Christmas is creeping up on us, and it’s time to start thinking about making batches of cookies to give away to family and friends.

This is something I’ve been doing for years, thought I’m not sure how it’s going to work this year, what with being so tied up in writing a cookbook and all.. I’m guessing I’ll wait until December and then just panic! 🙂

One of my favorite recipes growing up, especially around Christmas, is of my mom baking. She was pretty amazing in the kitchen, and her pies and tarts were especially fantastic. At Christmas, my mom was a big fan of mincemeat tarts. They always had a place in our Christmas baking.

My mom also made butter tarts and butter tart squares. They really are one of those wonderful Canadian dishes we really can call our own. I like to make mine with maple syrup, to make them even more Canadian.

Veganizing this recipe is a bit of a challenge, as they call for both butter and egg yolks, which help to thicken them.

For me, the ideal butter tart still has a bit of ooze to it when you break into it. Sweet and gooey, with that maple flavor… it’s the best.

I subbed in vegan butter, and used corn starch to thicken, I think they turned out great!

If you like nuts, add a few pecans to the shells, then pour the hot butter syrup over top before baking. You also might want to think about adding raisins, or dark chocolate chips (I tried this and it was the bomb).

Vegan Butter Tarts

(makes 9-12)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup vegan butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

3 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup aquafaba

pinch of salt

1 recipe pie crust

Method:

Make the pie crust. Roll it out between two sheets of wax paper, then cut circles approx 4″ in diameter. Lay each of these circles into a muffin tin, and tamp them down with your fingers. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, then slide the muffin tin into the oven and allow to bake for 9 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. In a medium saucepan over medium low heat, melt together the butter, brown sugar and maple syrup until they are smooth. Add a pinch of salt and stir. Place the aquafaba and the cornstarch in a small mason jar and shake well until it’s smooth and all combined. Then slowly pour the slurry into the butter/sugar syrup. Continue to stir until it thickens slightly. If you are adding chocolate, raisins or nuts to your tarts, this is the time to do it. Carefully pour a few tablespoons of the hot butter/syrup into each of the tart shells, you don’t want to fill them all the way. Bake in the oven for an additional 10 minutes, then remove and allow to cool on the counter for 1/2 an hour or so. Run a butter knife around the outside of each tart, pop them out, and allow to cool on wire racks.

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