Mini Treacle Tarts

I love making cookies in mini muffin cups, and when I came across this recipe, I knew that it was meant to be. I think I have had a treacle tart before, but I’m not absolutely sure. This is a smaller version, quite simple to make once you get past the somewhat fussy stage of shaping the dough into mini muffin cups. I divide the dough and then use a tart tamper to help coax the dough into the proper shape. It isn’t perfect, but I end up only having to do the smallest of adjustment to the dough by hand.

These are treacle tarts, but the main ingredient is golden syrup. Golden syrup is also called light treacle, but that’s still confusing. I get a lot of questions about what can be used instead of golden syrup. Golden syrup is sugar cane based, whereas corn syrup is corn based, so they are different. Honey isn’t a bad option, and I did end up having to use a tiny bit of honey to make up a cup of golden syrup. It’s still not the same, so if you can find golden syrup at the store, it is best to use that.

You add a small quantity of breadcrumbs to give the filling some structure, so don’t skip that step. It was odd for me as I hadn’t used breadcrumbs in ages and in one week, I ended up making two recipes that needed them! Lemon is the predominant flavor of these tarts, with a subtle flavor of the golden syrup added in. You can top these with a dollop of whipped cream on top, but they were so good they didn’t need that!


Mini Treacle Tarts

10 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup almond meal
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup golden syrup
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg
1 tablespoon heavy cream
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/8 cup breadcrumbs

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium until light. Add the egg and mix again to combine. In a separate bowl combine the flour, almond meal, salt, and baking powder. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture until a dough forms. Remove the dough from the bowl, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 2 hours (or overnight).

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Have a 24-indentation mini muffin pan ready.

Divide the dough between the 24 mini muffin cups. Press the dough into the cup, making sure that the bottom and sides are covered.
In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the golden syrup. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Once the butter is melted, allow the mixture to cool for 5 minutes. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the egg and heavy cream. Add the syrup mixture, lemon zest and juice, and breadcrumbs, mixing well. Transfer the filling to a vessel with a pouring spout.

Fill each dough cup about half full, any more than that and they will overflow.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the tarts are golden. Allow the tarts to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing the tartlets and cooling completely on a wire rack.

Recipe from International Desserts Blog