Raspberry Tartlets




My mother’s favorite holiday cookie combination is anything with nuts and a touch of raspberry. To satisfy her craving, I used to slave for hours over a batch of all-butter Linzer hearts. Rolling out batches of sticky, buttery dough was not my favorite way to spend the busy holiday season, so I came up with these luscious little Raspberry Tartlets.

With the help of my Viking food processor and a small cookie scoop, I’ve come up with a quick version of Mom’s favorite with a fraction of the work. While I love the flavor of hazelnuts in the tartlets, feel free to substitute whatever nuts you have on hand. Pecans or walnuts are particularly good. The nutty tart shells also make a delicious base for lemon or lime curd. Simply bake the shells, top each with a dollop of curd and refrigerate until ready to serve for luscious little party pick-up sweets.

  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts
  • 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam or raspberry preserves
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine all ingredients except preserves in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until hazelnuts are finely chopped and the mixture forms a ball of dough. Use a small cookie scoop to fill mini muffin tins 3/4 full with the dough. Make an imprint with your thumb or forefinger in each tart shell, top each shell with 1/2 teaspoon of jam and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden.

Makes approximately 30 tartlets.