Blueberry Tartlets

Blueberry season should last forever. It can be hard to resist filling your bucket at a U-pick farm during the summer months, or buying way more blueberries than you need from a farm stand or farmers market. If you’re familiar with this dilemma, this recipe for blueberry tartlets is for you. It’s one of the easiest ways to put a fresh fruit dessert on the table fast, and it makes good use of those extra blues rolling around.

You’ll use premade pie crust to shape cute, personal-sized tarts in a muffin pan, then you’ll fill the cups with fresh blueberries, sugar and cornstarch. This is the ultimate summer dessert recipe, and you can make it from start to finish in around 30 minutes. And once you have the recipe down, you can use just about any fruit or berry filling.

Ingredients for Blueberry Tartlets

• Fresh blueberries: Fresh blueberries have a lovely flavor that’s perfect in this simple fruit tart. It helps that blueberries are a superfood with many health benefits.
• Sugar: You’ll use granulated sugar to make the berry filling.
• Cornstarch: Cornstarch tossed with the blueberries turns their runny juices into a rich filling. It’s a great trick to use whenever you’re working with berries.
• Pie crust: The recipe calls for store-bought pie crust, but you can use a homemade version. Classic butter pie pastry is a great fit.
• Egg yolk: An egg wash before baking gives the tarts a nice glaze. You can skip this step or use whole milk instead of egg.

Directions

Step 1: Prepare the blueberries

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Crush half of the blueberries. Sift together the sugar and cornstarch. Add the whole and crushed blueberries to the sugar mixture, and toss until berries are well coated. Set the filling aside.

Step 2: Create the tartlets

Grease six muffin cups. On a lightly floured surface, unroll the crusts. Cut out six 4-1/2-inch circles.

Press the dough into the muffin cups, covering the bottoms and sides.

Evenly spoon in the blueberry mixture.

Cut out six 2-inch circles from the remaining crust.

Place them over the filling. Brush them with the beaten egg yolk.

Step 3: Bake the mini desserts

Bake the tartlets until the crust is golden and the filling bubbles, 13 to 17 minutes. Cool them in the pans for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of muffin cups and transfer the tarts to a serving plate.

Editor’s Tip: These petite treats cook quickly. Check them after 13 minutes, and keep an eye on them until they’re golden brown and cooked through.

Blueberry Tartlets Variations

• Leave off the top crust: Make these mini blueberry tarts without a top crust. Save whatever pie crust you don’t end up using for a different project. Or start with twice as many blueberries, and make twice as many tarts.
• Make a crumb topping: Make a streusel topping instead of a pastry topper. Add nuts like walnuts or pecans for extra crunch.
• Add flavorings: Lemon or lime zest will enhance the fruit flavor, and you can add a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg or cardamom to the blueberry mixture.
• Add a layer: For a more complex dessert, add an extra layer beneath the blueberries like pastry cream or homemade lemon curd. In either case, you’ll want to stop baking the mini blueberry tarts as soon as the crust is cooked through so that the filling doesn’t overbake.
• Change the crust: Other crusts would taste delicious with a fresh blueberry filling, like Scottish shortbread, graham cracker crust or an Oreo pie crust.
• Use different berries: You can use the same tartlet technique with raspberries, blackberries or sliced strawberries.

How to Store Blueberry Tartlets

These individual berry tarts are best stored in the refrigerator sealed in an airtight container. They’ll last up to four days, but they’ll be nicest on the first and second day. You can reheat the tarts for a few minutes at 300° to crisp the dough.

Can you freeze blueberry tartlets?

To freeze blueberry tartlets, let them cool completely and wrap them in storage wrap and aluminum foil. Pop the wrapped tarts into a zip-top bag. They’ll last up to two months in the freezer. Thaw the unwrapped tarts in the fridge overnight, then bake them at 350° for around 10 minutes.

Blueberry Tartlets Tips

Can you use frozen blueberries for blueberry tartlets?

You can, but the filling won’t have the same flavor. To ensure the fruit isn’t too juicy, you could thaw the blueberries overnight in the fridge and drain the juice before using them. Reserve the juice for a smoothie or yogurt bowl.

How can you serve blueberry tartlets?

Serve ’em with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream, a scoop of vanilla, cinnamon or simple lemon ice cream, or a drizzle of heavy cream.