These keto butter tarts are the real deal! Tender grain-free pastry with a rich, gooey caramel custard center. The famous Canadian dessert made low carb and sugar free.
This one goes out to my fellow Canucks, because only they can truly understand how momentous this recipe for Keto Butter Tarts really is.
But even if you’re not Canadian, even if you don’t have a single drop of Canadian blood, I suggest you stick around. Chances are that many of you have never heard of butter tarts, but they are worth getting to know!
Along with my Keto Nanaimo Bars, these sweet custard tarts have a very special place in my heart. They remind me of my childhood. They remind me of my father. And to re-create them in a healthier way brings me great joy.
Why you must try this recipe
If ever there was a national food of Canada, butter tarts are it. There are other uniquely Canadian dishes but these treats are loved and appreciated nationwide. In my home province of Ontario, there are even butter tart festivals and bake-offs, with everyone and their mother claiming they have the best recipe.
At their best, butter tarts are made of tender, flaky pastry with an incredibly gooey, sweet custard filling that usually contains raisins or dried currants. The filling is similar to pecan pie but even more gooey. So gooey that it should ooze out all over your face as you take a bite.
Traditional butter tarts are the stuff of a low carb dieter’s nightmares. They are made with copious amounts of brown sugar and corn syrup, and a large one can come in at a whopping 84g of carbs. Yikes!
Never one to resist a challenge, I simply had to create a keto recipe. I used the pastry from the Mini Keto Quiche, which holds together well. The filling uses a slightly sweeter version of my Keto Caramel Sauce but with some allulose to make it extra gooey. I also deliberately under-baked them, taking them out of the oven when the very center still looked a little wet. It was perfect!
Reader Reviews
“I made your keto butter tarts yesterday!! They are absolutely amazing!! I learned to love them as a kid, vacationing in Muskoka!! Thank you so much for creating this wonderful keto version of these beloved butter tarts!! – Susan W.
“This is one of those recipes that I can’t make too often!! If I do then I’m in serious trouble!! Talk about addicting!!! This is one of my absolute favorite recipes hands down!!!” — Lois M.
“I was skeptical but O.M.G. THESE ARE AMAZING!! I didn’t have heavy whipping cream, so I used coconut milk in its place and they still turned out fantastic. Taste even better the next day, cold from the fridge. 😀 Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve been craving butter tarts and these are spot on!” — Jane A.
Ingredients you need
- Almond flour: Almond flour is the best option for the crusts. If you really need to be nut-free, you can try sunflower seed flour. Keep in mind that it will affect the appearance and flavor of the tarts.
- Sweeteners: For the best consistency, you need several different sweeteners. The crust takes a powdered erythritol sweetener such as Swerve. The keto caramel filling needs brown sugar replacement as well as some allulose or BochaSweet to have a gooey consistency.
- Xanthan gum: This ingredient helps gluten-free baked goods have a bit more structure. I don’t use it often, but it helps with things like this tart crust.
- Eggs: You will need eggs for both the crust and the filling.
- Butter: You can’t have butter tarts without butter! Use unsalted so that your tarts don’t turn out too salty.
- Heavy cream: This helps create a rich, silky caramel sauce for the filling.
- Caramel extract: I like to use caramel flavor in the filling to really boost it. But you can also use vanilla extract.
- Raisins or chopped nuts: Raisins are quite high in carbs, so I only use 2 tablespoons and chopped them up. But you can also use chopped walnuts or pecans.
Basic steps
1. Make the pastry: In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, xanthan gum, and salt. Stir in the egg and butter until a cohesive dough forms. Split the dough into two portions.
2. Cut out the crusts: Dust a work surface lightly with more almond flour and transfer one portion of dough to the work surface. Cover with waxed paper or parchment paper and roll out to an even ⅛” thickness. Use a 3 1/2 inch cookie cutter to cut out as many circles as possible. Repeat with remaining dough.
3. Bake the crusts: Use an offset spatula to carefully lift each crust off the work surface. Press the crusts carefully down into lightly greased muffin cups. Bake the crusts 12 minutes at 325ºF, then remove and let cool completely to firm up.
4. Make the caramel sauce: Combine the butter and sweeteners in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook 3 to 5 minutes, watching carefully to make sure it doesn’t burn. Remove from heat and add the heavy cream and caramel extract. (The mixture will bubble vigorously, this is normal). Sprinkle the surface with the xanthan gum and whisk vigorously to combine. Whisk in the salt.
5. Fill the shells: Let the mixture cool to lukewarm, about 10 minutes. Once cooled, whisk in the egg. Divide the chopped raisins or pecans among the tart shells and spoon the filling over top. Fill each crust almost all the way to the top.
6. Bake the tarts: Bake 15 to 22 minutes, until the tart edges are golden and the filling is mostly set with a little jiggle in the center (it should still look a little wet in the very center of each tart). Remove from oven and let cool completely, then use a knife to loosen each tart.
Expert tips
Tips for keto pastry crust
- Use a non-stick metal muffin pan and grease it lightly, to avoid sticking.
- Dust your work surface with a little more almond flour. This helps the pastry rounds release more easily. Wiggling a small offset spatula under the rounds also helps.
- Cut the circles about 3 1/2 inches in diameter. A cookie or biscuit cutter works well, but if you don’t have one the right size, try a round drinking glass or plastic container.
- Bake the crusts empty first, to allow them to brown and crisp a little bit before adding the custard filling.
Tips for butter tart filling
- This uses a sweeter, thicker version of my Keto Caramel Sauce. But this time I used some allulose to really get a gooey center. BochaSweet and xylitol would be the best substitutes. If you use all erythritol based sweeteners like Swerve or Lakanto, your filling will recrystallize some as it cools.
- Let the sauce cool to lukewarm before adding the egg. Otherwise it will cook the egg and your filling will curdle.
- For truly gooey butter tarts, remove them from the oven when the very center of the tarts still look a little wet. They will continue to firm up a bit as they cool.
Recipe FAQs
Classic butter tarts are made with brown sugar, corn syrup, eggs, and butter. But these keto butter tarts are made with my popular sugar-free caramel sauce, which replaces both the brown sugar and the corn syrup.
This keto butter tart recipe has 5.2g of carbs and 1.8g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.4g net carbs per tart.
These tarts are best served within a few days, as they lose their gooeyness as they sit. I recommend storing them in an airtight container on your counter.
More delicious keto tarts to love
Keto Butter Tarts
Equipment
Ingredients
Pastry
- 1 3/4 cups (196 g) almond flour
- 3 tbsp (18.26 g) Swerve Confectioners
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 3 tbsp (42.61 g) butter, melted
Filling
- 1/4 cup (56.75 g) butter, unsalted
- 1/3 cup (60.67 g) Swerve Brown
- 1/3 cup (66.67 g) allulose, (or BochaSweet)
- 1/2 cup (118.29 ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp caramel extract, (or vanilla extract)
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 tbsp raisins, chopped, (or chopped pecans or walnuts)
Instructions
Pastry
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and lightly grease a non-stick muffin pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, powdered sweetener, salt, and xanthan gum. Stir in the egg and melted butter until the dough comes together. Split the dough into two portions.
- Dust a work surface lightly with more almond flour and transfer one portion of the dough to the work surface. Cover the dough with waxed paper or parchment paper and roll out to an even 1/8" thickness.
- Cut out into 3½ inch circles (cookie or biscuit cutters work, as does a drinking glass). Use an offset spatula to carefully lift each crust off the work surface.
- Press the crusts carefully down into the prepared muffin cups. If they crack at all, use a little extra dough to patch the crack.
- Repeat with the other half of the dough, then gather the scraps and re-roll get more circles. You should be able to get at least 12 crusts.
- Bake the crusts 12 minutes, then remove and let cool completely to firm up.
Filling
- Combine the butter and sweeteners in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook 3 to 5 minutes, watching carefully to make sure it doesn't burn.
- Remove from heat and add the heavy cream and caramel extract. (The mixture will bubble vigorously, this is normal). Sprinkle the surface with the xanthan gum and whisk vigorously to combine. Whisk in the salt.
- Let cool to lukewarm, about 10 minutes. Once cooled, whisk in the egg.
- Divide the chopped raisins or pecans among the tart shells and spoon the filling over top. Fill each crust almost all the way to the top.
- Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until the tart edges are golden and the filling is mostly set with a little jiggle in the center (it should still look a little wet in the very center of each tart).
- Remove from oven and let cool completely, then use a knife to loosen each tart.
Video
Nutrition
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Excited to try this recipe! I find your recipes to be amazing! Do you think I could bake this dough off in a tart ring and it would hold up?
Not sure what you mean by a tart ring?
I loved this recipe but I chose not to use the raisins and currents but added chopped pecans. They tasted like pecan pies. I have to be careful because I can eat the whole batch all at once. I bought one of your cook books and love it.
Hi there. even though I didn’t overcook these the filling was still firmer than i like. would they be completely unset I left out the xanthan gum? it seemed to firm the filling up more than I like and it seemed to affect the texture so that it has a slightly slimy mouth feel. please help.
Feel free to experiment.
did these as 2-bite tarts, using mini muffin pans & a champagne cork
skip the rolling & cutting! scoop out 1T balls of crust dough into pans sprayed w pam, squish w cork, fill & bake–easy peasy!
thank you, carolyn, for another great recipe!
Yes, the 2 bite version seems very very sensible, and double yummy in fact. Must follow suit, can’t wait! Mmmmm….
Can the shells be made an ahead and frozzen? How about the competed tarts? I’d like to bake ahead for the holidays if possible.
I don’t know about freezing the tarts but the shells should be fine.
I have followed your butter tart recipe to the T…
my doughs texture was rubbery… not sure what I am doing wrong
What sweetener are you using?
When I went keto, butter tarts were one of the hardest things to give up. We are Canadian and my family often bring butter tarts home (that is a killer). You literally saved me! These are fantastic and taste just as good (or better) as the original. When I made these I kept some plain and some with pecans. Next time I want to try some with some keto dried cranberries (to mimic the raisin tarts). From the bottom of my heart I thank you!!!
I had to use the 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp to thicken up the sauce!! Worked perfectly and as Tony the Tiger would say…THEY TASTE GREAT!!
1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp of xanthan gum to thicken…
What to use instead of allulose as it’s not available in Canada? Thanks.
Xylitol is your best bet.
I just want to warn people with pets to be careful with xylitol. It’s great for humans, but it’s lethal to dogs and cats. I don’t know about other animals, just make sure your critters can’t get any of it.
I also don’t know if xylitol will caramelize. Allulose will, I’m not sure of other sweeteners. With this recipe, it might not matter.
It will caramelize! 🙂 I’ve done it. You are correct about pets (it’s actually only toxic to dogs… strange but true). But I do need to give people options besides allulose.
Followed the recipe exactly and tarts turned out! Not exactly like old fashioned butter tarts but I really liked them and loved that they were not too sweet. Thank you for the recipe…I will definitely make again
Glad to hear it!
Hi
I can’t wait to make these, they look delicious.
I was wondering if I can replace heavy whipping cream with coconut cream to make it mostly dairy free?
Thank you
I can’t say for sure as I haven’t tried it.
I am going to try today. Will let you know
I made it with coconut milk from a can and it worked like a spell. It’s delicious. I had to stop myself from eating more than one. The batter took some effort. At the end I rolled little balls one by one, cutouts were nicer looking but it all crumbled when I transferred it to the muffin pan.
Great recipe, easy to make, no hassle.
Awesome. Thanks so much for being so kind to let me know after you tried with coconut cream/milk.
I’ll try baking them now, really excited about it!!
Thanks a bunch
I am all thumbs when it comes to baking and I struggled with the crust rolling and cutting…this is where some fingers would come in handy 🙂 Overall, I persevered and the tarts came out great according to my wife (who, yes, did provide me with some pointers, so I can’t take all of the credit). Maybe I cooked them a bit too long, but the filling is still pliable. Nice texture and flavour. So, if I can have success, anybody else will too when making these butter tarts. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Glad they worked out!
Instead of swerve brown, can I add an extra tsp of molasses to get that brown sugar flavour? I think you have suggested this in another recipe?
Yes, that should work!
Would I have to change anything to make them in my tart tins instead of muffin tins?
Make them smaller? I think that should be it!
Hi I was wondering if I could use this butter tart recipe for individual pie crusts for a coconut pie recipe? Does anyone know if it would work well for that?
Do you mean like coconut cream pie? https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/coconut-cream-pie-low-carb-and-gluten-free/
They should, but you will need to bake them until fully cooked, since coconut cream goes in after the crust is baked.
Carolyn,
I made your keto butter tarts yesterday!! They are absolutely amazing!! I learned to love them as a kid, vacationing in Muskoka!! Thank you so much for creating this wonderful keto version of these beloved butter tarts!!
Respectfully,
Susan Ward
Wonderful!
I am allergic to Almonds, Cashews, and Hazelnuts. What can I use to make this recipe? Thanks
Sorry, I am really not sure.
Instead of almond flour maybe try sunflower seed flour or sesame seed flour, may need a bit more or less depending on moisture content.
Try coconut flour?
Absolutely not. I am very clear in this blog post about what works and what doesn’t.
They look delicious!
The recipe calls for xanthum gum in the tart shells – but doesn’t list it in the instructions- do you use it in the crust?
Sorry about that. It goes in with the dry ingredients.
Oh my! I was looking through your recipes and when this popped up I was transported to a little town in Ontario, Thornberry for their butter tarts! I loved the ones with raisins but still fantastic without. My mom was born in Meaford.
I must make these!! Thank you!