Butter tart squares

Butter Tart Bars are two treats in one! A buttery shortbread crust forms the base, and a sweet gooey filling is baked on top. It’s a delicious way to enjoy this classic Canadian treat without all the fuss of making pastry tart shells.

These delicious treats are a bit similar to a pecan pie. But not the same. If you are Canadian, then you know exactly what I mean. One thing for sure, classic butter tarts are delectable, sweet, gooey treats, and they are an especially popular indulgence during the holiday season here in Canada.

Butter tarts are really a very simple recipe. There’s a pastry tart shell, and the sweet and simple filling, which is made with eggs, brown sugar, (or sometimes maple syrup) and, of course, butter.

There is, almost always, an addition of either raisins, walnuts, currants, or pecans. Canadians tend to feel strongly about their traditional butter tarts, and people can have very strong preferences about the add-ins! For the record, I am on team raisin.

These squares come together quickly. The originally recipe suggests that you cut them into 16 squares. They seemed a bit large to me so I cut each square in half diagonally to create butter tart triangles. The nice things about bite sized treats at Christmas is you can eat more without seeming to have overindulged. The mind is a tricky calorie counter.

This recipe has an ingredient in the filling that might seem a bit off – vinegar. Don’t be put off by that as it is a classic addition in butter tarts to tame the sweetness and help the filling set. In addition to the arguments about butter tart add ins there are heated discussions about the runniness of the filling. With squares you definitely don’t want a filling that is too liquid!