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These Canadian butter tarts are one of the most delicious mini desserts ever! They are made with a buttery brown sugar custard as the main component, but you can also add mix-ins like raisins, pecan pieces, chocolate chips, or whatever else your heart desires. If you like your desserts in this size, my mini pecan pies are the same muffin-tin idea with a pecan filling.
Quick Look: The Best Classic Canadian Butter Tarts Recipe
- 🥧 What it is: Mini flaky tart shells filled with a gooey brown sugar, butter, and maple filling.
- ⭐ Why it works: A hot, fast bake keeps the pastry crisp while the center stays gooey.
- 💛 Why you’ll love it: Handheld little pies that are easy to double or triple for a crowd.
- ⚠️ What to watch for: Fill only 3/4 full; overfilled tarts bubble over and stick to the tin.
- 🍳 Pan notes: Lay a parchment strip across each muffin cup so the tarts lift right out.
Table of Contents
- Quick Look: The Best Classic Canadian Butter Tarts Recipe
- This is the best Canadian butter tarts ever!
- Are these the same as the American pecan pie?
- Why do you need to make this recipe?
- Key Ingredients
- How to make this Canadian butter tarts recipe
- Expert Tips
- Frequently Asked Questions – FAQ
- More Pecan Recipe Favorites
- Canadian Butter Tarts Recipe
This is the best Canadian butter tarts ever!
Butter tarts are a beloved, quintessential Canadian dessert that appears every year around Thanksgiving. It is one of those pastries that was common in pioneer Canadian cooking. You make them by filling tart shells with a sweet butter mixture and baking them until the top is set and has a little extra body, while the middle stays semi-solid.
Are these the same as the American pecan pie?
They might look similar, but they are actually pretty different. There is a great debate about these two delicious desserts. Both are delicate, indulgent, and rich treats, but they differ in the filling ingredients and overall flavor profiles.
Canadian butter tarts feature a gooey, custard-like filling made from butter, brown sugar, eggs, maple syrup, and corn syrup. They can use different mix-ins like nuts or even raisins layered at the bottom of a flaky crust. It yields little tarts with a gooey filling and a delicious taste. Traditional American pecan pies use a thick, pecan-packed filling and a light corn syrup, sugar, and egg mixture. That pecan pie filling yields a denser dessert that is absolutely out of this world.
Why do you need to make this recipe?
- These butter tarts will be a delicious addition to your Thanksgiving dessert lineup.
- They are easy to make and yield deliciously sweet, gooey, and custard-filled mini pies.
- These butter tarts are perfect for crowds; just double or triple the recipe. I like setting them out near my pecan pie twice baked sweet potatoes so the sweet stuff isn’t all stuck at the dessert end of the table.
- They are so kid-friendly! Who doesn’t love little pies that can fit in their little hands?
Key Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need to make this iconic dessert. Scroll down to the recipe card for full ingredient measurements.
- Melted butter – I used melted salted butter to balance the sweetness of these tarts, but feel free to use unsalted butter and add a little extra salt to the recipe.
- Brown sugar
- Maple syrup – I added a little maple syrup to enhance the flavor of these and elevate your tart game! It’s the same swap that makes my maple pecan pie taste so much deeper than the corn syrup version.
- Corn syrup
- Vanilla extract
- Vinegar – You can also use a little lemon juice to cut through the sweetness of these ingredients.
- Salt – A little salt helps balance out the sweetness of this dessert.
- Eggs – Make sure your eggs are at room temperature.
- Flour – We will use a little all-purpose flour to give the filling of these mini tarts a little more hold.
- Raisins or chopped pecans – You can make and enjoy these butter tarts as is, or add golden raisins or chopped nuts to the bottom of your pastry dough before pouring in the filling. This is the easiest way to elevate your mini tarts. Pecans are my favorite here, for the same reason they work so well in my pecan pie bars.
- Pie dough – You can use store-bought pie crusts, make your own pie crust or use those premade flaky pastry shells for this tart recipe.
How to make this Canadian butter tarts recipe
Here is how to make the best Canadian butter tarts the easy way! Scroll down to the recipe card for full, detailed instructions!
- Roll the two sheets of pie dough onto a clean work surface and cut out 12 4 inch circles using a round cookie cutter or a large glass.
- Spray the muffin pan with nonstick spray and add a thin strip of parchment paper right in the center to make pulling the mini pies easier once they are baked.
- Gently press the little pie crusts into the muffin cups and place in the fridge for later
- In a large bowl whisk the brown sugar, maple syrup, corn syrup, vinegar, vanilla extract, and flour.
- Add either raisins or pecans to the bottom of your pie crusts or leave as is and pour in the tart filling. Make sure to divide that into the 12 muffin tin cavities.
- Bake in the preheated oven until puffy and golden brown then allow them to cool down before pulling them out. and allowing your gooey tarts to cool some more on a wire rack
Expert Tips
- Let the melted butter cool for a few minutes. If it goes into the filling piping hot, it can start to cook the eggs and leave you with little scrambled bits. Warm is fine, hot is not.
- Whisk, don’t whip. Mix the filling just until it’s smooth. Beating in a lot of air makes the tops bubble up and foam over the crust in the oven, which is how you end up with tarts glued to the pan.
- Chill the shells before filling. That 15 minutes in the fridge firms up the butter in the pastry, so it holds its shape at 425°F instead of slumping down the sides of the muffin cups. If you’re making your own pie crust, this step matters even more.
- Stop at 3/4 full. I know it’s tempting to fill them to the top (we all want more gooey filling!!), but butter tart filling puffs as it bakes. Overfilled tarts bubble over, stick to the tin, and brown on the edges before the centers set.
- Plump your raisins first. If you’re going the raisin route, soak them in hot water for 10 minutes, then drain and pat them dry. They stay juicy instead of turning hard and chewy in the oven.
- Toast your pecans. A few minutes in a dry skillet brings out so much more nutty flavor, and it’s the same little trick I use in my pecan pie bars.
- Pull them while they still jiggle. The centers should wobble slightly when you nudge the pan. They keep setting as they cool, so if you wait until they look completely firm, you’ll lose that classic runny middle.
- Don’t skip the parchment strips. Sugar filling loves to weld itself to a muffin tin. Those little parchment handles let you lift each tart out in one piece, no prying required.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQ
Store these tarts in an airtight container for 4-5 days. You can enjoy this Canadian recipe both cold or warmed up in the microwave whenever you’re ready for it again!
This will depend on personal preference. I personally enjoy mine colder but you can heat the tarts back up in the microwave or in a 350F oven for 5-10 minutes. If you’re still mapping out the rest of the table, I rounded up all my best pecan desserts in one place.
This is an ongoing debate, but again, it depends on your preference. This recipe is somewhere in the middle, but if you want a firmer result, add an extra 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of flour to the butter tart batter.
Yes! Let the Canadian butter tarts cool completely, then freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet until firm. Move them to an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw them in the fridge overnight, and enjoy them cold or warm them in a 350°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes.
Canadian butter tarts usually bubble over for one of two reasons: the shells were filled past 3/4 full, or the filling was whipped instead of whisked. The filling puffs as it bakes, so it needs room to rise, and extra air makes it foam over the crust. Fill each shell 3/4 full, whisk just until smooth, and use the parchment strips so any tarts that do stick still lift out easily.
More Pecan Recipe Favorites
If you tried this Classic Canadian Butter Tarts Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments! I love hearing from you!
Canadian Butter Tarts
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 package of premade pie crust dough containing 2 sheets of pie dough
- 1/4 cup butter salted, melted
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1/4 cup corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup for added flavor
- 1/3 cup raisins or chopped pecans optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425F. Place a rack in the middle of the oven.
- Unroll the premade pie crust sheets and use a 4-inch round cookie cutter or a glass that's slightly larger than the muffin tin holes to cut out circles of dough. You should get 12 circles in total. Feel free to re-roll the scraps to be able to cut out more circles.1 package of premade pie crust dough
- Cut 12 thin strips of parchment and lay one across each greased muffin cup, letting the ends hang over the sides. These act as handles for lifting the tarts out later. Gently press each dough circle into the cups of a greased muffin tin that's lined with one strip of parchment paper, forming little tart shells. Make sure the dough comes up the sides of each cup. Put the tin in the fridge while you make the filling, for at least 15 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, flour, vanilla extract, corn syrup, white vinegar, maple syrup, and eggs until well combined.1/4 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon white vinegar, 1/4 cup corn syrup, 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- If you'd like to add raisins or chopped pecans for extra flavor, distribute them evenly among the tart shells. Carefully pour the butter tart filling into each tart shell, filling them about 3/4 full. Be careful not to overfill, as the filling will expand while baking.1/3 cup raisins or chopped pecans
- Place the muffin tin in the preheated oven and bake for about 13-15 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the filling is set. The tarts should have a slight jiggle in the center when you gently shake the pan.
- Remove the tarts from the oven and allow them to cool in the muffin tin for a few minutes. Then, use a knife to gently loosen the edges of the tarts if needed, and remove them from the tin using the little parchment paper pieces.
- Let the butter tarts cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
