The Best Classic Canadian Butter Tarts – there’s a reason why we have a national obsession with these sweet, buttery, caramel-y tarts. I’ve sampled them in many places across the country and this thick pastry version is my favorite. Don’t do the raisin debate, just leave them out if they are not your thing. Everyone should be able to enjoy them as they like them.
The Best Canadian Butter Tarts
Butter tarts are one of my all time favorite sweet treats and have been for many years. I don’t often make them because, to be absolutely frank, I would not rest until I had eaten all of them!
Canadians love their butter tarts and I have had some fine examples in other parts of the country. I think the nod goes to Quebec for the best I’ve had though. I can’t tell you the numbers of these I’ve eaten over the years, driving along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River and stopping into little bakeries along the way to sample the local versions of this perfect little pastry. Here is my favorite version.
There is a great deal of debate about whether the filling should be firm or slightly runny. Most butter tart aficionados I know across Canada comedown on the runny side of the debate but if you prefer the filling firmer, add an additional egg to the mix, and modify the corn syrup and brown sugar amounts as found in the NOTE added to this recipe. You may also want to bake them for just a few minutes longer.
For another Canadian tart treat check out my copycat version of Tim Horton’s classic Strawberry TimTart.
The Best Canadian Butter Tarts
UPDATE May22, 2016: There is a considerable debate and sometimes geographical differences in what the preferred consistency of the centre of a butter tart should be. In a recent poll 60% of people said they preferred a runny centre as opposed to a firmer set one.
The argument for a firmer set centre is that it’s less messy and easier to eat on the go. As with any recipe, I believe you should have them however you like them so I’ve updated the NOTE in this recipe to include instructions to tweak the recipe for a set but still soft and delicious centre. I wouldn’t turn down either one to be honest.
Please note that the photos of the set butter tarts below are made without raisins by request of my son…but lets not start another debate about that! Just get on with making them how you like.
NEW! Loaded Butter Tarts Recipe here. Classic butter tarts loaded with nuts, raisins, chocolate and coconut. Ultimately decadent!
The Best Canadian Butter Tarts, always popular at Christmas too!
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- 2 ¼ cups flour (pastry flour is best to use but all-purpose will do)
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup shortening (Very cold and cut in cubes)
- ½ cup butter (Very cold and cut in cubes)
- 6 tbsp ice water (approximately, enough to bring the dough together)
- ½ cup lightly packed brown sugar
- ½ cup corn syrup
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup raisins ( substituting, pecans, walnuts or chocolate chips also make good variations)
- Pulse the cold butter and shortening into the flour sugar and salt using a food processor until the shortening or butter is reduced to pea sized pieces.
- Sprinkle the water over the surface and toss with a fork until the water is just incorporated into the dough. Do not over work the dough; handle it only enough so that the dough stays together.
- Form the dough into two rounds about an inch thick.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for about a half hour.
- Roll out on lightly floured surface. Cut into rounds with 4 inch cutter. Fit into muffin cups. Chill in the fridge or freezer while you prepare the filling. Cold pastry heading into a hot oven will always be flakier.
- Combine all filling ingredients except raisins.
- Mix well.
- Sprinkle raisins in a single layer in the bottom of the pastry lined muffin cups.
- Fill ⅔ full with syrup mixture.
- Bake on bottom shelf of oven at 425 degrees F for 12 to 15 minutes.
- Cool completely on a wire rack and remove tarts from from pans.
These are almost like pecan pies without pecans!!!! I’m going to bookmark this recipe.
For anyone who doesn’t like raisins or pecans, sub chocolate chips, it’s a winner with the kids!
I can’t get over how flaky the pastry was!! These are waaaay better than the store-bought kind! I made 1/3 pecan tarts for me, 1/3 raisin for my husband, and 1/3 plain for my son – everyone was happy 🙂
Isn’t that the truth! The Butter tarts from the store have little to no raisins,and never have walnuts.Also there is nothing like fresh baked anything.
Mine always turn out runny…what am I doing wrong. They taste great, crust was easy and turned out perfectly. I know some are made to be runny and some are made to be thicker. Mine run down your chin though! Are these supposed to be that runny?
Your oven temps could be off, just bake a little longer. Once you find a time that you like mark your recipe notes
add another egg if they are too runny.
I like to soak my raisins in rum for 15-30 minutes before using, you can also sub out the vanilla with rum.
like your thinking!..my idea was adding a wee leftover Halloween bar..caramilk or peanut butter cup ..atop the hot baked butter tarts…more decadent again! melt perfectly!
Oh…my…God! Don’t plant thoughts like that in my head. LOL!
How thin/thick do you roll the dough? My grandmother in Windsor used to make little tarts but I believe hers had pecans in them. Being a not so proficient cook – can anyone advise how to substitute pecans for the raisins? Would that change the cooking time? Thanks!!! I am eager to try these because we lost Grandma’s recipe when she died – she had all her recipes in her head.
I roll it relatively thick because I love pastry. Pecans should not affect cooking time.
Love your recipes! Looking for some direction on how thick to roll the dough? Could you provide an approximate dimension?
I like a thick pastry for butter tarts.3/16 of an inch is good.
are these mini muffin tins or full sized muffin tins?
Full size. God, I love butter tarts!! They are a weakness of mine.
Do you mean golden corn syrup or white conr syrup or does it matter?
I use golden.
Yes my mom used golden brown sugar.She made the best butter tarts.She passed away a I never got her recipe;but this is so close to her tarts,except she put more raisins in hers.I miss my mom so much.everything she did was for her kids.
Hi Brian,
Your email touched me. I lost my Mum too and today I was hunting her butter tart recipe. She never wrote it down either! Lesson to the young ones! Get your Mum to write down her recipes or write them down yourself. You will thank me for this in coming years. My Mum always made her tarts with currants and they were really thick with them not gooey like these. All depends on what your Mum made,right? Anyway as I said at my Mum’s funeral she lived her life for those she loved and those she loved will remember. Sounds like both are mothers were the same kind of ladies.
All the best, and Merry Christmas to you and yours,
Kate
Victoria BC
Should I spray my muffin pan before to prevent sticking ?
I don’t generally find pastry sticks because of the fat already in it.
EXCELLENT!!!! It’s a keeper.
My grandmother was born in Saskatchewan and made these for her boys all the time! Her version did not have the corn syrup in it, but these take me back to my childhood! Before my Dad passed this was a ritual for gift giving for his birthday, Christmas, Veteran’s Day, etc! Totally awesome and simple recipe to make and share!
I’m from New Brunswick, and I often made butter tarts at Christmas.
I remember these from when we went to Amherstburg (sp?) Ontario (just across the river from Detroit Michigan) to visit my Gramma’s cousins. We always stopped at a bakery in Windsor to get these and when I grew up and the cousins were no longer with us I could not find these anywhere. For whatever reason I never thought to look for a recipe. I am so very excited to find this one and cannot get to the grocery fast enough to get all the ingredients (which are not many). They are so very good whether out of oven warm, room temp or even chilled from refrigerator. How absolutely wonderful I can make these now for my grandchildren. Thank you so much. I believe I found this on a Pinterest em I just got at my office today. Oh Happy Day Oh Happy Day!!!!!!
Maggie in Michigan
I hope you enjoyed them!
Hi there – I have made these butter tarts a few times now and they are to die for – just amazing – I love them runny. I have two questions: 1) Can I make the filling and keep it in the fridge until I am ready to fill and bake? 2) Can I freeze the butter tarts filled? Thanks!
Some of my older cheesecake recipes do need info updated. Yes, you can use the bain marie method for any cheesecake recipe.Some of my older cheesecake recipes do need info updated. Yes, you can use the bain marie method for any cheesecake recipe.
I prefer the less gooey ones, although if no choice I would not say no, ever. We used to get giant sized ones at a local restaurant almost plate size and extremely runny.
Butter tarts are the only thing I ever made where the crust came out good, even though same one I used for pie crust. So now, being also a bit lazy, I make butter tart bars instead. Usually with both raisins and walnuts. Brown sugar, no corn syrup.
They never keep longer than a day though. Too many butter tart lovers here. (Carleton Place, Ontario)
Hi I haven’t actually tried these yet, but I can tell by looking at the picture they’ll be great. I struggle with getting mine gooey enough so thanks for the tip! Just wondering if you’ve ever made them with maple syrup? Does it need to be corn syrup to maintain the gooey-ness?? Also I’ve seen some recipes with about a tablespoon of vinegar added, what is that purpose ( maybe just cuts the sweetness a bit…?). Looking forward to making these for our ladies golf trip!
Haven’t tried maple syrup. I expect that would be too runny on its own.
You sure can use maple syrup in place of corn syrup, but you need to boil and reduce the maple syrup first to the consistency of corn syrup. (Remembering that it thickens even more as it cools again).
Another way to get the maple flavour in the tart is to simmer the raisins in syrup before placing in the tarts.
That sounds great! I’ll be trying the raisins in the Maple Syrup for sure!
I made these with coconut oil instead of the shortening (only used 1/3 cup instead of 1/2 cup) and maple syrup instead of the corn syrup, as we can’t get golden corn syrup in Australia. They were wonderful! I’m not normally a fan of thick pastry but this was really nice and flaky, not a hard, crumbly type of pastry. Brought me straight back to our holidays in Canada.
Sounds terrific.
I have used maple syrup, and then still aren’t as gooey as I’d like; I’ll try baking them less. Also love your idea of coconut oil!
Sorry Amy I meant to also say I’ve seen golden syrup at IGA stores; but still prefer maple syrup!
What taste difference did the coconut oil make?
Do the pastry shells need to be pre-baked at all, or does everything go in all at once?
Nope, not pre baked.
The food theme of tonight’s election party (here in US) is “bring something from the country you plan to move to if your candidate loses”. Canada is my choice, so I’m bringing butter tarts. I tested this recipe a few days ago (not being much of a cook). The tarts looked exactly like the photo above — and earned raves from those who ate them! I used a boxed pie crust mix; turned out flaky and delicious. The combination of the flaky crust and the rich caramel-y filling was perfectly in proportion. This is a recipe I will use again and again. Fingers crossed that the ones in the oven today turn out as good as last Saturday’s!
Hi, I am in the US… all I can find is Light or Dark corn syrup… which would be best?? (I bought both as I didn’t want to have to run to the store again lol) Thanks!
Dark is best.
Thanks!! I just pulled them out of the oven… smells so good! I tried the light syrup as I didn’t see your message until now. (Fingers crossed that they still taste yummy!😊) I’m a big fan of your recipes… just got you Christmas cookbook from Amazon. So thank you for sharing all these treasures…. this is one very happy Newfie who’s been living in the US for the last 25 years and LOVE these tastes from home. ❤️
Hello. Just wondering if this recipe can be doubled. Thank you.
Shouldn’t be an issue
What would be the best steps to modify this recipe to use mini muffin pans instead of full-sized muffins? I’d like to make bite-sized tarts for the workplace that will reduce the risk of drips onto clothes, computers, etc.
I have no idea of the size of your pans. Not easy to answer . Getting the pastry ratio right is another thing to consider.
So going to try this butter tart recipe. I just have a guestion could I use just butter for my pastry? I don’t have any shortening. If I had to buy shortening, do you mean like Tenderflake? I love cooking and always make lots of butter tarts at Christmas, but pastry has never being my forte. Needless to say I always bought ready made shells. The recipe that I’ve used for years only called for white sugar! I think this one would not be as sweet? Which is exactly what I am looking for.
Thanks waiting to hear from you,
CINDY
You can use all butter. The part shortening does make it a little more flaky.
Can I use maple syrup or honey instead of corn syrup ?
They’d likely be runnier.
If I was to use maple syrup in stead of corn syrup, do you think if I just bake them longer, they wouldn’t be too runny? I am so looking forward to making buttertarts that are runny!
I don’t think a longer baking time will make a difference. With maple they will be quite a bit runnier though. I’ll have to experiment myself with that one day.
We have a store here that has the best butter tarts. The raspberry, Skor, Reese’s on if you have a favorite she. Makes them so far she has 19 Far she has 19 flavors
Where is here? the store with the best buttertarts?
This recipe looks amazing! Any idea how the baking time would change if i made mini ones? Thanks!
I’ve never made minis and it really depends on how mini is mini! 😉
Does anyone know if Butter Tarts freeze well?
I don’t think I ever have. They never last that long.
My mum used to freeze them when we were kids; we’d sneak them out of the freezer…They are awesome semi thawed! The texture is gooey and chewy! And now that I’m living in Australia it’s a nice cool treat!!
This is my first time ever making butter tarts. Pretty excited for them. Does the filling thicken up as its cooling?
Somewhat, but as you can read in the post there is some debate on whether the centre should be runny or not. It is a matter of preference.
Do you need to grease and flour the tins?
Not necessary for pastry and pies.
Great recipe!
I place 1 inch wide by 5 inch long strips of parchment paper in the muffin cup under the pastry. Then place in the freezer before filling and baking. Makes it super easy to remove the butter tarts.
great idea!
Think you could use this recipe to make a full pie instead of individual tarts?
No. It will not set. Try my pecan pie recipe using raisins instead.
Ever time I make the tarts they over flow how can I stop this?
Your pans may be smaller than mine. Don’t fill them more than 2/3 or so.
Can I use flour or cornstarch to thicken up the filling? And can I use a puff pastry method for my crust to keep it flaky with no shortening?
I’ve never done any substitutions in this recipe.
I made these today and I don’t know what I did wrong but I had to throw them out because the dough disintegrated in the oven. They became like a mushy sand when I scooped them out of the muffin tin. What did I do wrong? The dough seemed really wet before I even added any ice water too…. I followed measurements accurately. …. I wonder if my flour was bad….. Or perhaps I mixed the butter too long in the food processor? Oy.
I don’t understand how your dough could possibly be wet, even before you added water. That’s practically impossible if you are using cold butter as instructed. You didn’t use some horrible butter substitute did you?
I ended up remaking them the same day because it was driving me nuts as to why they turned out like that lol. I think what happened the first time was that I over pulsed them wayyy too much in the processor so that the cold butter was no longer in chunks. So the dough looked more like a cookie dough. Also, I think my flour had gone bad. It was an old unopened bag but it hadn’t expired yet. Anyways, the 2nd time I made it I used a pastry cutter and my hands to make the butter and flour (bought new flour) combo and then added the water to that and they turned out like a tart should lol. So I was too heavy handed with the processor originally, and I think my flour was bad.
Glad to hear they worked out for you after all. Butter tart disappointment is intolerable! 😉
I loved eating these! They tasted very good.
My mom was of French Canadian descent and made butter tarts that were a mouthful of sweetness. She used currants, no raisins or walnuts or pecans. I can’t say I really remember corn syrup in her recipe. We loved them runny too!!! 💕💕