Here's the best classic recipe for traditional Canadian butter tarts made with raisins, optional nuts, and sweetened with maple syrup. With a flaky pastry crust, a soft and gooey center, and a slightly chewy top, Nana's Butter Tarts will become your favourite butter tart recipe, too!
Is there anything more Canadian than butter tarts?
They rate right up there with Nanaimo bars, bacon, poutine, and maple syrup. Everyone has a favourite way to make their traditional holiday goodies, and this recipe is mine. However, this recipe for traditional butter tarts can be adapted to your family's tastes.
Holiday time means butter tarts in our home! My family always looked forward to receiving a cookie tin filled with butter tarts from my mother-in-law. We all agree that hers are the best in the world.
However, we don't limit this indulgence to winter holidays! Butter tarts are a favourite treat for Easter and for Canada Day, too!
Several years ago, I finally got up the nerve to ask her for the recipe, which she, of course, willingly passed on to me. I still have the sheet of looseleaf paper on which she recorded this recipe in her beautiful handwriting. It's folded and filed in my recipe cupboard and I take it out each year to make my own.
When Nana turned 89, she gave up baking butter tarts. I decided it was my turn to honor this annual tradition, and armed with her recipe, I was happy to take over this responsibility.
Nana passed away, still active and young-at-heart at the age of 95. In memory of my sweet, generous, thoughtful mother-in-law, I'm sharing her recipe for the very best Canadian butter tarts!
🛒 What are the traditional ingredients in butter tarts?
Traditional butter tarts are basically a flaky pastry shell filled with brown sugar, raisins, butter, and eggs. However, you'll find there is always healthy discussion and argument about other add-ins, and even whether or not they should include raisins!
Nuts or no nuts? Corn syrup or maple syrup? Chocolate chips? Coconut? Sometimes you'll even find them made with cranberries! And there's often further discussion about the type of nuts: walnuts? or pecans?
Raisins, sultanas, or currants? Gooey or firm? The debate rages on!
What's most surprising is how little butter this recipe contains!
Read more here about the interesting history and origin of Canadian butter tarts in this article from Food Bloggers of Canada.
🔁 Possible variations
Adapt this recipe to make it your own!
Butter tarts sweetened with a little maple syrup as well as brown sugar are my family's favourite. Some recipes use corn syrup or cream, but Nana's recipe results in the best butter tarts without corn syrup.
Nuts are optional, but my family likes them. Walnuts are more typically the Canadian choice, while Americans may prefer pecans as they're more reminiscent of pecan pie.
🥄 Instructions
You'll find detailed instructions in the recipe card below.
- Start by making the pastry for the tarts. I usually use my recipe for Never Fail Pastry because . . . well, it never fails! However, if you're short on time, you can also make these butter tarts using frozen shells.
- This year, I also made a batch of tarts with gluten-free pastry with good results. Well now, let's be totally honest. Gluten-free pastry is not the easiest thing to handle and at times, it can be downright frustrating.
- However, I persisted and found that if I coaxed the little rounds into the tart pans and spoke nicely to them, they cooperated. You can use Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Pie Crust mix to make gluten-free butter tarts, or your favourite gluten-free pastry recipe.
- Rinse sultana raisins (look for organic) with hot water a couple of times. After draining the last time, squeeze them with your hands to remove excess water.
- Measure the brown sugar, maple syrup, and butter into a medium bowl. Add the raisins and stir.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and stir thoroughly to combine. Stir in the chopped pecans or walnuts, if using.
- Carefully spoon into 24 three-inch pastry-lined tart shells, filling ⅔ full.
- Bake at 350°F. degree oven for 22 – 24 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Remove and let cool on a wire rack.
❓Frequently asked questions
Yes! These old-fashioned butter tarts freeze well, and taste almost as good frozen and eaten directly out of the deep freeze on the way out the back door. 😉 Store them in a tightly covered container in the freezer and they will last for up to 3 months.
If you're unfamiliar with real Canadian butter tarts, you might wonder what all the hype is about! They look quite plain. There's nothing really fancy about them. However, after one bite, you'll be convinced that these are definitely worth baking and making them a tradition in your home!
A chewy topping opens up to a sweet gooey center, all encased in a flaky pastry shell!
I use a quality non-stick pan, and I've never had to grease it when using my pastry recipe above, which contains a lot of butter. You can bake these in a traditional tart pan, or bake them in a muffin tin if you want a larger tart. I experimented and baked them in muffin liners and they turned out well.
You might also like these gluten-free Canadian Butter Tart Squares: your favourite butter tart flavours baked as squares!
Did you make this butter tart recipe?
When you make these butter tarts, please leave a comment and a star rating below. I love hearing from you! Thanks in advance! Subscribe to my newsletter and have new recipes delivered straight to your inbox once a week.
More recipe for pies and tarts
- Puff Pastry Apple Cranberry Galette - Gluten-free
- Gluten-Free Sour Cherry Almond Tart
- Gluten-Free Mango Tart with Almond Flour Crust
- Puff Pastry Cherry Hand Pies with Frozen Cherries (Gluten-Free)
📖 Recipe
Nana's Butter Tarts
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 2 cups unbleached flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, chilled
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- ⅓ cup milk
For the filling
- 1 cup organic sultana raisins
- 1 cup brown sugar, OR ¾ cup brown sugar and ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon butter softened
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon organic vanilla
- ½ cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
Instructions
For the pasty: (* See note below for optional gluten-free pastry)
- Put flour and salt in food processor and pulse.
- Cube butter, then add to flour in processor bowl and pulse until it resembles coarse meal.
- Add vinegar to milk. Add all at once to flour mixture. Pulse until it just forms a ball.
- Remove and divide into two balls. Place on waxed paper or plastic wrap, flatten gently into a disc, top with another layer of wrap, fold over and refrigerate if not using right away.
- Roll out and cut to fit your tart tins. Press gently into tins, smoothing out any creases. Prick several times with the tines of a fork.
For the filling
- Rinse the raisins with hot water a couple of times. After draining the last time, squeeze them with your hands to remove excess water.
- Measure the brown sugar, maple syrup and butter into a medium bowl. Add the raisins and stir.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and stir thoroughly to combine. Stir in the chopped pecans or walnuts, if using.
- Carefully spoon into 24 three-inch pastry-lined tart shells, filling ⅔ full.
- Bake in 350°F. degree oven for 22 – 24 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Remove and let cool on a wire rack.
Kathy
Finally a real Canadian butter tart recipe that doesn’t have corn syrup.
Dina
Is it possible to line tart/muffin trays with parchment cupcake liners...half of mine stuck to the muffin tins and I had to make a mess to take about half of them out...even though I greased them very well! I notice your pastry
has lines in it like it was baked in muffin /cupcake liners.
Flavour & Savour
Hi Dina, Oh, how disappointing for you! I use a non-stick tart pan. The tins have fluted edges that cause the lines. I haven't tried lining tart pans with parchment paper liners, but I do think that would work. I know that some cooks line their pie plates with parchment paper when blind baking a pie crust. Thanks so much for letting me know. I'm going to make a note about this in the post.
Lara
I made mini (1-bite) butter tarts, skipped the raisins & nuts. The pastry yielded 5-doz mini tarts, but I needed to make a second batch of filling; of which there was leftovers that was put in commercial pastry shells. Delicious! Popped into freezer until next week for American Thanksgiving festivities. Bringing a little "Canadian" to in-laws' table. 🙂
Flavour & Savour
I LOVE this idea, Lara! Mini tarts are a great option, as often we just want a "taste!" I'm going to take your idea and do the same for my holiday baking tray. Thanks for sharing your idea. Happy Thanksgiving!
Michelle
Only 1 tbsp if butter ?
Flavour & Savour
As unbelievable as it sounds for butter tarts, yes! Hope you love this recipe!