These keto butter tarts are the real deal! Tender grain-free pastry with a rich, gooey caramel custard center. The famous Canadian dessert is now low carb and sugar free.
Along with my beloved Keto Nanaimo Bars, these are the ultimate treat for Canada Day! Or any day, really.
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!
I actually first posted this recipe for keto butter tarts back in 2014, so it was time for an update. There have been so many developments in keto products and sweeteners in the intervening 7 years, I knew I could make them even more gooey and luscious than ever.
And to my utter delight, I was right! These sweet, gooey tarts are slightly larger, with a tender almond flour crust and a rich, caramel scented filling. They take me straight back to my childhood.
What are butter tarts?
If ever there was a national food of Canada, butter tarts are it. There are other uniquely Canadian dishes but butter tarts 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.
In truth, they are unassuming-looking little tarts and you might be tempted to pass them over in favour of a more flashy-looking dessert. But a really good butter tart can beat the pants off any other dessert any time.
They also hold a special place in my heart, because my father loved them loved them so much. I have fond memories of him sitting at a cottage in Muskoka, devouring butter tarts. Even being terminally ill didn’t keep him from enjoying them!
Updated keto butter tarts
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!
However, never one to resist a challenge, I simply had to create a keto recipe. My earlier version was delicious, but the tarts were smaller and not as quite as gooey as I had hoped.
This time, I used the pastry from the Keto Cranberry Brie Bites, which holds together well. This allowed me to make them a bit larger.
The filling is similar to my famous Keto Pecan Pie Bars, 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!
How to make keto butter tarts
Okay, let’s get to the nitty gritty and make some. Here are my best tips for getting it right:
Tips for keto pastry crust
- Use a non-stick metal muffin pan and grease it lightly, to avoid sticking. Also don’t press it too firmly down into the bottoms of the muffin cups. It should just rest lightly.
- Do 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. I simply used a drinking glass, since none of my cookie cutters are that large.
- Freeze the crust while preparing the filling, so that they don’t brown quite as quickly in the oven.
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.
- Do let the sauce cool to lukewarm before adding the egg. Otherwise it will cook the egg and we don’t want that!
- Raisins are not really low carb, which is why I used only 2 tablespoons and chopped them up. For me, butter tarts should always have raisins! But you can skip them or use chopped walnuts or pecans in their place.
- 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.
Storage
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 tart recipes
- Keto Lemon Curd Tart
- Cannoli Tart
- Rhubarb Crumble Tart
- No Bake Chocolate Mousse Tart
- Tomato Goat Cheese Tart
- Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Quiche
Keto Butter Tarts
Ingredients
Pastry
- 1 1/4 cup almond flour
- 3 tbsp powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp butter melted
Filling
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/3 cup Swerve Brown
- 1/3 cup allulose (or BochaSweet)
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp caramel extract (or vanilla extract)
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp raisins or dried currants chopped
Instructions
Pastry
- Preheat the oven to 325F and lightly grease a non-stick muffin pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, powdered sweetener, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the egg and melted butter until the dough comes together. Gather the dough into a ball.
- Dust a work surface lightly with more almond flour and transfer 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 tart crusts into 3 1/2 inch circles (I used a drinking glass). Use an offset spatula to carefully lift each crust off the work surface. Press lightly into the prepared muffin cups.
- Gather the pastry scraps and roll out again. You can re-roll this dough as much as you like and you should get 12 pastry circles.
- Place the muffin pan in the freezer while preparing the filling.
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 vanilla 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. Set aside to cool while preparing the pastry. Let cool 10 minutes.
- Once cooled, whisk in the egg.
To assemble
- Divide the chopped raisins among the tart shells and spoon the filling over top. Fill each crust almost all the way.
- Bake 18 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.
Rhonda says
Can the Butter Tarts be frozen after baking?
Carolyn says
I honestly haven’t tried. Not sure that they would stay nice and gooey.
Trudi Shaw says
Hi Carolyn, I love your blog and your baking cook book and enjoy trying the recipes. My family love them as much as I do. I am not able to get Boccha Sweet or Allulose in my Province (BC) and have tried ordering it from a US company but they do not ship to Canada. So my question is – is there something I can substitute for allulose in recipes that call for that sweetener? We are all eager to try the butter tarts!
Shout out from a fellow Canadian – keep up the good work.
Carolyn says
Read the tips for the filling and you will see I provided an alternative.
Tom Tenney says
Missed the xanthan gum on the 2nd making. It’s missing from pastry instructions but on ingredient list. Love these!
Denise says
Such an ethical quandary… Do I tell hubby that you have an even better recipe for his beloved butter tarts? If I do, I’ll never get out of the kitchen! 🙂
His absolute favourites are your butter tarts and Nanaimo bars! Not because we’re Canadian or anything – it’s just ’cause they’re terrific!
Thanks,
Denise
Carolyn says
Haha, I don’t care if you’re not Canadian, as long as you appreciate our “cuisine”! 😉
Lisa says
I see questions/comments about vegetable glycerine. I don’t see it in the recipe. Am I missing something?
Carolyn says
If you read the blog post, you will realize this is an updated (and better) recipe.
Nina B. says
Would you believe that before Tim Horton’s came to the U.S., we would go to Windsor to get butter tarts – I live in Michigan – or whenever we would take the train to Toronto, butter tarts were our souvenirs! There was a great bakery, or was it a Fannie Mae’s, that sold them at the train station? Good times – when living was easy and my blood glucose was high! Canadian Coffee Crisp candy bars also helped with that, too! 😉 Thank you for sharing your allulose/erythritol combining method with the world to keep these, and your pecan pie nice and gooey! Genius!
Rabellaka says
I’m so happy to find this recipe!! There was a sign for butter tarts today at the gas station, and there’s a bakery I pass on my way home that sells chocolate dipped butter tarts. And they’re my favourite dessert. I’ve been missing them. I plan on making these as soon as school is back in person, and I have some time alone!
Juliette Moody says
Fellow Canadian and I miss my butter tarts. However that being said I made a keto pecan pie the other day and it was the bomb. The secret Allulose. It truly melted and did not taste gritty like swerve or any other keto sugar supplement. It makes a great caramel and the color is amazing. I’m going to use your crust recipe but use the pecan pie filling I made.
MJ says
I know this is an old post but can you use allulose instead since it doesnt cyrstalize?
Carolyn says
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. I’d probably go half allulose and half Swerve.
Sylvia Klassen says
They turned out fine, and they taste ok, but not really sweet like the regular butter tarts. I think perhaps swerve is less sweet tasting. Not to crazy about the tart shells either, I think since this recipe says like 0 calories, I might add a bit of brown sugar to the syrup mixture to improve the taste, and since GF is not my issue I might use regular tart shells. That’s my thoughts on this adventure. But thank you for the recipe. The first one I found that tackles these delicious treats.
Mary Ellen Scott says
None of the stores in my area carry Swerve Brown Sugar, or any brown sugar replacements.. Is there a substitute I can try?
Juliette says
Trivia has brown sugar keto. Use allulose instead
Adrienne says
I am making these as we speak using sugar free caramel liquid sweetener along with the organic coconut sugar. I made the almond flour crust, but opted to put them in mini pie Tarts as opposed to muffin tins. In licking the bowl and the spatula, The Taste was amazing! There is no bitter aftertaste that you would normally get from an artificial sweetener like Splenda. I just put them in the oven a few minutes ago and I’m thinking they probably will need more than 15 minutes each because they’re larger than the traditional mini muffin. I’m watching them very closely now. I will post once I get them out of the oven and get a chance to try them thank you for this recipe!
Bethany says
Carolyn, your recipes are great! Thanks for all the time you spend developing them. I trust anything I find on your site (or any pin that leads back to your site). When I made these today, I had a hard time with the crust; it kept cracking or breaking as I put it into the muffin tins. I added a bit more water, refrigerated again, but the same result. The dough looked a bit grainy, too. I patched it up as best I could as they went into the tins – some I just pressed in more like a pie crust – we’ll see how they turn out. The only ingredient I didn’t have was the arrowroot starch (I used lupin flour). Any suggestions?
Carolyn says
Well, yes. The starch is what keeps it from doing it, which is why it was in the ingredient list. Lupin flour is unlikely to help.