Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian Friends! And on this occasion of Canadian Thanksgiving, I decided to make something decidedly Canadian: Butter Tarts! Turns out, they are crazy easy to make. I happen to have little tart pans, but you can also make them in a muffin pan. Light, flaky, crazy buttery (go figure, eh?) and delicious. I can see where these could become part of the regular snack rotation around here!
Ingredients
For the tart shells
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter chilled and cut into pieces
1/4-1/2 cup ice cold water
for the filling
Butter Tart Filling
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup brown sugar packed
1/2 cup corn syrup golden
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
optional: raisins, walnuts or pecans
Directions
For the pastry: Sift flour, salt and sugar together. Using pastry blender (or forks), cut butter into flour mix until resembles coarse meal (you can also do this in a food processor, pulsing in the butter). Add cold water a bit at a time until dough just starts to hold together. (too much water will make for a tough dough). Press dough together and shape into disk; Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Roll out tart dough and cut 16 4-inch circles. Press dough in muffin cups. Refrigerate until filling is prepared. Preheat oven to 400F.
For the filling, in large bowl, mix together butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Stir until butter is creamed and sugar is dissolved. Add eggs, vanilla and pinch of salt. Mix well. Fill tart shells with filling. Add a few raisins or nuts, if using. Bake 400F for 15-20 minutes. Filling should be lightly browned and still bubbling. Let tarts cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer to rack to cool completely.
