How to Make Bread Crust Date Butter Tartlets

Posted By Kimberly Turner on Nov 7, 2012 in Baby & Wedding Showers, Baking, Bread Recipe, Canadian Food Recipes, Christmas, Dates, Desserts, Ethnic Foods, Featured, Holidays & Events, Pie & Tart Recipes, Stone Fruits, Sweets, Vegetarian | 0 comments

One of my very favorite desserts or treats, since I was a little girl, is butter tarts.

Now, I don’t prefer them with nuts at all, and love them with raisins, but want to give you a great option, especially wonderful for Holiday Cooking.

Something you may not know, or may take for granted, is that butter tarts are thought of as a typically Canadian dessert.

You never know who is going to show up unexpectedly at your door during the Holidays, and not only must you entertain them, you often have to “feed and water” them as well.

Make a batch of this butter tart filling, and you are able to get these tartlets out of the oven in approximately 20 minutes, looking like a darn champion!

Instead of using a flaky, pastry crust for the tartlet shells, which can be daunting to many to make from scratch & takes extra time we usually don’t have…So, we are going to do something even more simple & easy. We are going to use plain, old, white bread…something you likely always have in your home. Perfect for those unexpected drop-ins over the Holidays.

This recipe will be presented at The Women in Finance Event at Casablanca Winery Inn in Grimsby, Ontario, Canada on November 8th, 2012. Want to register? Click here!

Type: Dessert
Prep Time: 17 min
Cook Time: 5-8 mins for crust, 5-7 mins for filling, 5 mins final bake
Yield: 2 dozen small tartlets

Ingredients:

18 slices white bread – You are able to get 2 tartlet shells out of each slice, likely.
2 eggs – beaten
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp butter
1/2 cup dates – chopped
1 pinch salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
With a rolling pin, flatten each slice of bread and set aside.
Using a 2.5″ round cookie cutter, cut out the rounds, trying to get at least 2 circles out of each slice of bread.
Push bread circles into each tartlet reservoir in the tray and push against the sides.
Bake in oven for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
For the filling, combine beaten eggs, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract & salt, and cook over medium heat in a medium saucepot, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a full boil.
Remove from heat, and stir in dates.
Fill the tartlet shells 2/3 full of the mixture.
Bake in oven until the filling is set, approximately 5-7 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool. Store in a dry environment.