Vegan Jam Tarts
Vegan jam tarts with a buttery shortcrust pastry filled with an easy homemade (or store-bought) raspberry jam. These classic tarts are made with common pantry ingredients and come together in less than 1 hour.
What are jam tarts?
Jam tarts are popular British and Australian treats filled with jam, marmalade or lemon curd and often enjoyed with a cup of tea. Traditionally, they aren’t vegan as they contain dairy butter and sometimes eggs. However, it’s easy to make vegan jam tarts at home!
Simple ingredients you’ll need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Notes about the ingredients
Vegan block butter for the crispiest shortcrust pastry. You may use vegan spreadable butter (margarine), however, your pastry will be softer to handle and you will not need to add any water.
Powdered sugar for the pastry, as it dissolves quicker than granulated sugar.
Raspberries or strawberries if you’re making your own jam. You can use either fresh or frozen berries!
Cornstarch to thicken the jam. For a healthier filling, you can skip the corn starch and make a chia seed jam (see quantities in the notes of the recipe card).
Making the quick jam (or use store-bought)
It only takes 10 minutes to make a quick homemade ‘jam’ for these vegan tarts!
Add all the jam ingredients to a small saucepan and mix until combined. Make sure there are no lumps of cornstarch!
Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook to soften the berries. At this point, mash the berries with a fork or blend with a handheld blender.
Continue to cook the mixture until it has thickened (keep in mind that the jam will thicken when it cools). It should have a consistency similar to store-bought jam.
Tips for making sweet shortcrust pastry
Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until just combined. Alternatively, use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or mix the ingredients in a large bowl with a wooden spoon (and a lot of arm power).
The dough is ready when you can pinch it between two fingers, and it sticks together (like Image 4). If your dough is too dry, add a dash of water and mix again. Or if your dough is too sticky, add a little flour and mix again.
If you’re short on time, you can always use store-bought shortcrust pastry or puff pastry.
Assembling the jam tarts
On a lightly floured surface, roll out your shortcrust pastry to about 5 mm (1/4 inch) thick. This thickness creates a good pastry-to-jam ratio. Keep in mind that the pastry puffs up a little when baked!
Then use a fluted or regular cookie cutter to cut circles out of your pastry. Repeat these steps until you have used up your pastry!
I used a mini tart pan for this jam tart recipe. Alternatively, you can use any muffin pan or egg tart molds.
Generously grease your tart pan to prevent any sticking. Then, press the rounds of pastry against the bottom and sides of each mold to form a crust. If you use a muffin pan, the pastry should come up the sides by around 1.5 cm (0.6 inches).
Then, dollop 1 tablespoon of jam into each tart shell. If your jam is thick, you may want to use a teaspoon to flatten it out.
Baking the jam tarts
The raspberry jam tarts are ready when the edges are slightly golden brown, and the filling starts to bubble.
Straight out of the oven, the little tarts are very delicate so I recommend allowing them to cool in their tart pans. When they’re cool, they’ll be easy to pop out of the pans. But if any stick, you can ease them out with a blunt knife.
Customizing these jam tarts
I haven’t tested the pastry with gluten-free flour. However, normally I can substitute all-purpose flour with a 1:1 combination of almond flour and all-purpose gluten-free flour (as long as it contains xantham gum). Gluten-free pastry is often more delicate and should be pressed directly into the tart pan, rather than rolled out.
Any fruit jam such as strawberry jam, apricot jam, blueberry jam or orange marmalade. Or even lemon curd!
You can also:
– make little pastry hearts from the excess pastry and place them on the jam before baking. Perfect for Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day!
– create a criss-cross lattice design for the top
More easy vegan cookies
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Vegan Jam Tarts
Ingredients
Quick Raspberry Jam (alternatively, use 350g of a thick store-bought jam)
- ~ 1 cup (150g) fresh or frozen raspberries, chopped strawberries or fruit of choice
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar, powdered sugar or sweetener, to taste
- ¼ cup (60g) water, or as needed
- 2 tablespoons (14g) cornstarch / corn flour, (note 1 for chia seed replacement)
Shortcrust pastry
- 1 ¾ cups (220g) all-purpose plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 125g vegan block butter, room temperature (note 2 for alternatives)
- ⅓ cup (35g) powdered sugar / icing sugar
- 3 tablespoons (45g) cold water, plus more if needed
Instructions
Make the raspberry jam (skip if using store-bought):
- Add all the ingredients to a small saucepan and mix until just combined. Make sure there aren't any lumps of corn starch.
- Place the saucepan over medium heat. Mash the berries with the back of a fork or a stick blender. Stir the mixture for 5-10 minutes or until it has thickened and has a consistency similar to store-bought jam. If the mixture is too thick, add a dash of water to thin out. If the mixture is too runny, cook the jam for a little longer.
- Set aside the jam to cool. The jam will thicken as it cools.
Make the shortcrust pastry:
- Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl or food processor. Mix until the dough starts to clump together. The dough should be quite soft but pliable and can be pinched between two fingers without breaking. If the dough is too dry, add 1 tablespoon of water and mix again. If the dough is too wet, add 1 tablespoon of flour and mix again.
- On a lightly floured work surface, gently press the dough into a smooth ball (note 3).
Assemble and bake the vegan jam tarts:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease around 20 mini shallow tart tins.
- On a clean floured surface, use a rolling pin to flatten the dough to around 5 mm (1/4 inch) thick.
- Use a 6 cm (2 1/2 inches) fluted cookie cutter to cut circles out of your pastry. Gently press the pastry circles into your tart moulds. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Use your fingertips or some leftover pastry to press the pastry against the bottom and sides of each tart mold.
- Dollop around 1 tablespoon of jam in the middle of each tart. If needed, smooth out the jam in each tart.
- Bake the vegan jam tarts for around 20 minutes or until the tarts are slightly golden brown. Place your pans on a wire rack and let the tarts completely cool in their pans.
- Remove the tarts from their pans and enjoy! Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, in the fridge for 1 week or in the freezer for up to 1 month
Notes
- For a chia seed raspberry jam, omit the water and replace the corn starch with 2 teaspoons of white chia seeds.
- Spreadable vegan margarine will also work, but I recommend omitting the water and adding more flour if your dough is too soft. You can also use softened coconut oil in the same quantity. But, I suggest adding a generous pinch of salt to mimic the buttery flavor. If you’d like to use a liquid oil, you’ll need to use different quantities for the pastry. Please use 2 1/2 cups (310g) all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup (125g) oil and 1/3 cup (35g) powdered sugar. The oil-based pastry is more delicate than the butter version and needs to be pressed directly into the tart pan.
- At this stage, you can use the pastry immediately or chill it in the fridge until needed.
This recipe and post were originally published in 2018 and updated in 2022.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
Were these made in a mini tart pan? 😋 Where would you recommend getting one?
Hi Lesa, yes I used a mini tart pan! The pans I used are very old, but I usually get my baking equipment from Amazon. If you type in ‘tartlet pan’ or ‘egg tart mold’, a few options appear. Some of them are indidivudal molds, rather than in a tray. Alternatively, a mini cupcake pan will also work. I hope that helps 🙂
Hello – they look so lovely. Do you know if I can simply replace the vegan butter with normal butter to make it non-vegan?
Hi Hiroko! Thank you :). Technically they should work with regular butter but I haven’t tested it so I’m not 100% sure if you’ll need to add an extra teaspoon of milk/flour. I hope that helps!
Hi there. I’m considering making these for Christmas eve this year as the beautiful red that raspberry jam has would be perfect for the occasion.
Only, I’m wondering if it would be best to use salted or unsalted butter in this recipe. I typically use Miyokos when a butter bar is called for.
Thanks for this recipe!
Hi Betty! I used salted butter for this recipe (that’s all I could find) and it was perfect! Unsalted butter will still work but I recommend adding a generous pinch of salt, to taste. I hope that helps and that you enjoy making these tarts/cookies!
Can this also be made Gluten Free?
Possibly! Normally a combination of almond flour and gluten-free all-purpose flour works the best for me. For this recipe, it would be around 125g of each flour. However, I haven’t tested it so can’t vouch for results. I hope that helps!
I made these jam tarts today and they were divine. I did use store bought jam, but I’ll definitely make them again using your jam recipe.
Such an easy recipe and the dough came together beautifully.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. It’s definitely a nostalgic one for me.
Aw that’s so lovely to hear, thanks so much for your feedback Sharan! Glad that you found them easy to make too (I love using store-bought jam every now and then too)!
Hello! Do you think I need a cupcake or tart moulds to hold the shape when baking the tartlets or I can shape without using it?
Thank you! I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Hi Rena, the cupcake/tart moulds definitely help to maintain the higher edges and indented middle. However, it’s not 100% necessary. The butter version of the tartlets maintains more of its shape without a mould. I hope that helps!
Delicious! Made them today using a liquid oil. I had to add water and a little vegan margarine as the dough mix was very dry. Once cooked the tarts are really tasty.
So glad to hear and thanks for your feedback! I find that when you measure the flour by cups (for any recipe), the mixture can be a little dry. However, glad you troubleshooted it and you enjoyed eating the tarts!
These are heaven! I baked them for the first time for Christmas and have loved them ever since! I’ve made them like 5 times already and they’re always perfectly delicious!
The dough using liquid oil is a bit difficult to work with, so I simply shape a piece of the dough inside the silicon muffin cups, instead of rolling the dough and cutting it first. It takes some time but nothing crazy and the result is very delicate and perfect to pair with any topping! I tried melted chocolate and walnuts, almonds and honey, and homemade cherry jam with chia, all delicious!! Family and friends love them too!
Thank you for such a simple and delicious recipe!!
So glad you enjoyed them and have baked them many times! Also, I love your technique with the piece of pastry. And all of the toppings you used sound just fabulous :). Thanks for leaving such a lovely comment – made my day 🙂