When I think about holiday cookies the first thing that comes to mind is my grandmothers butter tarts and now they are the one thing that I always make for the holidays. Butter tarts are a Canadian pastry consisting of a custard made with butter, sugar and eggs in a pastry shell. I guess butter tarts are normally made plain like that but in my mind they just aren’t butter tarts without adding walnuts and raisins, just like my grandmother used to make them! I do like to add my own touch to the recipe by replacing half of the sugar with maple syrup which adds a hint of something special to them. These maple butter tarts are simply amazing! The all butter pastry is nice and golden brown and light and flaky and melt in your mouth good! The maple custard sets nicely and it’s perfectly sweet and gooey and oh so good! Butter tarts are another treat that freezes well so you can make them ahead of the holidays to lighten the load during that busy time. Frozen butter tarts also make a great gift; I know I always enjoyed receiving a large container of frozen butter tarts from my grandmother to take back with me after the holidays.
Update (2023): I just started baking my butter tarts for the holidays and I thought that I would update the recipe!
One common question that I get is: Can you use already made frozen tart shells? Yes you can! The filling recipe below will work for a package of 30 premade tarts (with filling)!
One option that I enjoy, for a larger filling to crust ratio, is to use a large muffin pan!
Butter tarts in store bought tart shells with: walnuts, raisins, walnuts and raisins, chocolate chips, pecans:
Butter tarts with coconut and chocolate in a large muffin pan:
Buttertarts
Buttery tarts with crispy all butter pastry shells filled with a sweet maple custard, walnuts and raisins.
ingredients
- 1 pie crust pastry, chilled
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick), melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
- 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
directions
- Roll the pastry out to 1/8 inch thick and cut out 12 4-5 inch circles, pressing them into the holes in a muffin baking pan.
- Chill the muffin pan in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, mix the egg, brown sugar, maple syrup, butter, vanilla extract, salt, walnuts and raisins and pour the mixture into the tarts.
- Bake in a preheated 350F/180C oven and bake until set, about 15-25 minutes.
Option: A large muffin pan can also be used for larger tarts!
Option: Remove or replace the walnuts and raisins with your favourite ingredients.
Pumpkin Butter Tarts with Pepitas and Cranberries
Maple Pecan Pie
Maple Snickerdoodles
Sweet Potato Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Butter Tarts with Pepitas and Cranberries
Maple Bourbon Bacon and Pecan Butter Tarts
Chocolate and Pecan Butter Tarts
Pecan Pie Cookies
Slow Cooker Pecan Pie
Butter Tart Cheesecake
Those look AMAZING! I love the addition of maple syrup.
These lok absolutely nice Kevin!!! Gloria
These look delicious. Sort of like a spin on mini pecan pies or something. Can’t wait to try these out, thanks Kevin!
My mom used to make the most amazing butter tarts ever. The addition of maple syrup to this classic Canadian treat is just too tempting.
Classic Canadian butter tarts are always made with maple syrup.
They look like mini pecan pies, cute!
These look like fantastic butter tarts! My husband and I honeymooned around the Georgian Bay and discovered butter tarts then. They are one of the few chocolate-less desserts he loves.
kevin how are you doing this? churning out glorious dish after glorious dish? this looks amazing. somehow, it’s making me wanna eat it and mince pies too x
You can’t go wrong when you use real maple syrup. They look really good Kevin.
These look delicious. I’m glad you decided to add the walnuts, raisins, and maple syrup. Yum!
Sooo luscious!!
These tarts sound great! I’m a bit of a buttertart aficionado (self proclaimed). In fact, I’ve got a recipe on my blog I’m quite proud of – please give it a try and let me know if you like it as well as this version.
http://danamccauley.wordpress.com/2008/10/28/best-butter-tart-quest-part-three/
Those look so pretty!
nice bro …baking is a great form of relaxation, keep up the inspiration, peace cc
This is really mouth watering recipe, Delicious.
Cheers,
Elra
These tarts look incredibly scrumptious! So tempting!
Cheers,
Rosa
Yumm!
Thanks for making butter tarts…it’s not Christmas without them.
They look delicious…
wow!! this really look great!! I just bake pecan bar and now your photo make me wanna to grab a piece from my screen!! lol!
Wow just looking to those delicious tarts makes me want to grab them.
Beautiful and deliious
These little tarts look so good, and the maple flavor sounds like a great addition!
Freezing little tart shells is a brilliant idea! These are some tasty looking little tarts.
Wow – I like those!
these are just great… definitely another holiday treat… 🙂
YUM! I could pop a couple of those. They look and sound fantastic.
Yes, Kevin, I too being Canadian love Butter Tarts! These look fantastic!
I like the addition of the maple syrup – I find it much smoother than brown sugar – I’ll try the half-half combo
So delicious!
Thanks for sharing this Canadian treat, they looks delicious!
I love butter tarts, and this seems like an awesome variation on that (I enjoy drinking maple syrup by the cupful) – thanks!
When I was single I use to go up to Canada, Niagra Falls and Toronto a lot. When I was there I would always stock up on these. They are such a treat. I love your flavors Kevin!
Drooling over here!
what a coincidence–maple and butter are too of my favorite ingredients! these tarts are like pancakes in dessert form. i love it.
These tarts look wonderful and I’m sure they’re delicious. Is there a recipe for that particular pie crust?
Yum, yum, yum and that’s all I have to say about that!
This looks interesting!
Oh gosh Kevin . . . I want one now and I haven’t even had breakfast yet!
Maple syrup makes butter tarts a million times better!
Between this and your shortbread, I’m in heaven! Have a wonderful holiday Kevin!
Hi Kevin,
This is the first time visiting your site. I stumbled upon it searching for a spanakopita recipe. I then had a big laugh because I am also from Toronto. But when I saw this recipe, mmmmm…I have been looking for a good butter tart recipe for so long. Your pictures are fantastic, do you take them yourself? I’ll be bookmarking you for sure!
Marin
OMG, those look good…
These sound delectable!
I made these and they were truly awesome. Best butter tarts I’ve ever made or eaten. Thank you!
I made them again. Still good.
I've been insterested in butter tarts ever since the song "Steal my Sunshine". So glad to come across your recipe- I must make these! Not sure about the raisins 🙂 but I love the use of maple syrup.
I just watched a holiday show on the food network that featured butter tarts – I agree that I'm not so sure about the raisins, but heck, I'm gonna try it anyway 🙂
i found your blog about a month ago, and i love it! i love your creativity, it's always great to find a new spin on your old favorites (making the crab mac 'n cheese tonight!). when i saw this one, i knew i had to do it- my family always makes pecan tassies for christmas, so i knew the process going in.
i didn't have a pie pastry, so i used my grandmother's crust recipe, and it worked great! also, i took them out just a little early, so that when you bite into them, the insides are a little gooey. i see many more batches of these in my future!!
Hi there – I made these and noticed the ingredients call for an egg but the instructions don't indicate when to use it? Does it go into the mix or is it for an egg wash? thanks!
I made these yesterday for Canadian Thanksgiving (although I'm from the US, lol, but always wanted to celebrate Canada's T-day too!) They are so delicious. Kind of like pecan pies, but with walnuts. Love the maple in them too (I always use maple syrup in my pecan pie). I added the egg in the filling ingredients (it's not specified in the recipe).
What a Dish!: Glad you enjoyed them! I fixed the directions. Thanks for mentioning that!
Thank you for the recipe! I made these tonight for the family’s Thanksgiving potluck and they came out great.
Amazing Amazing Amazing!mmmmh! Looks Great!
Yum! I make these every year!
Are these mini muffins or standard size?
Thank you!
I usually use a, and the ones pictured are, standard muffin pan and a pan for large muffins also works. I feel a mini muffin pan would not be big enough, but it should work.
One thing not mentioned other than ‘bake until set’. When you check these in the oven the filling will wiggle until it ready. All of a sudden it’ll stop wiggling. It will be ‘set’. That’s what you’re looking for and when they’re done baking.
Hi, can’t wait to make these! Can you freeze these little gems, I’d like to make these for my daughters wedding! Any tips you can give would be very appreciated! Thanksp
They freeze well!
I’m in the UK and on Sunday my Canadian friend gave me my first butter tarts to her mother’s recipe, She used Canadian flour and other ingredients specially brought home for her. They were delicious and have made me want to try making my own. I will try this recipe some time when it’s cooler and having the oven on will be something not to be feared heatwise!