Canadian Butter Tarts Recipe ~ Cooking Up Memories

Sometimes we bake for fun, most often for need, and I think, sometimes just for the comfort of an old memory.  There is a small way to keep those loved ones and times that have passed on present with us. Food and Recipes enjoyed from another time always seem to bring us back to those people and places. The familiarity brings us comfort from times gone by. 

My Grandmother passed away many years ago, now, but sometimes I still feel her right next to me. Especially when I bake! My grandma loved food.  She loved feeding everyone! Since I have always loved to bake and share, almost as much as she, I am Blessed to have received her handwritten recipe book.  It is not like most recipe books you’ve seen mind you. Simple and to the point, her green little binder with college ruled paper was all she needed to store her “tried and true” recipes.  It’s actually a good thing that I know how to bake, because my grandmother didn’t always put instructions with her recipes. Some just a list of ingredients with a little note, “cook in cool oven”  or ”Best!” She would do this when she had several versions of a recipe, lest I’d be confused about which one she actually used. It never occurred to her to take out the other recipes. I think that’s what makes me enjoy it all the more. I have one of her hand-sewn aprons too, that I love to dawn, while baking, every once in a while. 

One recipe not actually in her book, that I know she made often and probably thought too obvious to write down were her Butter Tarts!  I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how much you like this tart!

In Canada, that’s where my family is originally from, Butter Tarts are as common as Apple pie is here in the US and there are as many ideas on how to make them as there are bakers! 
A Butter Tart at its simplest is a small tart usually made a dozen at a time in a muffin tin, with a butter pastry and a wonderful butter, sugar, egg, caramely filling.  That seems to be all most agree on. 

Depending on where you go, what province or town, you’d get the addition of raisins, or pecans, or walnuts, or just one or none.  Some people use a mixer, others swear they are not a true butter tart if not mixed by hand. 

I’ve actually done a lot of research on the subject of these sweet little treasures.  Though we know they’ve been around for centuries, the first person to actually write down and record a recipe wasn’t until 1900. 

“The earliest published Canadian recipe is from Barrie, Ontario, dating back to 1900 and can be found in The Women's Auxiliary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Cookbook, to which a Mrs. Mary Ethel MacLeod submitted the recipe for a butter tart filling, simply labeled as just "filling".” 

If you search the internet for a Butter Tart recipe I have no doubt you will find thousands and they will all be similar, but, like I said, they differ all over.  The recipe I’m sharing with you today is just an old family one that I find to be the best of what I’ve tried. As I said, tailor this recipe to your liking. Walnuts, Pecans, Raisins or plain, this is a very versatile recipe. No matter what you put in or keep out, I believe you will just love them

Preheat oven to 400F. 

I have a little trick that I do just to make sure my tarts are going to pop out of their tin, even if the caramel mixture goes over a teeny little bit.  Very lightly brush your tin, tops, in-betweens, etc. with a tiny amount of melted butter.  You know, where you brush it on and almost literally wipe it off? That much.

Basic Butter Tart Recipe:

½ cup Butter, room temp 

½ cup packed brown sugar 

½ cup white granulated sugar 

1-½ tsp vanilla 

2 large eggs 

Make a basic butter crust. If you don't have a good pastry recipe THIS one works quite nicely. Roll out your pastry, half at a time, to be sure you don't overwork it again. Similar in thickness to a pie shell, maybe a scant thinner. (If you don't have a 4 inch round cutter, you can cut out a little disc and use it as a templet) Place into muffin tin and set in the fridge. Be sure to keep your tart shells refrigerated until you’re ready to add the filling and pop in the oven. 

For the Filling: Combine butter and sugars in a bowl with a whisk. You really don’t need to plug in the electric one for this recipe but if you’re more comfortable with it you won’t hurt it either. 

Add your vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, whisking before and after adding the second. 

Fill your tart shells no more than ⅔ of the way or you will have a caramely mess.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Okay, so the question I always get… What do I put in my filling?  

See the picture below for that answer! 

Everyone has a favorite! I prefer plain or just a little chopped walnuts. As you can see, even in our own family, everyone has their own personal preference. Play with the filling! See what your favorite is!  I would absolutely love it if you would let me know what your favorite is!