Butter Tarts (Newfoundland)

canadian-newfoundland-buttertarts The Best Classic Canadian Butter Tarts. There’s a reason why we have a national obsession with these sweet, buttery, caramel-y tarts. particularly at the Holidays.

Pastry:
2¼ cups pastry flour or all-purpose, unbleached
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
½ tsp. sea salt
½ cup shortening, very cold and cut in cubes
½ cup butter, very cold and cut in cubes
6 Tbsp. water, ice cold, approximately, enough to bring the dough together

Filling:
½ cup brown sugar, lightly packed
½ cup corn syrup
¼ cup butter, melted
1 egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp. sea salt
½ cup raisins, substituting, pecans, walnuts or chocolate chips also make good variations

Prepare the Pastry:
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 a 4” 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.

Make the Filling:
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°F (220°C/200°C fan, Gas Mark 7) for 12-15 minutes.

Cool completely on a wire rack and remove tarts from pans.

Makes 12.

Cook’s Notes:

There is considerable debate about whether the filling in a butter tart should be runny or firm. Preferences vary, especially geographically but if you want a firmer, less runny filling simply add an additional egg, increase the brown sugar to ¾ cup and decrease the corn syrup to ¼ cup.
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie and nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.