My sister loves the little Brown Sugar Walnut Tarts from Starbucks so I decided to try my own version and make some at home. The Starbucks tart uses a shortbread crust but I used a traditional pie crust to create a really flakey crisp buttery crust to house the sweet brown sugar, cinnamon, walnut filling. A little drizzle of a simple powdered sugar glaze and I think these pastries might be even better than Starbucks. Here is how you can make your own.
Dough: Start with the pie crust recipe found here. This is enough dough for six 3" x 3" tarts. Make the dough according to the recipe and roll out into a 1/8" thick rectangle shape. Using a ruler, lightly trace out the 3" x 3" squares and place dough in freezer until firm. When dough is firm, use a sharp knife or pastry wheel cutter to cut out the squares. Place squares in refrigerator or freezer to keep firm.
Brown Sugar Walnut Filling:
1 egg white at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup toasted walnuts chopped fine
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process until well combined. Transfer filling to small bowl and set aside. This recipe makes plenty of filling (probably enough for 30 tarts!) but i'm not sure how to scale down the recipe. You can always freeze the leftover filling to use later.
Assembly: Preheat oven to 350 degrees with a rimmed baking sheet set on the lowest rack. Remove dough squares from fridge and pair the tops and bottoms. Brush the edges of the bottom square with water or egg wash. Put a scant 1 teaspoon of filling in the middle of square.
Place second square on top and gently press down the edges. Repeat with remaining squares. When all square are finished, use a fork to repress down the edges of each tart to make sure that each tart is sealed. Place sealed tarts into freezer for 30 minutes or until ready to bake.
When ready to bake, brush the tops of the tarts lightly with some egg wash (lightly beat one egg and brush onto dough) and place on heated baking sheet in oven. Bake tarts for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown and puffy. Let tarts cool completely before drizzling with glaze.
Glaze: While tarts are cooling make the glaze.
water
powdered sugar
small bowl
Mix some powdered sugar and a little water together to create a semi-thick icing. Drizzle over the tops of the cooled tarts and let set for 15 minutes before serving.
Comments