Knee update! Count your lucky stars, I know that you have all been waiting with bated breath. I finally sucked it up and went to a doctor on Monday after having my knee be swollen for over a week. I’ve been told I tore or punctured or somehow injured a nerve under my kneecap. My doctor confirmed this by sticking his fingers as far into my knee as humanly possible and watching tears well up in my eyes, which was not because I was crying but because he was poking and prodding said broken nerve. I felt like I was one of those people saying, “I’m NOT crying, I just have something in my eye!” while my doctor went, “Of course you do. Of course you do.” All of this was done in front of his student, who took my patient history for what seemed like h o u r s. After asking me every question under the sun, he read the whole thing back to me, then went back in to make edits. Students, am I right? Anyway, I’ve got some physical therapy to do now, but they said that it may only take four or five visits, which is great because I hate going to appointments, especially doctor’s appointments. They take too long and I never feel like I am getting as much out of it as I am supposed to. I spent an hour on the phone the other day between the office and my insurance company trying to figure out exactly what I would owe for physical therapy. It was like pulling teeth, which is so unfair. I just don’t want to get stuck with a huge bill for the privilege of having someone tell me how to bend my knee properly for an hour. Hopefully my doctor was right in that I only need to go a few more times.
That’s the stuff.
If you aren’t familiar with butter tarts, allow me to fill you in. They are sort of similar to pecan pie, although they are always made in muffin pans in order to get a miniature, handheld tart, and they are much richer. It’s important to make a nice, thin crust, as you don’t want to be overwhelmed by it in such small amounts, so I like to use a combination of shortening and butter. The butter adds the nice, flaky quality you look for in a crust, like the shortening allows you to roll the dough out just a little bit thinner than an all-butter crust. The filling is simple, and sort of old fashioned, which you should embrace. You’ve got brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and of course, plenty of butter. You can add raisins in, like I did, although I’m told that there is a great Canadian divide over that aspect of these treats. You can substitute currants or pecans or walnuts…whatever makes you happy. Or, you can leave it just as it is. I also sprinkled a little sea salt on top, as I feel something this rich and sweet is crying out for some salt to cut through it all, but that is optional, too. The best part about butter tarts is that they are almost meant to be frozen so that you always have a little something in the freezer to share with friends or family, just like my grandmother. Honestly, I prefer them frozen. The caramel seems thicker, chewier and more delicious after thawing out for just five minutes or so, trust me.
First thing’s first: you have to make your crust. I used my food processor this time out of laziness, but I honestly think that a pair of clean hands work best.
After your dough has chilled for at least 3 hours and you’re ready to bake, whisk together your butter tart filling.
Roll out the dough and cut out circles that are almost twice as large as your muffin cups – this will ensure that there is enough crust to hold the filling in.
And really butter those muffin tins. I mean really.
Then fold the crust into tins.
Drop a few raisins or currants in the shells (or nuts…or nothing – chef’s choice).
Then fill with your caramel! Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden and set.
Allow to cool before removing from the pan.
- 3¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅔ cups unsalted butter, COLD (NOT room temperature), cut into pieces
- ⅔ cups shortening, COLD (NOT room temperature)
- ⅔ cups ice water
- 3 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
- 1½ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup dark corn syrup
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup raisins or currants
- sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)
- First, make your crust. Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl or the bowl of your food processor. I used my food processor, but I didn't always have one and have had great results making this crust by hand. Add in the chopped pieces of cold butter and cold shortening . Blend together with your hands or pulse with your processor until you have coarse crumbs (it doesn’t have to be perfect). You can use a pastry cutter, too, but I find that a clean pair of hands work best.
- Mix together the water and vinegar in a small bowl. When ready, slowly drizzle it over the dough, a tablespoon or so at a time, gently stirring the mixture with a fork or pulsing with your processor, until fully incorporated (you may not use all of the water). It might seem a bit too wet at this point, but it will dry up while it sits in the fridge. Form the dough gently into 2 loose balls, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours or as long as overnight (as always, overnight is best). Make your filling when you are almost ready to use your dough.
- When you're ready to bake, liberally butter your muffin tins. This recipe makes about 30-36 tarts, so plan accordingly. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly flour a work surface, and take one of your balls of dough and roll it out to about ¼-inch thick. Cut out circles that are a bit larger than the circumference of your tins, so that there is enough crust to hold in the filling, and gently place each circle in the tins, re-rolling your dough as you go. Drop 3-4 raisins in the bottom of each tart before adding in the filling.
- Whisk together your dark brown sugar, corn syrup, melted butter, and vanilla. Drop 2-3 teaspoons of filling (it will bubble, so don't overfill or you will have a hell of a time getting the tarts out of the pan) in each tart, then sprinkle with a touch of sea salt. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly golden and mostly set. Allow to cool completely before removing the tarts from the pan. I like to use a dull paring knife to cut around any hardened caramel and then popping each tart out. These will keep well at room temperature for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.
Ugh, your doctors visit sounds painful! So sorry! But I do love the fun baby photos and photos of your grandparents. So fun and I have never heard of Canadian Butter tart, but these look awesome!
Your grandmother is beautiful! I love her wedding dress. So classic.
These tarts look delicious! I just made your white bread and it turned out great.
Your grandmother is really sweet. Thank you for sharing your family recipe here. I’ll make some for my parents this weekend.
And get well soon!
Hope your knee will get better soon! How cute is that picture of your and your grandmother! The butter tarts look fabulous. I have never heard of anything like that. But I sure want to make and try some. Have a great weekend.
Dealing with insurance is such a pain. Haha. Get better soon! Also, you were an adorable baby.
I`ve never had butter tarts before, but I definitely want to try since these look so gooddd.
Great recipe. Lovely photos too, your grandparents looked so glamorous on their wedding day.
These look so good! Insurance is annoying, but as a physical therapist, I can guarantee that if you see a good one (as most of us are) you won’t be spending an hour with someone telling you how to bend your knee.
I love the unique shape of these tarts…I’ve never heard of butter tarts before, but will definitely need to give it a try!
YUM. I’d keep them plain and simple and yeah I need to definitely make these <3
Thank you for posting this recipe….I haven’t lived in Canada since ’92 & I sure do miss butter tarts!
I must buy familar mold, i always eat buttertarts, but never doing myself and I want try, thanks for recipe.
Yeah in my family butter tarts were also a favourite. My Nana always had to make two versions; instead of corn syrup she’d use maple syrup and my grandpa liked it running out with one bite and coconut mixed in. We don’t know how he ate them but he did. Butter tarts are awesome but if you’re really hankering you can make butter tart squares…easier, faster, just as yummy. Your grandma should have a recipe.
Hope your knee is all better! We don’t have a lot of family recipes either, so it’s important to spotlight them. These look awesome. That gooey filling would have me hooked instantly!
I made these yesterday. I did add an egg yolk to the filling (because I remember that being an ingredient that my grandmother used). I’m introducing them to my American coworkers!
Excellent pastry! A Canadian Christmas would not be the same without butter tarts and I have been using the same recipe for a very long time. Handed down from my Grandmother who was French Canadian. I still used my own filling, but your pastry recipe was absolutely fantastic. Best butter tarts yet. I’m leaving a few out for Santa.
[…] Photo of Butter Tarts by The Crepes of Wrath […]
Butter tarts are the main Canadian food that I miss living in the states. I like the single rumple in each of the tart shells. I make gluten-free butter tarts at home now, based on my families recipe! Thanks for sharing your stories, photos and recipe!
Hi! You freeze them after baking or before? Would love to hear from you!
I froze mine after!
I love butter tarts….have made them for over fifty years…my question is why do you have to butter the muffin pan? I have never done that in my life and wondered if it had to do with your pastry recipe. Thank you.
Hi Donna – I always do it out of habit, plus I think that it makes the crust extra buttery!
Thank you so much for sharing! I homeschool my children and we are currently working on a geography project called Expedition Earth – your grandmother’s recipe was a great complement to our week in Canada!!
[…] wrap up our week in Canada, we made butter tarts from a recipe I found on thecrepesofwrath.com. I swapped out the raisins for pecans & they became similar to the pecan tassies I usually make […]
I have never made butter tarts without eggs in it. My recipe is 1 cup butter, corn syrup, maple syrup and brown sugar, 4 eggs, 1/2 tsp salt and 2 tsp vanilla. Have you had tarts with the eggs? I will have to try yours!
I was sent on a mission to: ‘bring back Butter Tarts’ from my trip to Quebec. I had no idea what they looked like and didn’t find out that they have a misnomer… Anyway, I found some. They were ok. But, the recipe I found was infinitely better. This simple treat is crazy easy to prepare. MAKE THESE!!!!!
[…] Ooey, gooey, delicousness. Recipe here. […]
[…] Ooey, gooey, delicousness. Recipe here. […]
To be really good, you have to have a serviette to catch the juice as you bite into them.
My mother made these and they were fabulous.
Ran across this from a Buzzfeed article. Made some this evening for my hubby. He’s suffering with a grin on his face from eating too many of them. He said what a glorious way to die. Even better, that you say they’ll freeze. I have a feeling that the life expectancy of this first batch is tomorrow… thank you so much for sharing.
[…] than using a simple shortcrust pastry recipe from another pie in the recipe box, I hunted down somebody else’s Grandma’s butter tart pastry online. I have used this crust to make butter tarts before and it’s just perfect. I think the […]
As an avid baker, I must say these turned out to be sub-standard at best. Possibility the worst in my repertoire.
After Toni’s comment I tried these. I added an egg yolk to the filling, I think that makes a better set and some richness to fillings like that. I put both a few raisins and some walnuts in the cups then filled. My better half inhaled them all over three days and raved. He said it was worth the payback for eating all the that richness. I am familiar with ‘cold fat’ pastry and can’t emphasize enough, have the butter and shortning COLD, refrigerate your bowl too, and the water should be almost freezing. That gives the best results on the crust. I also have the luxury of a marble rolling surface (bought a piece of scrap countertop material and had them knock the sharp corners off) and a marble rolling pin that I can refrigerate too before using. It helps with this kind of crust…. Thank you for sharing.