The best butter tart squares! These have a buttery shortbread crust and a layer of gooey brown sugar filling. You can add in walnuts, raisins, currants or leave them plain. Easier, quicker and more delicious than the original.
I love butter tarts. To all my non-Canadian friends, butter tarts are a classic Canadian treat. They have brown sugar filling that’s similar to pecan pie. Only they’re a little sweeter and a little gooier. These bars are just like the classic tart recipe but easier to make because there’s no fiddling around with homemade pastry. I also prefer the ratio of crust to filling because they aren’t quite as sweet and I love a buttery cookie crust.
Making Butter Tart Squares
As mentioned earlier – this recipe is easier than making tarts because the base layer is much easier than homemade pastry and there’s no need to form tart shells.
For the Crust
You’ll simply beat together softened butter and powdered sugar until soft, then mix in the flour. Be careful not to over mix here – the mixture will be quite thick. You’ll press the mixture into the bottom of your prepared pan and bake the crust on its own first so that it doesn’t get soggy.
For the Filling
I like my filling for butter tarts slightly gooey. Because these butter tart squares don’t have the support of a tart shell, the filling can’t be too runny or gooey – otherwise, the bars will fall apart. As the crust is baking, you’ll beat together softened butter, brown sugar and a little flour, then mix in the eggs and vanilla extract. Then goes in the corn syrup and vinegar.
Why is there vinegar in butter tarts? There’s a lot of sugar in butter tarts, so the vinegar helps to balance out the sweetness. I personally find the flavor is superior when you use vinegar.
There’s a bit of a debate when it comes to butter tart filling. Some people like to add in raisins and/or walnuts, others like to keep them plain. I’m not going to get in the middle of this age-old dilemma – so feel free to do as you please. I like to use a combination of currants and chopped walnuts.
Serving
You’ll want to let the squares cool before slicing, otherwise, the filling can get pretty messy. I know the struggle – but even 30 minutes can make a big difference (although I do recommend letting them cool for at least 4 hours before slicing).
Personally, I love eating butter tarts cold from the fridge – but that’s another debate. These bars freeze well too if they’re wrapped tightly and placed in a freezer container or bag. Then simply thaw in the fridge overnight.
I love to make these over the holidays with other favorite Canadian treats, such as:
- Confetti Squares – AKA peanut butter marshmallow squares
- Nanaimo Bars
- Puffed Wheat Squares
- Date Squares
Butter Tart Squares
Equipment
- 9x13 Inch Pan
Ingredients
Base Layer
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
Butter Tart Filling
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar light or dark
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour*
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup dark corn syrup*
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar*
- 1 cup raisins, currants or chopped walnuts - optional I use ½ cup currants and ½ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
Base Layer
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line the pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang around the edges.
- In a large bowl beat the butter and powdered sugar until fluffy.
- Mix in the flour - the mixture will be thick.
- Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until the top looks set and is a pale, golden color. Remove from the oven and leave the oven turned on.
Filling Layer
- Make the filling as the base layer is baking.
- Beat the butter, brown sugar and flour until evenly combined.
- Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Mix in the corn syrup and vinegar. Stir in the optional raisins, currants or walnuts.
- Pour the mixture over the gently baked crust.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the top looks set and if you give the pan a nudge the filling layer doesn't look liquidy.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely before slicing for clean cuts and to ensure that the bars are set.
- When ready to slice, lift the bars out of the pan using the overhang of the parchment paper. Place on the cutting board and slice using a sharp knife. If the edges seem too crispy, simply slice off the edges.
Notes
- For gooier bars, leave out the 2 tablespoons of flour from the filling.
- Corn syrup can be substituted with pure maple syrup. However, I do recommend using corn syrup because it is how the recipe was developed.
- The vinegar helps to cut the sweetness of the recipe - therefore I do not recommend leaving it out.
- Feel free to use currants, raisins or chopped walnuts, or leave them out. I typically use ½ cup currants and ½ cup chopped walnuts.
- I really recommend waiting for the bars to cool fully before slicing so that they are less messy.
- Store bars in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days after slicing. Bars can be frozen for up to 2 months, then thaw overnight in the fridge.
- Nutrition information is an estimate only. It is based on 1 bar, assuming the recipe is made with 1 cup of raisins and sliced into 15 equal-sized squares.
In the Butter tart square recipe what size pan is it made in?
It’s made in a 9×13 inch pan – listed in the equipment section. Happy baking!
I made this last night, and brought it out of the fridge to cut today, which was easy to do given the parchment paper method. They taste very good, but I feel i would have preferred it a touch sweeter, per my experiences with some Canadian butter tarts. Others may disagree. I have a major sweet tooth.I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to pack the brown sugar or not, perhaps I should have. Next time I will chop the walnuts more than they came prepackaged. A video would be helpful. I am not the most experienced cook, and quite uncomfortable in the kitchen, so was unsure of the consistency to expect for various parts, such as what should fluffy look like or if it should be crumbly at different stages. That said, it came out really well despite my stumbling, which in my book is the sign of a good recipe. I would have liked to add pics but didn’t see a way to.
Mine didn’t turn out it had to much crust and the mixture the butter didn’t mix in making it kinda cakeish..I was disappointed….
Hi Karen, I’m sorry that these didn’t work out for you. They definitely have a thicker crust than traditional butter tarts like in the pictures. Because it’s a shortbread cookie crust as opposed to pie crust, it will taste different than a tart that’s made with pie crust. I’m thinking that if the butter didn’t mix in all the way it could of either been due to the butter not being softened enough or perhaps a bit too much flour. Thank you for traying the recipe and letting me know your feedback.
These turned out great! A future staple for my family. I made the filling exactly as stated.
I changed up the crust a tiny bit. I whipped the butter for 5 minutes. I used 2/3 cup of icing sugar so the crust would be a little more sweet and decreased the flour by about 1/8 cup.
Turned out so great. Crust was melt in mouth and filling was delicious.
Thank you so much! I am always such a fan of butter tarts too
Can you use shredded coconut instead of walnuts or currents?
I haven’t tried, but I think that would be fine.
You mention vinegar in your blurb before the recipe, but I don’t see it in the ingredient list. How much and at what point do you addit?
Oh I’m confused, I somehow was looking at a different recipe, I’m good thanks. Will rate after baking!