Butter Tarts - Quintessentially Canadian - Recipe

The best butter tarts - definitely worth trying

Butter tarts are not only quintessentially Canadian, they're an Ontario tradition.  I had never heard of them before I moved to Ontario when I was 16.  It was love at first bite.  Basically they're sugar and butter baked in individual tart shells.  What's not to love!

I think the closest non-Canadian thing I can compare them to is a treacle tart or a pecan tart.

For everyone who moves to France there is that one food from home that they really miss.  The one thing they've not been to find.  For me it's butter tarts.  (and Kraft Dinner)  I tried making them but they weren't exactly what I remembered and I decided that this was a good time to find a recipe and perfect them.

I still haven't mastered pastry so I bought frozen tart shells.  The filling was perfection.  I actually made them twice to make sure.  If you know how to make pastry it's probably better to make your own.

Butter Tarts

Ingredients

Half a cup of melted butter
One cup of brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp. cream or milk

Pecans or walnuts or raisins

Preparation

Mix together the first 5 ingredients.

Add either raisins or pecans (4 or 5 per tart). Add a few tablespoons of the filling to top the raisins/pecans. Tarts should be two thirds full when they go into the oven.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Check for browned pastry. Depending on your oven - bake for 2-5 min. longer if necessary. When ready, the crust should be slightly browned and the filling should be hot and bubbling. Cool and remove from muffin pans.

makes 12 - in purchased tart shells

This is a very forgiving recipe.  The second time that I made them I realized after I had melted the butter that I only had 1/2 cup of brown sugar so I added 1/4 cup of white sugar and 1/4 cup of maple syrup.  Still delicious.

You don't have to add raisins or nuts.

For those of you who bake in something other than North American here are links to cooking and baking conversions charts:
Oven Temperature Conversion Chart
US to Metric Weight Conversion Chart