This easy to make mini lemon tart recipe is full of citrus flavor. These bite-sized treats are made with a flaky crust and filled with a lemon filling that is the perfect combination of sweet and tart.
Mini lemon tarts are a delicious and refreshing citrus flavored dessert. This super easy recipe uses only nine ingredients.
Mini or bite-size desserts are great for serving at parties. These little tarts are similar to apple pie tarts and mini s'mores pies.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- Butter - unsalted + softened
- Cream cheese - softened
- Granulated Sugar
- Salt
- Flour
For the filling
- Lemon Juice
- Lemon Zest
- Granulated Sugar
- Eggs
- Sour Cream
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
Try out these ingredient substitutions if you need to make a few replacements.
- Store-bought crust - If you want to speed this up you can use a store-bought pie crust instead of making your own.
- Pre-made lemon curd - another way to make these even faster and easier is to buy lemon curd instead of making your own lemon filling.
- Make them in a full size tin - We used mini muffin tins for these making them extra small and bite size. However, you can use a regular size muffin tin and simply make them slightly bigger.
If you're looking for other lemon flavors, try some of these lemon desserts as well.
Instructions
Follow these easy step by step instructions to bake up a batch of your own mini lemon tarts.
Step one: preheat oven to 370° f and spray you are muffin tins with a non-stick cooking spray.
Step two: add butter, sugar, salt and cream cheese into the mixing bowl and mix on medium speed until well combined.
Step three: adding flour and mix on medium low scraping sides down as needed until we'll combined.
Step four: Pat dough into a 1-in thick disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.
Step five: once there was chilled, roll it out to ⅛th of an inch thickness and use your cookie cutter to cut it into circles. Continue rerolling scraps and cutting until all has been used.
Step six: add lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, eggs and sour cream to a mixing bowl and mix until well combined.
Step seven: place your circles of dough into the bottom of the muffin tins pressing the bottoms and sides together. Then, spoon some of your lemon filling into each hole. Bake at for 20 to 24 minutes.
Hint: prevent your tarts from overflowing by leaving a little room at the top of each and not filling completely with lemon filling.
Recipe Tips for Success
- Secure the crust- when you place your round crusts and the muffin tins press it down into the bottom and then press the sides into the sides of the tin so that it is well secured.
- Don't overbake- The crust should be slightly browned and filling should be just set when they're ready.
Storage
These can be stored for 3 to 5 days in an airtight container and the refrigerator.
Or, you can freeze them for 3 to 6 months. It's best to flash freeze them by putting them in the freezer on a cookie sheet or in the muffin tin. And then packaging them in an airtight container or freezer bags.
Mini Lemon Tarts
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Hand or Stand Mixer
- Rolling Pin
- 2 ⅝ round cookie cutter
- Muffin/cupcake tin
- Measuring Cups and spoons
Ingredients
For the crust
- 12 tablespoons butter unsalted + softened
- 6 oz cream cheese softened
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- .5 teaspoons salt
- 1.5 cups flour
For the filling
- .5 cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- ⅓ cup sour cream
Instructions
For the crust
- Add 12 tablespoons butter, 6 oz cream cheese, 2 teaspoons sugar, .5 teaspoon salt in a mixing bowl and mix on medium until smooth.
- Add in 1.5 cups flour and mix on low, scraping sides down as needed until well combined.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and flatten into a disc that's about 1 in thick. Then chill for at least an hour.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and spray mini muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray.
- Once dough is chilled, roll it out to about ⅛ inch thickness.
- Use the 2 ⅝ round cookie cutter and cut dough into circles. Reroll scraps as needed and keep cutting rounds until all the dough is used.
- Place the dough circles into the muffin tin holes and gently press it into the bottom and sides of the cavity
For filling
- Mix .5 cup lemon juice, 1 tablespoon lemon zest, 1 cup sugar, 3 eggs and ⅓ cup sour cream together in a medium bowl. Mix until smooth.
- Carefully fill each muffin tin/crust with lemon filling. Leaving a little room at the top of each crust so they don't overflow.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 20 - 24 minutes. Filling should be set and crust should be slightly browned.
Notes
- You can use store bought pie crust if you want to skip making your own.
- Make sure not to overfill the tarts with the lemon filling or it will spill over the edges during cooking.
- You can also use a full size muffin tin, if preferred. You will need to make the cookie cutter larger in size.
- You can keep these in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 - 4 days.
- Or, you can freeze them for 3 - 6 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is just an estimate and may vary based on specific ingredients used.
