Pecan Butter Tarts

I had butter tarts at a friend's house over the holidays and I have been wanting to make them ever since! I made these last Wednesday and I could not believe how easy they were! I found the recipe in an old Canadian Living magazine - you can find the recipe online HERE. I made a few changes, but I'll explain that more in the step by step with pictures below!

Start by making the pastry shell by mixing 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a medium mixing bowl.

Add in 1/4 cup of butter, cubed and 1/4 cup of shortening, cubed (you can see in the picture that I did not cube my shortening - I really don't like touching shortening and I figured I would get cut up in the next step...). Use two knives to cut the butter and shortening into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add an egg yolk and 1 teaspoon of vinegar to a glass measuring dish. Whisk the egg yolk and vinegar together, then add ice water until there is 1/3 cup of the mixture.

Gradually add the wet ingredients from the glass measuring dish to the medium mixing bowl, stirring the dough until it begins to hold together. You might need to use your hands once all of the liquid is added.

Press the pastry dough into a flat disk and cover it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour - I usually avoid refrigerating but I definitely recommend it in this case!!

Prep a muffin tin - I did this by spraying cooking spray and sprinkling a little flour. I chose to use a small muffin tin, because I wanted smaller sized tarts. You could choose to use a larger muffin tin, I will specify the different steps you will need to take when cutting the dough later :) This recipe made 33 small tarts, I assume it would make somewhere around half the amount of larger tarts (~16/17).

When the dough has been refrigerated for 1 hour, roll it out on a lightly floured surface. It should be rolled out to about 1/8 of a inch thick.

Use a round cookie cutter that is 3 inches in diameter to cut the pastry shells out. [If you are making these in a large muffin tin, use a cookie cutter that is 4 inches in diameter]

Press the pastry shells into the muffin tin. Then set the tin aside and start making the filling.

Whisk together 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of maple syrup (the original recipe calls for corn syrup but I replaced it with maple syrup) in a small mixing bowl.

Whisk in 1 egg, 2 tablespoons of softened butter, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1teaspoon of vinegar and a pinch of salt.

Distribute 3/4 cup of coarsely chopped pecans as evenly as possible to each tart. {a couple of notes: My small muffin tin holds 24 tarts, so I had to make 9 more in a separate, second batch. If this is the case for you, be sure to save some pecans for the second batch. You could also leave this step out entirely or you could add currents, raisins or coconut instead of pecans}

Fill the tarts with the filling - I used a tablespoon to do this. Fill the tarts to be about 3/4 of the way full.

Bake the tarts for 10-12 minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. I recommend watching the tarts around the 9 minute mark because once the filling is puffed and bubbly and the pastry is golden, you'll want to take them out of the oven. Let the tarts cool for a minute in the tin before removing them and setting them on a wire rack to cool completely. These are best when they are completely congealed, you could put them in the fridge to speed up this process.

PECAN BUTTER TARTS
yield: 33 small tarts
ingredients:
for the pastry...
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/4 cup shortening, cubed
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vinegar
ice water

for the filling...
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup (original recipe calls for 1/2 cup corn syrup)
1 egg
2 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon vinegar
pinch of salt
3/4 cup pecan, coarsely chopped

directions:
1. Start by making the pastry shell by mixing the flour and the salt in a medium mixing bowl. Add in the butter and the shortening. Use two knives to cut the butter and shortening into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
2. In a glass measuring dish, whisk the egg yolk and vinegar together. Add ice to the egg and vinegar until it reaches 1/3 cup. Gradually add the wet ingredients from the glass measuring dish to the medium mixing bowl, stirring the dough until it begins to hold together.
3. Press the pastry dough into a flat disk and cover it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.
4. Prep a small or large muffin tin with cooking spray and a little bit of flour.
5. Once the dough has been refrigerated for 1 hour, roll it out on a lightly floured surface. It should be rolled out to about 1/8 of a inch thick. Use a round cookie cutter that is 3 inches in diameter to cut the pastry shells out. [If you are making these in a large muffin tin, use a cookie cutter that is 4 inches in diameter]. Press the pastry shells into the muffin tin. Then set the tin aside and start making the filling.
6. Whisk brown sugar and maple syrup together in a small mixing bowl. Whisk in egg, softened butter, vanilla extract, vinegar and a pinch of salt.
7. Distribute the coarsely chopped pecans as evenly as possible to each tart. {a couple of notes: My small muffin tin holds 24 tarts, so I had to make 9 more in a separate, second batch. If this is the case for you, be sure to save some pecans for the second batch. You could also leave this step out entirely or you could add currents, raisins or coconut instead of pecans}
8. Use a tablespoon to spoon the filling into the tarts until they are about 3/4 of the way full.
9. Bake the tarts for 10-12 minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit - keep an eye on them near the end, you want the filling to be puffed and bubbly and the pastry to be golden brown.
10. Let the tarts sit in the muffin tin for 1 minute before removing them and transferring then to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!