Thanks for sharing a Canadian treat.
Just pinned this recipe. Making these soon! My grandmother use to make them when I was a kid.
They look yummy and pretty easy.
These look so good!! Thanks for sharing!
I do a version of this recipe using maple Agave instead of the corn syrup- very scrumptious.
Thanks for sharing this "Canadian" delicacy - which I'm ashamed to say I'd never even heard of. (I've been cooking for many many years, traveled extensively and had my own catering business for many years. I must admit the NAME kind of threw me as I tried to imagine what a "Butter Tart" could possibly be (Surely NOT like the Iowan specialty: Deep Fried Butter which I could never bring myself to try.
But one glance at the list of ingredients reassured me that this recipe was going to be a keeper. Since I have all of the ingredients on hand (we are snowed in here - for an indefinite duration... and I think I will definitely toss in a few raisins and/or chopped nuts. Thanks for the recipe. I can't wait to try it (and them!)
These are so adorable!
These sounds yummy!!
Looks good love to try this
Looks super yummy!
These look just like the pecan pies my grandma used to make. I love their tiny-ness! Thank you for the recipe!
Tarts are one of my favorite desserts! I can make all kinds of different tarts, and this recipe is a good one to make Pecan tarts which is my favorite! These butter tarts look yummy!
They look yummy!! Gr8 new years day recipe to try!!
These look so delicious! I would love to make these for my family, thank you for sharing!
These are delicious, especially when you add pecans.
I love the portion of these. such a cute way to serve dessert and would be great for party treats as well.
This sounds yummy!!
About 15 yrs. ago our family went to Canada and always got the butter and fruit tarts SOOOOOOOOOOO good I love the buttertart .
Looks yummy , I'll have to try
Oh yum! Those look really good. Since I'm seeing this after Christmas I'm pinning this recipe so I can try it. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Happy New Year!
I love that these are little individual pies. They look delicious. Pecan pie is my favorite!
This looks delicious
These look Delicious! I want to try making them now!
WOW! These look amazingly delicious. I just might have to make these soon.
These look dangerously delicious. I would love to have one right now!
Oooh this looks tasty, I will have to try them at some point and maybe even add a dash of rum in it... because i love anything rum and raisin flavored. hahaha
They look scrumptious
Well, I am not Canadien, but these little bad boys still look amazing! I am def gonna try them! And I saw your Canadien spelling lol
This recipe sounds delicious and looks amazing! I will have to try this 🙂
I have never heard of butter tarts before reading about it here. My favorite holiday recipes are apple pie, pumpkin pie, and my grandmother's macaroni salad. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
These look really good. My daughter would absolutely love them so I may have to try making them soon! Thanks for sharing the recipe. 🙂
I would love to make Butter Tart Recipe . They look so good and easy to make.
they look really good i will have to make these for my family
I love butter tarts they are my favorite, but till now I didn't know how to make them. Thank you so much for your blog, I will have to make some before New Years so I don't destroy my diet plan even before I start lol:)
Oh these sound so good-- and I could only imagine what they would taste like--I think maybe I will be making these very soon-- thank you for sharing
Wow! They look so yummy! I will definitely make this.
oh my these look amazing!! will for sure try them! 🙂 thank you for the recipe!
I love that you use the already done pie crusts, I have made cheesecake with the keebler ones and this looks pretty simple too. I am going to give it a try!
Yum! These look so good thanks for sharing.
Yummy is right! These are so good. And, I love the portion size. Actually I can't eat much so one lasts all day. It's my breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Great recipe
Oh my gosh, these look so good!!
These Butter Tarts look professional. I will try them!
Yum...need to try these!
Ohhh these look very good I am going to have to try to make these one of these days.. Now by chance where did you come across those small pie tins cause I have been looking for some and haven't found any.. Thank you again for posting this recipe..
These Butter Tarts look & sound delicious! I pinned your recipe to my pinterest board so I can make them next time I bake. I love new baking recipes..Thankyou so much for sharing yours..
I have never heard of these but they look so good and not difficult to make, which is what I look for.
Those almost look professional. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
They look so yummy.... I want one. Easy to follow recipe thanks for sharing!
Those look really good I will have to try and make some of those and try them.
Looks absolutely delicious, can't wait to try those
These look good and easy to make. My grand kids would love and they are healthy!
Looks very easy to make with few ingredients. Easy for the holiday season treat
looks good
Hi, before reading your review, i assumed tarts originated in England. I have always thought they were so cute. This recipe sounds great, minus raisins 🙂 Thank you! Vicki.
I need to make these for my wife!
these look so yummy!!! I would love to try these
Oh my gosh these look so yummy! I have added these to my recipe collection!
I have never heard of Butter Tarts before. They look delicious and I can't believe how easy they are to make. At least they sound really easy to make. I'll have to give them a try.
I'm not Canadian,but these little treats looks so yummy.They look so easy to do too.I will be trying these soon.I think my family would like the walnuts and raisins in them.
These look amazing, and such a short ingredient list that I think I could do it!! I can get my kids to help with this one.
Thank you
Omg these look so yummy and sound yummy too!! I will be going to the store this weekend to make these for my new years eve party! Thank you so much for sharing!
oh yes they look so yummmy i am going to have to try these
These look simply delicious, and certainly easy enough to make. Sweets are my downfall during the holidays, but this one may be well worth the calories. Thanks!
i love the small size,i need to make some.they look good.
i am going to make these cannot wait till the weekend
Oh, drool! These sound divine!! I thought you were making pecan tarts from the pic- sounds like a custardy filling. Mmm!
i like that they are small for the perfect serving size so you don't eat to much! and it would be perfect for my kids.
Pinned this so I could make, going to try dried cranberries in it instead of raisins! Thanks for sharing! Merry Christmas!
They look delicious, I will be trying them for new years morning!
Sounds like a delicious tradition!
Yummy sounds awesome
Those butter tarts look absolutely delicious! 😀
yummy
yummy
What lovely little tarts!! they look delicious and are so easy! thanks for sharing your recipe, going to pin it now...
Happy Holidays!
I've never tried these or even heard of it before. It does sound like it would be popular here. I pinned it for later. Thanks.
My, my, my... don't these look insanely yummy???
I can't wait to make this
OMG! These are on my to-do list for next week! I never even heard of them before. (I did spot some of your Canadian spellings. eh?) : )
I wish I had found this recipe, I would have made them for Christmas! My husband would absolutely love these with pecans, I'm sure I would have had to double the batch. Thank you...I am bookmarking this one for sure!
These look sooo good! I will have to try them.
said come her and leave a comment but those look very yummie i think mayb ill try to make some
These look good. Might have a new baking tradition in my future! 🙂
These look delicious thanks for sharing these!!
These tarts look so good. Oh how I wish I could make them gluten-free and sugar-free though.
Thank you for the excellent butter tart recipe. I just pinned it to my favorite recipes. My grandmother used to make a similar recipe, but we had misplaced it. I plan on making these with my son tomorrow. Merry Christmas!
These butter tarts look amazing and fairly simple to make! I guess I better make some after the holidays!
Oh wow! Those may have to become one of my new Christmas traditions too! They look a- ma- zing!
Oh this is so awesome!!!! I am pinning this recipe for next year! I love to make unique goodies for Christmas for neighbors, friends, and I want to make these litlte individual treats for them. 🙂 WAHOO!!!! 🙂 hope i remember!!
hope you do too Carole they are so tasty they really are my favorite holiday treat 🙂
They look so good. I would love to make them but I have to leave out the nuts, my house is nut free due to allergies.
I live in Chicago but I am from Canada. No one here has ever heard of Butter Tarts and they are my favorite sweet! Thank you for this article!
My husband's most favourite thing in the world to eat are Butter Tarts! These look divine!
I have never tried these little tarts, but your blog has inspired me to give it a try. I love trying new recipes.
I love these little pies would love to try these on my family for Christmas gathering. thanks.
Those look so good! Love the individual size.