Butter Tart Bars

gluten free butter tart bars

Everyone seems to have their favorite Christmas treat... the one thing the holidays just wouldn't be complete without. For my husband it is shortbread, my brother in law needs his sugar cookies, I have a weakness for caramel corn, and my dad craves his butter tarts. I have to admit, they are definitely one of my favorites as well. Thankfully for us celiacs and gluten avoiding Christmas tree huggers everywhere, my mom has developped a great gluten free version... in the form of bars. Let's face it, no one really has the time or energy to make those little individual butter tarts anyway, especially in December. The butter tart bar version is much faster and easier to make (especially if you're working with finicky - aka crumbly - gf flours).

I really couldn't let Christmas pass without posting our recipe for this sweet, delicious, raisin studded square:)

(makes 8x8 pan)

Ingredients

1 cup gf pie crust dough (recipe here)

1/3 cup Butter or Margerine
1 cup Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Milk or Cream
1/2 cup Raisins (you could substitute pecans)
1 Egg, beaten
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions

Crust

Grease an 8x8 baking dish.
Press the pie crust dough into the dish so that it comes up the sides 3/4 inch.
Bake for 6-8 minutes at 350, until barely firm but not brown.
(if you made the whole crust recipe and have leftover dough, use it for small sugar cookies or freeze for future use)

crust before baking

crust after baking

Filling

Melt butter or margarine in a saucepan.
Mix vanilla, egg, milk and brown sugar and add to sauce pan, stirring constantly.
Add raisins to pan.
Bring to a boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Pour into prepared crust.
Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, or until crust begins to brown.
Let cool for 20 minutes, then cut into small squares.
Let cool completely and remove from the baking pan.
Freeze to keep fresh (separating layers with parchment paper). Let thaw at room temperature to eat.

melt the margarine

mix other ingredients separately

add to the melted margarine

add raisins and boil for 1 minute

pour into prepared crust

after baking

cool for 20 minute and cut into squares