The Best Canadian Butter Tarts

A close-up of stacked butter tarts, with golden flaky crusts and gooey, caramel-like filling visible, including raisins inside the filling. The tarts are on a light green plate.

5 from 1 votes

Butter tarts are a beloved classic, known for their flaky, melt-in-your-mouth pastry and rich, gooey filling. This recipe uses hand made dough and my famous filling to make the perfect butter tart.

Prep Time45

Cook Time22

Refrigerator Time1

Total Time2 7

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Canadian

Servings: tarts

Calories: 316kcal

Author: Karlynn Johnston

Ingredients

Butter Tart Pastry Crust

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup butter cold and cubed into smaller pieces
½ cup lard Tenderflake, cold and cubed into smaller pieces
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 large egg yolk lightly beaten
ice water

Butter Tart Filling

1 cup brown sugar lumps broken up, packed
⅓ cup salted butter melted
1 large egg beaten well
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup Thompson raisins or currants

Instructions

How to Make the Tart Crust by Hand

Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl.
Cut in the butter and the Tenderflake with pastry blender or 2 knives until the lard is pea sized within the flour.
In a 1-cup liquid measuring cup, combine the vinegar and the egg yolk. Add the ice water to make ½ cup of water.
Gradually stir the liquid into the flour mixture, adding only enough liquid to form a cohesive dough. You may not need to use all of the liquid. If you need to add more, flick the ice water onto the dough using your fingers, a little at a time, until the dough comes together.
Gently gather the dough into a ball and flatten it into a disk. Then, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour if you plan to use it right away, or freeze it for future use.

How to Make the Tart Crust With a Food Processor

Add the flour and salt to a medium to large-capacity food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse for 3-4 seconds to combine.
Add in the cold butter and lard cubes. Process for a few seconds at a time until you have pea-size clumps of the butter and lard in the flour mixture.
In a 1-cup liquid measuring cup, combine the vinegar and the egg yolk. Add the ice water to make ½ cup of water.
Add some of the cold water mixture slowly into the flour mixture, then process for a few seconds. Add just enough more liquid and process until the flour mixture is just clumpy and starts to cling together in clumps. You may not end up using all of the liquid.
Gently gather the dough into a ball and flatten it into a disk. Then, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour if you plan to use it right away, or freeze it for future use.

Prepare the Tart Shells

When you are ready to use the dough and it has chilled, roll out each portion one at a time on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough to a thickness of ¼ inch. You will get exactly 12 tart shells.
Using a 4-inch biscuit cutter, cut the dough into circles, then place each circle into a muffin well. Gently push the dough into the muffin well, forming a tart. The top of the tart should be slightly above the muffin well, which helps to prevent the tart from spilling over.
Place the muffin tins into the refrigerator while you make the filling.

Prepare the Filling

In a large bowl or a 10-cup capacity liquid measuring cup, combine the brown sugar, melted butter, beaten eggs, cream, and vanilla until you have a smooth mixture.

Bake the Butter Tarts

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position.
Remove the chilled tart shells. Place half a tablespoon of raisins into the bottom of each tart. See my notes below for raisins.
Fill the tart ⅔ of the way to the top of the tart shell with the liquid filling mixture.
Repeat this process with all the remaining tarts.
Bake in the oven for 20-22 minutes, until the edges of the tart shells are golden brown and the filling has started to firm up and set.
Remove the tarts from the oven and cool them on a wire rack for a few minutes. Then, run a butter knife around the edge of each tart to loosen it. Let the tarts cool completely in the pan, then remove them from the muffin wells.
If the tarts are sticking in the tin, run a knife around the edges again and refrigerate to cool it more, then remove.
Once cooled, store them in an airtight container, separating layers with parchment paper for up to three days at room temperature. You can also freeze them after storing them in the same manner.

Notes

Raisins: I tend to add an entire tablespoon of raisins to my tarts, as my whole family is a raisin-loving bunch, and then I have a little bit of leftover filling. The choice is up to you as to how many raisins you put in.

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