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These mini tart shells are mini tartlet shells made with an easy buttery shortcrust dough that does not require blind baking!
You can fill these mini tartlet shells with your favorite tart filling and make this recipe your own!
I love making easy fruit tarts by filling the tart shells with vanilla pastry cream and topping them with fresh berries or fresh fruit that I have on hand.
These tart shells are great for making ahead, freezing, and storing in the fridge or at room temperature until you are ready to fill them up.
They are great for parties and events since they are individual-sized and can be doubled or tripled in the recipe card below!
For more tart recipes, check out my mini fruit tarts, and best no bake nutella tart.
Jump to:
- Why this recipe works
- Ingredients
- Instructions
- Expert Tips
- Faq's
- Storing
- Freezing
- Make ahead instructions
- Substitutions
- Variations
- Filling ideas for mini tarts
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
Why this recipe works
- Texture- these tart shells are buttery and sturdy and are perfect for many different fillings.
- Ease- these shells are super easy to make and they use simple ingredients! As long as you follow the instructions correctly, you will get beautiful and foolproof shells!
- Make ahead friendly- make these ahead of time by baking them and letting them cool. Then store them in the fridge for up to a week, and fill them when you are ready to serve!
- Freezer friendly- you can freeze the dough before letting it thaw in the fridge or freeze the baked shells for up to 2 months.
Ingredients
Before you start to make thissweet shortcrust pastry recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
For the crust:
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe. cake flour will work great as well.
Eggs-you will need 1 egg for this recipe. Make sure that your eggs are at room temperature.
Kosher salt-you will need about ¼ teaspoon ofkosher saltfor this recipe.
Butter-use unsalted butter for this recipe. Only butter will work for this recipe, no margarine, and no coconut oil. Margarine has a weird taste and can ruin the flavor of this delicious crust.
Make sure that your butter is cold.
Powder sugar-you will need powdered sugar for this recipe. you don’t have to buy powdered sugar, you can simply make it at home by blending granulated sugar in ablenderorfood processor.
Vanilla extract-adds extra flavor.
Instructions
Start by making the tart dough. In afood processor, add the flour, powdered sugar, and salt, and mix until combined.
Add the cold cubed butter, and blend until there are pea-sized pieces of butter. If you don't have afood processor, you can do it by hand, mixing the cold butter into the flour mixture. Make sure that your hands are cold.
Then, add the egg, and thevanilla extractand mix until a dough forms. Try not to overmix the dough.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it with arolling pininto a rectangle.
Use a cookie cutter or a round bowl (1 inch larger than themini tart pans) and cut small rounds of the pastry.
Place the pastry inside the minitart pansand press it down using your clean hands.
Cut off the extra edges. Make holes in the bottom of the pan with a fork and place them in the freezer for at least 20 minutes.
Bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the crust is lightly golden brown in color. Remove from the oven and let it cool while making the filling.
Expert Tips
- Use COLD butterfor the crust, we suggest cutting the butter into cubes and then placing it in the fridge, so when you are ready to use it, it will be very cold.
- If the crust puffs a bit while baking, press it down using a cup.
- Before you bake the shells, place them in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up. This ensures that the pastry keeps its shape and bakes perfectly.
- Let the pastry dough rest in the fridge for at least 1 hourbefore handling it. This makes sure that the pastry doesn't rise quicklywhile baking.
- Use aneasy-release tartlets pan.We use an easy-releasetartlets panfor all of our tart recipes. This makes sure that your delicious mini fruit tart will be easy to release from the pan.
- If the dough is too hard to roll, let it sit at room temperature until it's easier to roll out.
Faq's
What size are mini tart shells?
These mini tart shells are made with 4-inch mini tart pans. They can be made with any size of mini tart pans. You can use 2-3 inch molds that can make even more mini tarts!
What can I use instead of a mini tart pan?
You can use a muffin tin instead of a mini tart pan for this. This is a great hack that makes it super easy to make mini tart shells.
Follow the same instructions, but instead of cutting the dough to fit the 4-inch tart pans, cut it to fit the muffin pan.
Do I need to thaw frozen tart shells?
Yes. Thaw the frozen tart shells at room temperature for an hour or overnight in the fridge.
What are the different types of tart shells?
There are five types of tart shells: shortcrust tart shells (Sucrée), choux, puff pastry, phyllo dough, and flakey dough (brisée).
Storing
Store these tart shells at room temperature sealed in an airtight container for up to a week. Or store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
Freezing
You can freeze the tart dough for up to a month. Wrap it in a few layers of plastic wrap and store it in an airtight container.
Thaw in the fridge overnight or at room temperature until you can roll it and the dough is not too hard.
You can also freeze the baked tart shells in an airtight container for up to a month. Thaw in the fridge overnight for best results.
Make ahead instructions
You can make these shells ahead of time by prepping the dough for up to 3 days in advance, and when you are ready to bake, let the dough sit at room temperature for 20 minutes to make it easier to roll. Then follow the rest of the instructions.
Substitutions
Gluten-free-make these gluten-free by replacing the flour withgluten-free flour.
Dairy-free-to make these dairy free, swap the butter in with vegan butter.
Variations
Chocolate- make this crust into chocolate mini tart shells by using this recipe from my mini chocolate tarts recipe.
Filling ideas for mini tarts
- Vanilla pastry cream- use the vanilla pastry cream from my mini fruit tarts recipe.
- Mascarpone whipped cream- if you want a lighter filling for your tarts, use my mascarpone whipped cream.
- Chocolate ganache- another delicious filling for tarts is classic chocolate ganache. You can use the recipe from my mini chocolate tarts recipe.
- Lemon curd- lemon curd is a delish and very popular tart filling. You can use my recipe from my lemon curd cake.
- Salted caramel- fill your tart shells with homemade salted caramel sauce.
- Strawberry compote- for a light and fruity filling, fill your tarts with an easy strawberry compote or any other fruit compote. Then top it with whipped cream for the best experience.
More tart recipes
Lemon tart- This lemon tart is made with a buttery pastry crust and filled with a zesty lemon curd filling. This tart is a ray of sunshine in a dessert!
Mini Chocolate Tarts- These mini chocolate tarts are made with a buttery shortcrust pastry and filled with a silky smooth and rich chocolate ganache.
Oreo Tart- This oreo tart is made with an oreo tart crust, topped with an incredibly creamy chocolate filling, topped with whipped cream and oreo chunks.
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📖 Recipe
Mini Tart Shells (Tartlet Shells)
These mini tart shells are mini tartlet shells made with an easy buttery shortcrust dough that does not require blind baking!
5 from 5 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 40 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
chill time 1 hour hr
Total Time 2 hours hrs
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Servings 10 mini tart shells
Calories 181 kcal
Ingredients
Mini tart crust
- 115 g Butter unsalted
- 1 Egg
- ½ cup Powder sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 250 g Flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
In afood processor, add the flour, powdered sugar, and salt, and mix until combined.
Add the cold cubed butter, and blend until there are pea-sized pieces of butter. If you don't have afood processor, you can do it by hand, mixing the cold butter into the flour mixture. Make sure that your hands are cold.
Then, add the egg, and thevanilla extractand mix until a dough forms. Try not to overmix the dough.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
Transfer the dough onto a clean floured surface and roll it with arolling pininto a rectangle.
Use a cookie cutter or a round bowl (1 inch larger than themini tart pans) and cut small rounds of the pastry.
Place the pastry inside the minitart pansand press it down using your clean hands.
Cut off the extra edges. Make holes in the bottom of the pan with a fork and place them in the freezer for at least 20 minutes.
Bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the crust is a light golden brown color. Remove from the oven and let it cool while making the filling.
Notes
- Use COLD butterfor the crust, we suggest cutting the butter into cubes and then placing it in the fridge, so when you are ready to use it, it will be very cold.
- If the crust puffs a bit while baking, press it down using a cup.
- Before you bake the shells, place them in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up. This ensures that the pastry keeps its shape and bakes perfectly.
- Let the pastry dough rest in the fridge for at least 1 hourbefore handling it. This makes sure that the pastry doesn't rise quicklywhile baking.
- Use aneasy-release tartlets pan.We use an easy-releasetartlets panfor all of our tart recipes. This makes sure that your delicious mini fruit tart will be easy to release from the pan.
- If the dough is too hard to roll, let it sit at room temperature until it's easier to roll out.
Nutrition
Calories: 181kcalCarbohydrates: 25gProtein: 3gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 139mgPotassium: 36mgFiber: 1gSugar: 0.1gVitamin A: 311IUCalcium: 9mgIron: 1mg
Keyword Mini Tart Shells, Tartlet Shells
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5 from 5 votes (5 ratings without comment)
