Vegan, dairy free and egg free version of classic jam tarts! A butter free shortbread cookie filled with an easy raspberry jam.
It's been a while since I've posted a new recipe and I apologise! But I do have a good reason - more on that later. One of my favourite childhood treats were jam tartlets which were cheap packaged treats available at major supermarkets. They are normally a shortcrust/cookie-like base filled with strawberry or raspberry jam and some type of yellow jam (perhaps apricot?!). I loooved the strawberry/jam ones and would oven lick out all of the jam first then savour the cookie. Slightly gross I know but delicious and fun! Haha. Major supermarkets don't sell the exact ones from my childhood anymore but luckily they are super easy to make with this recipe!
How to make jam tartlets
First, I made a vegan olive oil shortcrust pastry which had only 3 ingredients! I'm sure you could use another vegetable oil or vegan butter if you prefer the taste of them. I popped them in my trusty silicone trays and crimped the edges with a fork. They were perfectly 'buttery', flaky and just melted in my mouth.
I also made strawberry jam from scratch, using only 2 ingredients (plus water). Other types of berries or fruit would work as well. Or you can just use store-bought jam!
Since these are so easy to make, they would totally be kid friendly! An adult will be needed to bake the tarts but little hands would actually be better for shaping those tarts!
Announcement!
So, BIG NEWS! I'm working on MY FIRST COOKBOOK! Boom boom! A publisher approached me out of the blue a few months ago and it was the best news I could've received. It is a lot of hard work but I love immersing myself in big projects like this... in fact, it's pure bliss! The book will focus on desserts and contain some of the most treasured recipes from my cake business, my childhood and family. I've been giving little behind the scene pictures and videos on my Instagram feed and stories so make sure you're following me there! We anticipate the book to be released late 2019, so stay tuned.
Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Easy vegan jam tartlets
Ingredients
Quick Strawberry Jam
- ~½ cup (75g) whole fresh or frozen strawberries*
- ¼ cup (35g) sweetener or sugar, of choice
- 1 teaspoon chia seeds, optional
Shortcrust pastry
- 2 ½ cups (310g) plain or all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (125g) vegetable oil, such as olive, sunflower or rapeseed, or any other vegetable oil
- ¼ cup (35g) powdered sugar / icing sugar
Instructions
- For the strawberry jam: Add strawberries, sugar and a dash of water to a small saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Stir while mashing the strawberries to release their juices. Reduce to a simmer over medium heat for 5-10 minutes stirring occasionally until the mixture has thickened. Add chia seeds if desired. Puree jam with a stick blender and set aside.
- For the pastry: Add all ingredients to a bowl or food processor and mix until evenly combined. The dough should be quite soft but pliable and can be pinched between two fingers without breaking**. Set aside in an airtight container in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Dust a clean surface with a few tablespoons of flour. Place the chilled dough on top and use a rolling pin or your hands to flatten to around 5mm thick.
- Use a cookie cutter, rim of a glass or knife to cut out circular shapes a little bigger than the bottom of your cupcake or tart moulds. Arrange the circles of dough onto the bottom of the moulds allowing the sides to slightly come up to form a crust. Re-roll the remaining pastry and repeat until all of the dough has been used up***. Use a small spoon or your fingertips to shape the dough as desired. Crimp the edges with a fork and spoon jam into the centre of each tartlet.
- Bake tartlets in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool completely in the moulds and enjoy! Keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, in the fridge for 1 week and in the freezer for up to 1 month
Notes
** The ratio of flour to oil and lack of egg creates a delicate dough, which you can see in the second picture in the post. The ratio worked for me but may differ for you depending on your ingredients, the humidity of your environment etc. If your dough is too dry, add one tablespoon of oil at a time and mix until there are no crumbs. If your dough is too wet, add one tablespoon of flour at a time until there is no excess oil.
*** If this is too fiddly for you, you can pinch small balls of dough and flatten them in your cupcake/tart moulds.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I will respond as soon as possible. Rainbow Nourishments receives a high number of questions through social media and email and is unable to respond to each individual query. Comments on this post are more likely to receive a response!
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment and rating! This will help me, other readers and allow this blog to be seen by more people. If you post your creation on social media, please tag @rainbownourishments and #rainbownourishments.
Do you think I could use lemon olive oil for the crust?
Yes absolutely!
Delicious ? made them today, I had to add water and a little vegan margerine 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 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 me day 🙂
Congrats Anthea!!!
Thanks Scruff!