Christmas

Grandma Dot's Butter Tarts

by:
February 16, 2012
4.8
4 Ratings
  • Makes one dozen tarts
Author Notes

These butter tarts featured prominently in my childhood. On visits to my grandparents house, my sister and I would request my grandma's butter tarts and my grandpa was alway pretty pleased that he got to share in the results. I didn't make them myself until I was away for school in England and I wanted to make something that reminded me of home in Canada. My grandma emailed me the recipe and I was able to recreate these gooey, sweet tarts that always fill me with nostalgia for childhood. —twistybiscuits

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Pastry
  • 2 cups pastry flour
  • 2/3 cup cold shortening
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup ice-cold water
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  • Filling
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons white vinegar
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 6 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1/3 cup raisins (optional)
  • 1/3 cup currants (optional)
  • 1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
Directions
  1. Pastry
  2. Sift flour and salt together in a large bowl. Work shortening into flour with hands or pastry cutter until about the size of peas. Add vinegar. Add ice-cold water by tablespoons until pastry comes together and you can form a ball.
  3. Divide pastry into two balls, flatten, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
  4. Remove one of the pastry discs from the fridge (the other can be used for a pie crust, or you can double the filling recipe to make more tarts). Roll out the dough on a floured surface with floured rolling pin. Cut out circles with floured cutter or pint-glass and press into ungreased tart/muffin tins.
  1. Filling
  2. Preheat oven to 450F. Beat eggs only until yolks and whites are well blended. Beat in sugar and salt. Add vinegar and syrup. Mix well. Add melted butter. Mix to incorporate.
  3. Add the fruit and nuts (you can skip this step entirely for plain butter tarts, or divide the filling and make different types of tarts by adding the raisins and currants to one half and the nuts to the other half).
  4. Fill pastry-lined tins 1/3 to 1/2 full (do not overfill). Bake in a hot oven (450F) for the first 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350F and bake for 20-25 minutes or until filling is firm.
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