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 that are often enjoyed for morning or afternoon tea. For decades, Arnotts in Australia used to sell raspberry tartlets in major supermarkets all around the country.
Jam tarts are often filled with jam, marmalade or lemon curd. They aren't traditionally vegan as they contain dairy butter and may contain eggs. However, it's easy to make vegan jam tarts at home!
Ingredients you'll need
This recipe is made using a few common ingredients including:
Notes about the ingredients
Vegan block butter for the crispiest cookie-like 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.
Raspberries or strawberries if you'd like to make your own jam. You can use either fresh or frozen berries!
Powdered sugar for the pastry, as it dissolves quicker than granulated sugar. However, granulated sugar will still work in the pastry for these vegan jam tarts.
Corn starch to thicken the jam. For a healthier jam, you can skip the corn starch and make a chia seed jam (I've listed recipe quantities in the notes of the recipe card).
A complete list of ingredients, quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Making the quick jam (or use store-bought)
It only takes 10 minutes to make a quick homemade 'jam' for these vegan tarts!
Simply add all the jam ingredients to a small saucepan and mix until combined. Make sure there are no lumps of corn starch!
Then place the saucepan over medium heat. Once the berries start to soften, mash them with a fork or a stick blender.
While the jam is cooking, mix it until it has thickened. Your homemade jam should be the same consistency as store-bought jam (you'll get twice the amount of jam than in the pictures below.)
Tips for making shortcrust pastry
To make the pastry, add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until just combined. If you don't have a food processor, you can mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and use your fingers or a pastry cutter.
The final dough should be slightly flaky. If you pinch it between two fingers, it shouldn't crumble. If the dough is too dry, simply add 1 tablespoon of water and mix again. If the dough is too wet, add 1 tablespoon of flour and mix again.
If your home is warm or you overworked your dough, your dough may be too soft to roll out. If it is, simply chill the dough for 30 minutes. Chilling the dough will make your vegan jam tarts easier to assemble!
Assembling the jam tarts
On a lightly floured surface, roll out your shortcrust pastry to about 5 mm (¼ inch) thick. This thickness creates a good pastry-to-jam ratio. Keep in mind that the pastry expands a little when baked!
Then use your fluted cookie cutter to cut circles out of your pastry. I got around 14 circles from my first slab of pastry.
Collect the excess pastry, gently press it into a ball and roll it out again. Repeat until you have no more pastry!
Next, generously grease a mini tart pan with oil or butter and press the circles of pastry into your mold.
If you don't have a tart pan, you can use any cupcake mold. The pastry should come up the sides by around 1.5 cm (0.6 inches).
The pastry should be flexible enough to be shaped but sturdy enough that it won't break easily. If any cracks do appear, simply smooth it back together!
Then, dollop 1 tablespoon of jam into each tart. If your jam is thick, you may want to use a teaspoon to flatten it out..
Baking the vegan jam tarts
The jam tarts are ready when the edges are slightly golden brown, and the filling starts to bubble. We just want to ensure the pastry is cooked through!
Straight out of the oven, the vegan jam 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. If they're a little stuck, ease them out with a butter knife!
Expert tips
Instead of butter, you can use softened coconut oil OR liquid oil. I've listed the quantities in the notes of the recipe card below.
Pastry made with liquid oil is much more delicate than regular pastry. In this case, I recommend that you don't roll out the pastry but press the pastry directly into the tart pan.
I haven't tested this particular recipe 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.
Traditionally, jam tarts are often filled with apricot jam and lemon curd. However, blueberry jam, orange marmalade or any other jam will work!
More easy vegan cookies
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Vegan Jam Tarts
Ingredients
Quick Raspberry Jam (alternatively, use 300g of 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) corn starch, (note 1 for chia seed replacement)
Shortcrust pastry (note 2 for oil-based pastry)
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 125 g vegan block butter, room temperature (note 3)
- ⅓ cup (35g) powdered sugar / icing sugar
- 3 tablespoons (45g) water, or as needed
Instructions
Make the raspberry jam (skip if using store-bought):
- Add all 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 use a stick blender). Stir the mixture for 5-10 minutes or until it has thickened and has a similar consistency to store-bought jam. If the mixture is too thick, add a dash of water and cook the jam until it reaches your desired consistency. If the mixture is too runny, cook the jam for a little longer.
- Set aside the jam to cool. The jam will thicken a little more 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.
- Gently knead the dough into a smooth ball (note 4).
Assemble and bake the vegan jam tarts:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease 24 mini shallow tart tins.
- On a clean floured surface, use a rolling pin to flatten the dough to around 5 mm (¼ inch) thick.
- Use a 6 cm (2 ½ inches) fluted cookie cutter to cut circles out of your pastry. Gently press the pastry circles into your tart moulds. Re-roll the remaining pastry and repeat until all of the dough has been used up.
- Use your fingertips or a small spoon to press the pastry against the bottom and sides of each tart mold. (note 5)
- 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. Allow the tarts to completely cool in the moulds.
- Remove the tarts from their molds 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.
- Alternatively, you can use softened room temperature coconut oil (in the same amount as the butter). I'd recommend adding a generous pinch of salt to mimic the buttery flavor. If you'd like to use liquid oil, use 2 ½ cups (310g) all-purpose plain flour, ½ cup (125g) liquid oil, ⅓ cup (35g) powdered sugar. The oil-based pastry is more delicate than the butter version so should be pressed directly into the tart pan.
- Spreadable vegan margarine will also work for this pastry. However, I'd recommend adding no water and, if needed, adding 1-2 tablespoons of extra flour to ensure the pastry is a workable consistency.
- At this stage, you can use the pastry as is or chill it in the fridge until needed. I'd recommend wrapping the pastry in a food wrap or storing it in an airtight container.
- If this step is too fiddly for you, you can divide the pastry into 24 even parts and press them into your cupcake/tart mold.
Nutrition
This recipe and post were originally published in 2018 and updated in 2022.
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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 🙂