True Canadiana - Tasty Butter Tarts

Now that I am stuck at home daily, trying to find things to keep me busy, I've decided to make a list of items I'd like to try baking while on maternity leave. If you've been reading this lil' ol' blog for a while then you'll know B is more of the chef around here, while I usually stick to baking (mind you - that is also slowly changing now that I'm home all day). 


Regardless, I took some time the other day to explore Joy of Baking and make a record of some yummy sounding recipes, and then got to work on my very first one.


Now, there are many reasons to love being Canadian, but with my sweet tooth, one thing that I seriously love are some tasty Butter Tarts! Who's with me? When I saw this recipe on Joy of Baking I knew that this was the first recipe I needed to test out. So last week, I pulled out all of the ingredients and spent an afternoon baking away...

{Ingredients for home made crust}

What You'll Need...

For Pate Brisee (Short Crust Pastry):

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon granulated white sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1 inch pieces

1/8 to 1/4 cup ice water

For Butter Tart Filling:

1/3 cup unsalted butter softened

1 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 light cream (half and half)

1/2 cup raisins, walnuts or pecans (optional) - Even though I love raisins in my butter tarts, I omitted them this time so that B would eat some as well

Start with the Crust...

In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined

Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds) 

Pour 1/8 cup (30 ml) water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched.  If necessary, add more water. Do not process more than 30 seconds

Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball. Flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour before using. This will chill the butter and relax the gluten in the flour
After the dough has chilled sufficiently, place on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough and cut into 12 - 4 inch (10 cm) rounds (I used the top of a small cup for my mini butter tarts and the top of a large pint glass for my large butter tarts)
Gently place the rounds into a 12-cup muffin tin. Cover and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up the dough. 

Next, make the filling...

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla extract
Stir in the cream
If using nuts and/or raisins, place a spoonful in the bottom of each tart shell and then fill the unbaked tart shells with the filling 
Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 15 -20 minutesor until the pastry has nicely browned and the filling is set
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool
Serve at room temperature or chilled 

Of course, I had to sample one once they were cooled and before B came home (with a huge glass of milk... which I can't get enough of these days...)

SO YUMMY!

Are you a Butter Tart fan? Have you tried or will you try out this recipe? I must say... I will definitely be saving this one away for future use! Again - for this and more delicious recipes, check out Joy of Baking.