Butter tarts in crisp filo cups
47 min · 3 g protein · 109 cals / serving
The Canadian classic: a sweet, buttery brown sugar and maple filling studded with raisins, baked until it just sets with a soft, gooey middle, in shells of crisp, golden filo pressed into a muffin tin. Lighter than pastry shells, and every bit a butter tart.
Ingredients
Filo cups
- 5 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
- a few sprays cooking spray, butter-flavour or canola
Filling
- 90 g (scant 1/2 cup packed) brown sugar
- 45 ml (3 tbsp) maple syrup, dark or amber
- 1 1/2 tbsp butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) fat-free evaporated milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- a pinch salt
- 50 g (1/3 cup) raisins, plumped in hot water 10 minutes and drained
Steps
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Lay one filo sheet on the counter, spray it lightly and lay the next on top; repeat until all 5 are stacked, keeping the sheets you are not using under a damp tea towel. Cut the stack into 12 squares and press each into a cup of a 12-cup muffin tin, letting the corners stand up.
- Whisk the brown sugar, maple syrup and melted butter until smooth, then whisk in the eggs, egg whites, evaporated milk, vanilla, vinegar and salt until no streaks of egg remain. Whisk gently; you want a smooth syrup, not foam.
- Divide the raisins between the cups, then pour in the filling until each is about two-thirds full.
- Bake 18–22 minutes, until the filling has puffed and set at the edges with a slight wobble in the middle and the filo is deep golden. If the corners darken before the filling sets, lay a sheet of foil loosely over the tin.
- Cool in the tin 10 minutes, then lift onto a rack. The filling firms as it cools. Eat warm or at room temperature the same day, while the filo is crisp.
Good to know
Runny or firm?
Canadians argue about it forever. This filling is on the firm side: it sets to a soft, sliceable centre once cool. For a runnier tart, take them out at 18 minutes while the middles still wobble well and eat them warm.
Raisins or no raisins?
Leave them out if your family is on the plain side of the argument; the filling is just as good alone, and it is about the same score.
Can I use walnuts or pecans instead?
Yes, both are classic. Use 40 g chopped walnuts in place of the raisins for a toasty, less sweet tart, at about 4 instead of 7.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 262
- Protein
- (10%)
- 6 g
- Fat
- (24%)
- 7 g
- Carbohydrates
- (66%)
- 44 g
- of which sugar
- 32 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 261 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1311 kcal goes into the pot and 541 g of ingredients comes out as about 500 g of food: 262 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.