Prize Butter Tarts
1 Double Crust Pie Recipe (or 24 frozen, unsweetened tart shells)
1 cup / 250ml brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup / 125ml seedless raisins, chopped pecans, craisins, or walnuts (optional)
1/3 cup / 75 ml melted butter or margarine (butter is better)
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp / 25ml milk
1 tsp / 5 ml vanilla
Preheat oven to 190ºC/375ºF. Prepare pastry dough, cut into circles and line tart pans with pastry circles. Alternatively, remove tart shells from freezer. Place on baking sheet. Combine balance of ingredients. Spoon mixture into unbaked pastry, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake in moderate oven until filling is cooked, roughly 20 minutes.
These are super yummy, and can be made plain, although that is boring, or with almost anything you can think of. The recipe itself is very flexible, you can add more nuts or less nuts depending on your taste, you can stir in some cocoa to make them chocolate. I like to use golden brown sugar, but they are also excellent with the really dark stuff. Experiment, have fun, but remember that they're mostly butter, which is mostly fat.