Cranberry Maple Butter Tarts

Do you have a food that transports you to your childhood with one glorious bite? I know I do, Butter Tarts. My mom makes the best Butter Tarts. They are sweet, flaky, and delightfully chewy. Every time she makes them, she needs to double the batch to cope with my consistent sneaking of these treats when her back was turned.

In an effort to visit the tastes of my childhood home this year, I am experimenting with recipes I grew up on. Diving into the butter tart world has me playing with flavours and textures. It has been a tasting task I have taken seriously and my stretchy pants can back me up on that.

However, the Butter Tart creation is not without controversy. The issue at hand has been whether or not to keep the raisins in them. I am on team raisin for this dessert.

Furthermore, as a lover of raisins, having them in the Butter Tart is mandatory as far as my side of this debate is concerned. With that being said, you can replace raisins with other dried fruits should you wish to be adventurous. Try dried blueberries, or cherries. These subtle substitutions will change the entire flavour profile of your Butter Tart and that is what makes experimenting fun.

This recipe is a result of wanting to bring the tastes I love into my favourite little pastry. Combining dried cranberries (soaked in maple whiskey), shredded coconut, and pistachios into the fold makes for a rich, sweet, and hearty tart. Honestly I cannot get enough of maple or caramel therefor this buttery combination feeds my pallet.

I have tested this Butter Tart recipe on both my family members and my co-workers. The vote result is unanimous. Two thumbs up from everyone. And trust me, my co-workers are a bunch of foodies who are not afraid to tell me when my experiments fail. I am going to take this win with pride.

Try these yourself. Enjoy the reaction of your friends and family being delightfully surprised by a maple kick along with a coconut undertone.

Cranberry Maple Butter Tarts

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Serves: 12 Prep Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients

• Cranberry Marinade

• 2. 1/3 cup of maple whiskey 
  4. 1/4 cup of dried cranberries 

• Tart filling

• 2. 1/3 cup of European Butter (This has a higher fat content than standard butter. Be sure to get the unsalted version.)
  4. 3/4 cup light brown sugar
  6. 1/3 cup pure maple syrup 
  8. 2 eggs
  10. 1 tsp vanilla 
  12. 2 tbsp of pistachios 
  14. 2 tbsp of shredded unsweetened coconut 
  16. Pinch of salt 

• Pastry

• 2. 2 pre-made pie crusts 

•  

Instructions

Marinade

1. In a small bowl, soak the cranberries in the whiskey for about an hour. They should plump up a bit and soften. 
2. Discard any remaining whisky by draining it into a glass over ice and sip while you make the butter tarts. 

While the cranberries are marinading, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 

Roll out the pastry dough and use a round 4″ cookie cutter to cut 12 circles. You may need to re-roll any remaining dough to make all 12 tarts. 

Line a 12 cup muffin tin with the pasty pressing gently into the bottom of the pan. Set aside. 

Filling

1. Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, add the maple syrup, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt. Using a whisk, mix the ingredients until combined. 
3. Add the melted butter to the brown sugar and egg mixture. Set aside.
4. Add equal cranberries to each empty tart shell. 
5. Divide the pistachios and coconut evenly into each tart shell. 
6. Using a large spoon, fill each tart shell half way with the butter and sugar mixture. Be sure to not over fill as these tarts do expand while they cook. 

Place the pan in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes checking after 20 minutes to ensure they don’t over cook. Pastry should be golden brown and the tarts should be puffed up in the centre. 

Remove from oven and let them cool in the pan. 

Store in an airtight container on the counter for 3 days, fridge for a week, or freeze for up to a month. 

Enjoy!