This post may contain affiliate links. See my privacy policy for details.
Come along and cheat with me. Cheating is good for the soul. Let go of those crazy Christmas baking expectations and make something so delicious, so easy and so fast that you will weep with relief.
I make no secret of the fact that I totally cheat with my butter tarts. I don’t even pretend that I attempt to make my own shells. I buy pre-made, unsweetened no-name brand from Superstore. Which, by the way, are the only ones I have found without hydrogenated oil in them, so thank you Loblaws, for that little blessing. I honestly don’t know what I would do without those tart shells. I make- no word of a lie people– hundreds of butter tarts every Christmas season.
I bake around 4 dozen for my husbands work. This does not include the 5 dozen I have to send for their Potluck every year, that’s just his immediate co-workers who demand tarts every Christmas season.
I bake around 12 dozen for gifts. I bake for teachers, the wonderful lunch ladies at my kid’s school and my work.
I bake around 3 dozen for our own Christmas Day eating.
I think I’m around 300 tarts right there.
I have definitely considered trying to make my own shells, but never will it be for my huge tart making spree. It’s not even feasible. I will make my own for us personally, but for this massive baking need, you simply have to use pre-made shells.
The other thing is that I use margarine in most. People prefer the margarine taste. I cannot convince my family otherwise and my husbands work would freak right out if I changed anything on them.
Superstore No Name non-hydrogenated margarine is the ticket. It makes people flip out over the taste.
I have committed more baking cardinal sins with making my butter tarts (BUTTER tarts!) than in any other single recipe on my site.
But people love them. People have paid me to make them yearly for them – with margarine for that exact taste they want- and my husband knows when I use butter and turns up his nose at them.
I secretly make myself a batch every year with butter. I certainly have an affinity for the buttah.
So, feel free to sin along with me. These are fast and easy. Literally, it does not get faster than this and you end up with butter tarts to give away or to grace your Christmas dinner dessert table.
Ingredients Needed
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of raisins
1/3 cup or margarine or butter, melted
1 egg
2 tablespoons of cream
1 tsp vanilla
15-18 unsweetened and unbaked tart shells
Kick the tires and light the fires to 375 degrees
Melt your margarine, then add in the vanilla,egg, cream and brown sugar. The lovely part about these is they are SO easy and fast to make. Throw it all in, mix the ever-livin’ devil out of it, and you are good.
Now add in your raisins, and half a cup is the bare minimum I use. I find that sometimes there is too much liquid and not enough raisins by the time I reach the end, be brave and just add in what you need at that point.
Put your tart shells, still frozen, on the tray and fill a good 3/4 of the way. I say still frozen because I have found when they are defrosted the filling leaks through the pasty, not ruining them, but making them softer. A good frozen tart shell will hold the contents in, and cook at the same time.
Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15-18 minutes, until the rims of the tarts are beautifully browned.
So go ahead.
Cheat. A lot.
You’ll feel all the better for it.
Love,
The Cheatin’, Mistreatin’, Butter Tart Eatin’ Magpie
How To: Make Butter Tarts
- Prep Time
- 4 minutes
- Cook Time
- 15 minutes
- Total Time
- 19 minutes
- Course
- Dessert
- Cuisine
- Canadian
- Servings
- 16
- Calories
- 173
- Author
- Karlynn Johnston
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/3 cup margarine or butter melted
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 15-18 unsweetened and unbaked tart shells
Instructions
- Kick the tires and light the fires to 375 degrees.
- Melt your margarine, then add in the vanilla, egg, cream and brown sugar. The lovely part about these is they are SO easy and fast to make. Throw it all in, mix the ever-livin’ devil out of it, and you are good.
- Now add in your raisins, and half a cup is the bare minimum I use. I find that sometimes there is too much liquid and not enough raisins by the time I reach the end; be brave and just add in what you need at that point.
- Put your tart shells, still frozen, on the tray and fill a good 3/4 of the way. I say still frozen because I have found when they are defrosted the filling leaks through the pastry, not ruining them, but making them softer. A good frozen tart shell will hold the contents in, and cook at the same time.
- Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15-18 minutes, until the rims of the tarts are beautifully browned.
Nutrition Information
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Made this recipe?
Share a photo of what you made on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thekitchenmagpie or hashtag it #thekitchenmagpie.
Please rate this recipe in the comments below to help out your fellow cooks!
Learn to cook like the Kitchen Magpie
A Very Prairie Christmas Bakebook
Cookies, Candies, Cakes & More: Vintage Baking to Celebrate the Festive Season!
Flapper Pie and a Blue Prairie Sky
A Modern Baker’s Guide to Old-Fashioned Desserts
The Prairie Table
Suppers, Potlucks & Socials: Crowd-Pleasing Recipes to Bring People Together
Lyle Pederson says
Why can’t I print your recipes
Sawyer says
Hey Karlynn,
Do you have any video tutorial of this recipe?
Chantelle says
I used your recipe to make these tarts for my Christmas party. First time ever attempting butter tarts and they did not disappoint!!
Your recipe is quick, easy to make and I had more than one person tell me they were better than their mother/ grandmother’s butter tarts. My new go to, thanks 😉
Kathryn says
I was looking for a recipe without corn syrup and I hit the jackpot with this! My new go to! Thanks for the recipe!
Shirley says
I use frozen tart shells but the bottoms are soggy and not really cooked more often than not. Does this ever happen to yours? What could be the problem?
Dana says
I have the exact same problem. I did exactly this recipe but I cooked it at 400 degrees and I cooked it for 15 minutes and come to find out that the bottom of the Tarts weren’t cooked at all. The shell was still raw. Also the inside was all runny it didn’t cook. I used frozen tart shells also.
Diana says
Hi Karlynn. I have only made butter tarts for a few years using my moms recipe (which I have misplaced and she is traveling and can’t get it to me). I am pretty sure her recipe uses corn syrup, so I started doing some googling and noticed some recipes use a syrup while some don’t. I was wondering if you have ever made any with syrup and what the difference is between using it and not using it taste wise. Thanks so much!
Karlynn Johnston says
I feel that it makes them too sweet and sticky, this recipe is my favourite I have yet to find it’s match!
NickiDee007 says
Ok…so I made 19 of these. And also used less than 3/4 of the filling…what did I do wrong here? I’m very upset with the outcome hahah and I bake quite a bit. This is a first for me.
taito1956 says
Oh man! Wish I’d thought of the rum like Sue Lassesen-Fowler suggested. Anyhow! Haven’t tried them yet but they’re in the oven finishing off and browning beautifully. May have added a wee bit too much shriveled grape but, so’k. Oh ya almost forgot! I added some chopped walnuts too!
taito1956 says
Oh man! Wish I’d thought of the rum like Sue Lassesen-Fowler suggested. Anyhow! Haven’t tried them yet but they’re in the oven finishing off and browning beautifully. May have added a wee bit too much shriveled grape but, so’k.
Brookein_van says
Can you freeze after cooking?
Sue Lassesen-Fowler says
This recipe is the same a what my Baba used only she put Rum extract or liqour in them. It adds a great flavor.
Ang Fleming says
Cannot ever find tart shells here in Indiana to make these for my Canadian hubby. I end up having to make the dough myself and make them using a muffin tin
Jodie Moncrieff-Hennigar says
I am skipping buttertarts this year…mom and I both make them using the same recipe, there is no point in us both making them… As long as she doesnt think the same thing lol.
Karlynn Johnston says
Uh oh, you’d better make sure hahaha!
Jodie Moncrieff-Hennigar says
No she said last night she made them and they cooked over in the oven lol. I only make them to make sure my rum hasn’t spoiled\U0001f61c
Racheal Hamel says
This is the recipe that my mother always used and now I do \U0001f60a
Audrey Murray says
Making them right now – double batch with first tray in the oven as I type 🙂
Dianne Galway McCracken says
When the recipe calls for cream, what do you use 10% , 18 % ?
taito1956 says
I just used 10% coffee cream. They still look fine!
Audrey Murray says
Dianne Galway McCracken I had whipping cream so used that. They turned out nice!
Maureen Hudson says
Okay I need a verdict from Brian – the connoisseur of Butter Tarts
Dianne Galway McCracken says
Okay Brian, your sister and I are waiting …
Audrey Murray says
Brian says they are good (he mentioned your grandma’s so I think they are on par). Trent has inhaled three in quick succession so I take that as a positive. I did add more raisins than the recipe calls for to my double batch.
louise2 says
what kind of cream do you use in these ? whipping?
Eileen Bulger says
Try putting a few raisins in each shell before adding the filling. Always have enough.
taito1956 says
Good idea! I’m a gonna try that next time!
Lana Link Teers says
Even better if you add chopped pecans ❤️
Sharon Watchel says
Yes it is indeed the Five Roses one – mouthwatering!
Renee Ritchey says
I can confirm that this is indeed the 5 roses recipe as it is the same one I make every year from that very cook book.
Lisa says
Hi, the fam doesnt like raisins in their butter tarts. If I omit them, will they still turn out ok, or would the consistency be off? P.S. there are also a couple of nut allergies so I cant just sub in pecans (not for all of them at least!)
Thanks!!
taito1956 says
@Lisa Bacon maybe?
The Kitchen Magpie says
The tart shells are lifesavers!
Tracey L Bureyko says
…and butter all the way \U0001f609
Tracey L Bureyko says
Thank you for sharing this recipe! ❤️
Tracey Malinowski Demuynck says
I’m just going from memory at the moment but I’m pretty sure that is the same recipe (and same old cookbook) that my Mom’s recipe came from. When my Mom was alive we would tag team the process … she would make and roll pastry all day and I would make the filling, fill the pans and wash the pans between batches. We would do about 30 dozen that way. Now that Mom’s gone I am like you, I can’t keep up with the demand and have the home made pastry. So for the ones I give away, I use pre-made shells. Immediate family gets the “real” pastry. PS Butter all the way …! 😉
Brian Lenaghan says
I got it!!
The Kitchen Magpie says
The more fat content the richer the tart!
Gloria Taylor says
What kind of cream, I use 5% cream in my coffee, do I need something better?
Erika Boyer says
a really good butter tart recipe is a TREASURE!
Heather Pollock says
I think you need a proof reader… Lol
Butter tarts are my favorite … My mom used a recipe with maple syrup and pecans 🙂 Yumm