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 ½ 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 ¼ cup almond flour
- 3 tablespoon powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoon butter melted
Filling
- ¼ cup butter
- ⅓ cup Swerve Brown
- ⅓ cup allulose (or BochaSweet)
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon caramel extract (or vanilla extract)
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoon 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, salt, and xanthan gum. 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 ⅛" thickness.
- Cut out tart crusts into 3 ½ 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.
Sheren says
I made these and it tasted amazing!! However my crust was very stretchy and soft. What could i have done wrong? Sucha waste because everything else was so great! Thank you Caroline
Carolyn says
I really really don’t know what would make it stretchy and soft, because almond flour crusts don’t really get stretchy unless they are the fathead dough kind. I wish I could help on that one. These crusts are actually a bit on the crumbly side and not stretchy at all so I am stumped.
Tira says
I just made these. I used collagen powder instead of vegetable glycerin because it’s what I had in the cupboard and I also used Sukrin Gold brown sugar replacement in the caramel sauce.
I swear if someone handed me one without saying anything, I likely wouldn’t be able to tell the difference from the real thing!! I’m totally amazed!
The crust is a lot softer (though they haven’t totally cooled, I couldn’t wait, lol) but the taste is spot on!
Carolyn says
Wonderful!
Tira says
Actually, I’ve discovered a quirk with them. I put them in the fridge because I thought they’d keep longer, and the gooey middle turned into more of a solid icing. I’m hoping once returned to a warmer temperature they’ll “melt” again, but I guess I’ll have to wait and see. They still taste like butter tarts, but the texture is all wrong now. 🙁
Carolyn says
That’s what erythritol does. I don’t refrigerate mine if I think we will eat them within a few days.
Catintherain says
Thank you!!! My boyfriend switched to low-carb and he really likes butter tarts! I will make them for him for Easter.
Question for you: when making low-carb pastry, have you tried the classic technique of rolling, folding and refrigerating it (then repeating a few times) to see if you get more flaky layers? I’m going to try and see what happens. Kinda hoping I’ll stumble upon a low-carb croissant, but I know chances are slim :).
Kate says
Good afternoon! Can I substitute honey for the sweetener in the filling and crust? TIA
Carolyn says
No. The crust would be awful. And honey is just sugar.
Krista says
I’m wondering how these would freeze? I made a test batch a few weeks ago and they were delicious, but I would like to bang off a few batches today and freeze them for Christmas.
Carolyn says
I really don’t know, I didn’t try freezing them.
Denise says
Hi Carolyn,
I finally got around to making these. They turned out awesome! My diabetic husband missed butter tarts more than anything and was so happy to enjoy them.
I really have to stress to other cooks the importance of using a medium saucepan, as you suggest, to melt the butter and sweetener. I made the mistake of using a small pot. I added the cream and the volume just exploded! No kidding about the liquid boiling vigorously. I had poured the cream from a small bowl, which put my hand too close to the hot liquid. Fortunately, no damage done aside from a messy stovetop.
Carolyn says
Oh dear yes!
C says
I’m in Vancouver, BC and having trouble finding vegetable glycerin! Any suggestions? So excited to try these for Xmas!
Carolyn says
Skip it, they should still be okay.
Aryn says
I eat Keto…is there any suggestions to use in place of the arrowroot flour? Thanks I’m advance ?
Carolyn says
Coconut flour.
Angela says
Ok, I am SO excited about this! Also a fellow Canuck who LOVES butter tarts! I will have to play around a bit with the pastry as I have a nut allergy and can’t use almond flour, I would like to sub for Briana Thomas’s baking blend. Also, do you know where I can find out how to switch Swerve to gentle sweet or pure stevia?
Andrea Vaccaro says
Faux corn syrup:
A 3 to 1 ratio of isomalt to water, cooked over medium heat for 7 – 10 minutes. No re-crystallization of sisomalt, even after refrigeration.
Andrea Vaccaro says
BTW, you could also use Sukrin syrup or Sukrin Gold (both Amazon); they are exactly like Corn Syrup, both light and dark.
Jenn says
OMGosh Carolyn, I just saw your re-post of these amazing tarts on FB and immediately came here to investigate. I am sooo excited, having been craving these buttery, sweet, flakey tarts for some time. Like many Canadians, for me these bring back memories of hot summer days, mom baking in a sweltering kitchen, impatiently waiting for them as they came out of the oven and cooled to be enjoyed with a tall glass of cold, 3% milk. I’m a maritimer, mom was British war-bride who came to Canada to be with dad after the war and was an amazing cook and baker. Oh the Bakewell tarts, the egg pies, the melt-in-your mouth flakey piecrusts and biscuits. It’s no wonder I’m diabetic now with all the sugary treats we ate growing up, but LC has been my savior and finding your blog a true blessing. You ARE amazing Carolyn, and I am proud to be your fellow Canuck. Blessings to you and yours.
Carolyn says
So glad to have helped re-create those memories in a healthier way!
Nicole says
I’m not sure if I made a mistake or not but is the dough supposed to come out of the processor with a wet texture? I only added 2 tbsps of water and it was more of a liquid type consistency. I haven’t rolled it out because I didn’t have a rolling pin but a friend is bringing one over. I’m not sure if I did anything wrong or not so far.
Nicole says
I am embarrassed to say that I am Canadian and have never tried a butter tart in my life. That is all going to change tomorrow. These look really good!
Mary Dawn says
These sound very similar to our Transparent tarts which are a local specialty. I will have to try these! Thanks
Angela says
These look so great! Do you know how I could use baking blend in place of the Almond flour? Due to a nut allergy I can’t have almond flour. I was thinking to substitute Briana Thomas’s baking blend for the almond and coconut flour you show in the recipe, do you think that would work? Thank you!
Carolyn says
You’d probably have to ask Briana how to modify it since i have never used her recipe for baking blend. Sorry!
JoAnne says
I can’t tell you how excited I am to try these butter tarts! They look just like my grandmother’s. Growing up in Ottawa, we called them Nanny’s Butter Tarts and thought we were the only Canadians to make them! Since going low-carb, I’ve been lamenting that they would no longer be a part of our holiday tradition. Thank you! Thank you!
Chocolate Rose says
So sorry to ask this question, but I can’t do either arrowroot or cornstarch. Is there any lc option? My boss is Canadian and I’d love to take these to work tomorrow for her.
Sue says
Well, you have the maple cream cookies and the butter tarts…care to try the sausage roll challenge? I absolutely love them, but creating a flaky puff pastry seems a little daunting.
By the way, your butter tarts look amazing. I just got back from Canada and I have to admit, I did have one of those lovely gems (bad girl!). I’m going to give your recipe a try.
edna weddell says
I also knew it would be you who would tackle butter tarts and win cause you said you were Canadian but I never knew till I read your blog ahead of the recipe that your are also a ontarioian like myself………..where did you live in Ontario if I may so inquire…….I reside just outside of midland Ontario which is 1/2 hr drive north west of barrie……….now my desert life is complete……all my old loves have been born again thanks to you…….my lemon meringue pie and now my butter tarts
thank you from the bottom of my stomach and heart…………keep up the fantastic work carolyn
Carolyn says
Thanks, Edna. I grew up in Toronto, although the first 7 years of my life were on a farm near a town called Schomburg. And I was born in Newmarket!
heather says
Any thoughts on using Vitafiber syrup in this to keep the gooey factor? I haven’t tried it yet, just been reading about it and wonder if it has potential for stopping low carb fillings and caramel sauces from recrystallizing, kind of taking the place of golden corn syrup in traditional butter tarts.
Carolyn says
I’ve never even heard of it but now I am going to put it into my cart in Amazon. We shall see!
Heather says
Haha you’re awesome! I’m ordering it from Amazon too, time to play with a new ingredient! I read that the powdered version of Vitafiber makes good meringues. I would really love to figure out Turtles with toasted pecans, yummy caramel and melted Lily’s chocolate chips.
Carolyn says
If this vitafiber works as promised and doesn’t raise my blood sugar, it could be great to have in the arsenal!