Almond Blueberry Tarts
Bursting with juicy blueberries surrounded by sweet almond filling, these tarts are perfect for breakfast, dessert or a snack to take on the go. Making the crust from scratch with the following recipe is a snap too! So easy and sooooo good!
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 stick unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup cold water
Filling
- 1 stick unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 cups almond flour (or almond meal)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup Grand Marnier
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries
- powdered sugar for dusting
Equipment
- mini tart pan*
- 1 whisk
- measuring cups and spoon
- large mixing bowl
- stand mixer (or bowl and electric hand mixer) paddle attachment
- rolling pin
- plastic wrap
- small bowl
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 375. Set aside six 4 (10-12 cm) tartlet pans, un-greased.
Make the crust
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In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, lemon zest, and sugar. Drop in the chilled butter cubes. With the whisk, "chop" or "cut" the butter into the flour mixture using an up and down motion. Do this until it looks like coarse sand.
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In a small bowl, whisk the egg with the cold water until combined. Mix this into the "wet sand" flour mixture. Stir (I use my hands) until the mixture comes together and forms a soft smooth ball.
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Divide the ball into 6 equal pieces. Flatten each ball slightly into a thick disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate until filling is done.
Make the filling
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In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium until creamy and fluffy. Add the sugar.
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Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in the extracts, Grand Marnier, lemon zest, and salt. Turn off mixer and scrape the sides. Mix on medium low until thoroughly combined.
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Turn off mixer and scrape the side again. On a very low speed, add the eggs one at a time. Then slowly add the almond flour. Beat until everything is fully incorporated.
Bringing it all together
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When filling is done, flour a surface and roll the disks out to approximately 6 inches or 15 cm in diameter. Put them in the tartlet pans. Gently press the dough to the sides, creating a pretty edge. Dock the bottoms with a fork.
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Divide the almond mixture evenly into the tartlet crusts. Divide the blueberries evenly among the tartlets as well, gently press them into the filling.
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Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden. Allow them to cool completely. Remove the tartlets from the pans and dust with powdered sugar.
Recipe Notes
For a gluten free option: try using 2 cups of Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free flour
*Mini tart pans: I found a quadruple mini tart pan years ago. It works great, because really when are you ever going to make just one mini tart? If you can find one, snatch it up! This recipe also works great if you want to make 2 larger tarts.
Almond meal vs. almond flour- I prefer almond flour over almond meal primarily because almond flour is finer and a little sweeter. Almond meal tastes great, but it's coarser and gives the tarts a grainer texture. If you use almond flour, your tartlets will have a smoother texture and will look lighter too.
