Cherry Cheesecake Butter Tarts:
A butter tart shells, filled with a cheesecake pudding, and topped with cherry pie filling. These Cherry Cheesecake Tarts are a classic holiday dessert that are both impressive and easy to make.
These are the perfect addition to a holiday dessert tray along with Gingerbread Cookies and Peppermint Glazed Butter Cookies.
Calories don’t count at Christmas, right? I sure hope so because I can’t get enough of goodies like Marmae Bars, Chocolate Peppermint Cookies, and Golden Crisp Scotcharoos. But you guys, the real reason I am hoping that Christmas is like Vegas, and what happens there stays there, is this delicious dessert– Cherry Cheesecake Butter Tarts.
They start with a delicious, buttery, sugary, crumbly, amazing butter tart. Then they are then filled with a cheesecake filling, and topped with your favorite pie filling. For these I went with cherry! But you can buy mixed berry, lemon, etc.
And guess what? You don’t even have to put pie filling, you can put whatever topping you want. I love using fresh fruit too.
TheseCherry Cheesecake Butter Tarts look and taste impressive, but are so easy to make. They are like the perfect party treat because they are impressive without being too challenging, can be made ahead, and are easy to salvage if you screw them up! Another easy cookie idea are my no bake cookies.
Let’s talk about the perks for a minute:
Make ahead:
- Cherry Cheesecake Tarts can be made ahead because they keep well. The trick is making the separate components and not combining until you are ready to serve. You don’t want things getting soggy.
- However, you can make the tart shells ahead of time and freeze them, same with the filling. And the topping comes in a can, so that is no problem.
- You could get your holiday dessert ready a couple weeks in advance. I know, when I am getting ready for holiday parties, anything I can prep ahead is a huge win.
- You do need to buy some tart tins. They are inexpensive, you can find some here.
- Once you have the tins, the only tricky part of this recipe is that you have to grease the tart tins well, otherwise it can be hard to get the butter tarts out without ruining them.
- Take your time and rub them down with shortening, or cooking spray, and get in all the creases, and then make sure you remove the tarts while they are still warm. They come out easier that way.
Salvageable:
However, take your cues from someone who has messed up more than once, and not properly greased the tins, not all is lost. If you forget, or your “helpers” aren’t as much as help as you thought, not all is lost. If you screw up, and they break to pieces when you remove them, repurpose them. They make a great crust, a fantastic crumble in a trifle, etc. So whatever you do, don’t throw them away because no matter how they look, they taste awesome.
I love that I can take the cheesecake part, the pie filling part, and the crumpled tarts, and make an impressive and delicious trifle. Now, I don’t tell you this so you think they will get ruined. If you grease your tins well, and remove while they are hot, they should slide right out without a problem. I only say it because life happens, and when it does, or if it does, the beauty of this dessert is that it is still great when it isn’t in tart form!
Okay, I am done waxing on about theseCherry Cheesecake Butter Tarts. But take my word for it, your tastebuds will thank you for making these fruit tarts!
More fruity desserts to try:
Love cherries? Try these Montmorency Tart Cherry Pie Bars they are delicious.
- Dutch Apple Pie
- Berry Compote Parfait
- Chocolate Dipped Fruit Cones & Cheesecake Fruit Dip
- Lemon Squares
- Raspberry Chocolate Ganache Cheesecake
Cherry Cheesecake Butter Tarts
Ingredients
Tart Shells
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/2 cup margarine
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Cheesecake Filling
- 1 box cheesecake flavored instant pudding 3.75 ounces
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- milk according to package directions, minus 1/2 cup
- Cherry Pie Filling jar or canned, or sub another type of pie filling or fresh fruit
Other
- tart tins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a medium sized bowl, cream shortening, margarine, and sugar together.
- Add in the egg, and extract.
- Slowly add flour, and mix until it reaches the consistency of a cookie dough.
- Divide into 25 balls the size of a walnut
- Grease tart tins well with non-stick spray or shortening
- Using your fingers, press one ball of dough into each tin, and flatten with fingers into the bottom and up the sides of the molds.
- Place tart tins on cookie sheet
- Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.
- Meanwhile, mix instant pudding according to package directions, only sub in 1/2 cup of sour cream for 1/2 cup of milk.
- Remove tarts from oven, and immediately remove from tart tins so they do not stick in them. They should slide out pretty easily.
- Let cool completely.
- Fill with the cheesecake pudding mixture and top with pie filling just before serving.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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Dallen Ford says
Stick War says
Katherine says
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