There's no need to share these sweet, creamy, and flaky Easy Mini Fruit Pie Tarts. Go ahead and grab one for each hand; these are the perfect party treat!
Everything is more fun in mini size. Whether it's Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes or these sweet little tarts, individual sized desserts are the perfect party treat. Combining a flaky pastry crust with creamy, decadent pastry cream and an array of fruit toppings, these mini pies are soiree unto themselves.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Make Ahead - All of the components of these fruit tarts can be made ahead of time and then assembled before serving. You can even make the pastry dough ahead of time and keep it stored until ready to bake.
- Accessible Ingredients - This recipe uses easy to find baking staples like flour, butter, and eggs. You can find just about everything at your local grocery store.
- Easy Process - Let the blender be your best friend! There's no need to make it complicated when you make your pastry crust in the blender. Even the homemade pastry cream recipe comes together with simple process.
- Customizable - Have fun playing with your toppings. Using pie filling makes these easy to make and easy to create a variety of flavors.
Ingredients
If you're looking for the perfect sweet treat to serve at your next party or take over to a backyard barbecue, this is it. With common ingredients and a straightforward process, these pastry cream filled tarts are as easy to shop for as they are dangerously delicious to eat.
- Flour - No need for anything fancy here. Whether you're using all purpose flour or keeping it gluten free with a 1 to 1 baking flour such as Bob's Red Mill.
- Butter - Gives the pastry crust its rich flavor and buttery texture.
- Kosher Salt - Brings out all of the natural flavors in the ingredients and adds a slightly savory note that balanced the sweet.
- Water - You want your water icy cold so it keeps the butter cold. This is what gives the crust its texture.
- Milk - This combined with the egg yolks and egg gives the pastry cream its rich texture.
- Egg Yolks - Gives the pastry cream richness and a velvety smooth texture.
- Egg
- Sugar
- Vanilla - This is a vanilla pastry cream. Use either vanilla paste or a whole vanilla bean for maximum flavor.
- Cornstarch - This helps thicken and stabilize the pastry cream.
- Pie Filling - This makes it easy to top off these sweet little, tiny pies. Have fun playing with the toppings.
How to Make Easy Mini Fruit Pie Tarts
These cute tiny fruit tarts can easily be broken down into three simple steps. Crust, pastry cream, and topping it off. Whether you're making these for a special occasion or just because, these poppable treats are sure to become a new go-to when you're looking for the perfect dessert.
Time needed: 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Flaky mini tart shells are filled with homemade vanilla pastry cream and topped off with pie filling.
- Pregame
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. This will make 36-48 muffin tin sized tarts.
- Pulse
Add all of your ingredients for your pastry crust to a blender or food processor and pulse until combined. It should be light and almost airy.
- Chill
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow it to refrigerate for 10-20 minutes. You can do this portion up to two weeks in advance.
- Roll
Roll your crust out until it's the thickness of pie crust. Use a 4" round cutter to cut out your dough. Place the disks into a muffin tin.
- Bake
Let the pastry shells bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Let cool completely.
- Boil
Add the milk and vanilla to a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a boil turn the heat to low.
- Whisk
In a separate bowl whisk together the egg yolks, egg, sugar, and cornstarch.
- Temper
While whisking continuously add one ladleful of the milk mixture to the egg mixture. Continue to whisk and add another ladleful. This will bring the eggs closer to the temperature of the milk.
- Thicken
Add the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan while continually whisking. Continue to whisk until it has thickened.
- Cool Down
Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl, cover, and let it refrigerate until it has completely cooled down.
- Assemble
Pipe some of the cool pastry cream into a tart shell and top with pie filling. Enjoy!
How to Make This Recipe Gluten Free
This recipe can be made Gluten Free by using 1 to 1 baking flour. This makes it easy to measure without having to add any additional ingredients.
How to Make This Recipe Dairy Free
This recipe can be made completely Dairy Free. To make this recipe dairy free use a plant-based butter for the crust and oat milk for the pastry cream. The measurements will be the same.
Storage
You can make the pastry shells and pastry cream ahead of time and keep them stored separately until ready to assemble and serve. For the crust, keep them stored in an airtight container at room temperature and they will keep for up to a week. The pastry cream needs to be refrigerated in an airtight container and will keep for a week.
Once these sweet little pies are assembled, leftovers need to be refrigerated and will keep for up to five days. The crust will soften because of the pasty cream.
Top Tip for Easy Mini Pie Tarts
The texture of any pie crust is as important as the flavor. To ensure that these little pastry crusts remain flaky and tender, you want to make sure that both your butter and water are extremely cold. Go ahead and stick both in the freezer for a few minutes to ensure that they remain cold during the mixing process. Those little pebbles of butter are what gives these tarts their incredible texture.
Easy Mini Fruit Pie Tarts
Equipment
- 1 Blender/food processor
- 1 Rolling Pin
- muffin pans
- 1 Bowl
- 1 saucepan
- 1 Whisk
Ingredients
Pastry Crust
- 2 ¾ cups Gluten Free 1.1 flour
- 18 tbsp cold butter
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ cup ice cold water
Pastry Cream
- 2 cups oat milk
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 egg
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla paste, or 1 whole vanilla bean
- pinch of salt
- 4 tbsp cornstarch
Fruit Topping
- favorite pie filling
Instructions
Pastry Shells
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. This recipe will make 36-48 muffin tin sized tarts.
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender or food processor and pulse until combined. It should be light and airy.
- Transfer the dough to plastic wrap and wrap tightly. Place it in the freezer for 10-20 minutes until it hardens up.
- Roll the dough out until it is the thickness of pie crust.
- Use a 4" round cut to cut out your crust. Place in the muffin tins.
- Let the crusts bake for 25-30 minutes until they are golden brown.
- Let cool completely.
Pastry Cream
- Add the oat milk and vanilla to a saucepan over medium heat.
- Bring to a boil.
- Once boiling turn the heat to low.
- In a separate bowl add the egg yolks, egg, sugar, salt, and cornstarch and whisk to combine.
- While continuously whisking, add a ladleful of the warm milk. Continue to whisk as you add another ladleful.
- Pour the tempered egg mixture into the saucepan Continue to whisk until the pastry cream has thickened.
- Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate it until it has cooled completely.
Assembly
- Pipe pastry cream into a tart shell. Top with pie filling.
- Enjoy!!
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