Not too many people realize that butter tarts are a Canadian-only classic, eh? Falling into the same category as ketchup chips and Caesars, they’re a secret we’re happy to keep from the rest of the world if that means there’s more for us. If somehow you’re unfamiliar with them, they are a flaky little tart with a sticky-sweet, buttery filling that sometimes has raisins and sometimes doesn’t. At the bakery, we prefer to use raisins to give it a little extra bite, but you can also substitute walnuts for raisins if you don’t have to worry about a nut allergy.
Ingredients
- 1 batch sweet pastry
- ¾ cup to 1 cup Thompson raisins
- 0.33 cup + 1 tablespoon canned coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch
- ¼ cup Earth Balance Buttery Sticks (A stick)
- 0.33 cup + 1 tablespoon Sucanat
- ½ cup organic sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
How to Make It
- Prepare the pastry and let chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with canola oil.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Combine the two discs and, on a well-floured surface, roll out to about ¼ inch thick. Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut as many circles as you can. Reroll the dough scraps and cut more circles, until you have 12 circles of dough. Ease a pastry circle into each prepared muffin cup. Drop about 1 tablespoon raisins into each cup and set aside. If the kitchen is hot or humid, place the muffin pan in the refrigerator until the filling is ready.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the coconut milk and arrowroot starch to create a slurry.
- In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter and add the Sucanat and sugar, whisking constantly. When completely melted, add the slurry and bring to a gentle boil, continuing to whisk until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
- Transfer the hot mixture to a heatproof measuring cup. Carefully pour the liquid into the muffin cups to about three-quarters full; don’t overfill.
- Bake for 20 minutes on the middle oven rack. Remove from the oven and let sit for 1 hour. Using a butter knife, lift the tarts from the muffin pan and transfer to a resealable container to store in the refrigerator, or to a plate to serve.
