With over 30 years of experience as a Pastry Chef and avid home cook, Andrea Mut -the head behind My Pocket Kitchen– shared with us this delicious recipe for Maple Butter Tarts. This recipe has a perfect balance of gooey, buttery filling encased in a flaky pastry shell that defines this iconic Canadian treat. Add raisins or nuts to suit your preference.
Maple Butter Tarts
Ingredients:
For the pastry:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- ¾ cup butter, cold
- ⅛ teaspoon salt, kosher
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
For the filling:
- ½ cup butter, salted
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup cream
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
For the pastry:
1. Place flour, sugar, cubed butter, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients reach a crumbly texture.
2. With the machine off, add eggs and water. Continue to pulse until everything comes together into a ball.
3. Turn pastry out onto a lightly floured surface. Shape into a flat disk with your hands. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 400° F. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick spray and set aside.
For the filling:
1. In a medium sized pot over medium heat melt butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, salt and nutmeg. Stir occasionally until sugar is dissolved completely.
2. Whisk together cream, eggs and vanilla. Remove sugar mixture from heat and let cool while you roll out the pastry. Once cooled (it can still be warm) slowly whisk sugar mixture into egg mixture.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry out to ⅛ inch thickness. Cut 12 four-inch circles. Reserve extra dough for patching.
4. Gently push into greased muffin tins, making a pleet in one or 2 spots, and pushing into the bottom corners to make sure the pastry is fully formed into the cups. If you have any small cracks or tares, patch with a small piece of leftover dough. Freeze for 15 minutes.
5. If using nuts or raisins, add a few pieces to the bottom of the tart shells before adding filling. Divide filling between the 12 pastry shells.
6. Place in a 400° F oven and immediately turn the heat down to 350° F. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. The filling should be set and pastry golden.
7. Let cool before removing tarts from the pan. Carefully lift the tarts out of the pan using a small palette knife or a knife with a blunt tip.
