Date Tart Remix with Almond Extract

Three pounds of Medjool dates and no plan. This happened. A butter tart remix that ditches the corn syrup and swaps in actual dates instead. The filling stays rich and buttery, but tastes cleaner. Almond extract does something strange—it doesn’t taste like almond, just makes the whole thing taste more like itself. Takes 1 hour 30 minutes total. Worth every minute.

Why You’ll Love This

The crust is homemade pop tart dough, basically. You can use it for anything. Keep it in the freezer.

Dates replace the sticky sweetness of corn syrup. Real fruit. Dissolves into the filling while it bakes, or stays whole—your choice.

Almond extract is vegetarian, obviously, but also weird in a good way. One teaspoon per tart and you stop noticing it. Two teaspoons and suddenly people ask what’s different.

No corn syrup needed. This butter tart filling works without it. Tastes less one-dimensional.

The Crust — Just the Dough You Need

Flour. Salt. A pinch, not more. Sugar—just enough to make the crust taste like something. Cold unsalted butter diced small. Ice-cold milk, a splash at a time.

The food processor does the work. Pulse the dry stuff first. Then the butter in short bursts until it looks like coarse sand. This matters. If you overbeat, the crust gets tough. Nobody wants that.

Add milk slowly. Pulse. Stop the second the dough starts clumping. It looks barely mixed. That’s right. Overwork it and the crust turns dense.

Wrap it. Chill 35 minutes. This isn’t optional. Cold dough rolls out without fighting back.

Roll thin. Press into your tart pan—23 centimeters square or 25 centimeters round, doesn’t matter. Keep the edges neat but don’t obsess. Rustic works.

Back in the fridge for 25 minutes. Then you bake. Oven to 175°C (347°F), rack on the lowest position.

Building the Filling — Butter, Almond, Dates

Softened butter. Brown sugar. Not white. Brown has molasses. It matters here. Beat them together 3 minutes. Pale. Fluffy. Creamy.

Eggs one at a time. Beat hard after each one. Don’t skip this step. The air you’re beating into the filling makes it light instead of dense.

Flour. Just 40 milliliters. Stir it in. The mixture gets thick and glossy. Thick enough that it holds the dates.

Almond extract. 10 milliliters, which is 2 teaspoons. This is the whole point. Not almond flavored—just sharpens everything else.

Pour it into the chilled crust. Spread it even. Then take your 12 Medjool dates. Pit them. Dot them across the top, whole or halved, spaced out so everyone gets some. They’ll sink slightly as it bakes. That’s fine.

Bake 55 minutes. The edges go golden. The center still moves a little when you jiggle the pan. That slight wobble means it’s done. If the center’s totally firm, you’ve baked it too long and it’ll dry out as it cools.

Cool it on a rack. Warm or room temperature. Doesn’t matter much. Some people serve it cold. Never tried that. Probably fine.

Mistakes and Fixes — What Actually Goes Wrong

Crust too crumbly means you didn’t add enough milk. Milk holds it together. Add a few drops more next time.

Crust too tough means you worked it too much. The gluten developed. It happens. Use a lighter hand. Let the food processor do it. Don’t hand-mix.

Filling cracks on top means you overbaked. That wobble in the center is everything. Takes practice to see it. Use your eyes, not a timer.

Dates turning black means the oven runs hot. Check it at 50 minutes next time. Every oven’s different. Mine bakes faster than the recipe says. Yours might not.

The filling doesn’t hold the dates because you didn’t beat the butter and sugar enough at the start. Go three full minutes. It makes the batter thick enough to suspend them.

Date Tart Remix with Almond Extract

By Emma

Prep:

35 min

Cook:

55 min

Total:

1h 30min

Servings:

8 servings

Ingredients

• Crust
• 220 ml (7/8 cup) unbleached flour
• a pinch of salt
• 38 ml (2 1/2 tbsp) sugar
• 80 ml (1/3 cup) cold unsalted butter, diced
• 35 ml (2 1/2 tbsp) ice-cold milk, more if needed
• Filling
• 140 ml (9 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
• 225 ml (7/8 cup) brown sugar
• 10 ml (2 tsp) almond extract
• 2 large eggs
• 40 ml (3 tbsp) flour
• 12 large Medjool dates, pitted

Method

1. Crust
2. 1 Place flour salt and sugar in food processor bowl. Pulse to mix.
3. 2 Add cold butter chunks. Pulse in short bursts until coarse crumbs form.
4. 3 Pour in cold milk a bit at a time. Pulse till dough just starts clumping together. Add more milk dropwise if dry.
5. 4 Dump dough onto counter. Shape gently into ball but don’t overwork.
6. 5 Wrap in cling film, chill 35 minutes.
7. 6 Roll out dough and press into 23 cm square removable bottom tart pan or 25 cm round. Keep edges neat but rustic.
8. 7 Return crust to fridge 25 minutes to firm up.
9. 8 Put oven rack in lowest position. Preheat oven to 175°C (347°F).
10. Filling
11. 9 In bowl, beat softened butter with brown sugar and almond extract for about 3 minutes until light and creamy.
12. 10 Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
13. 11 Stir in flour until combined. Mixture will be thick and glossy.
14. 12 Pour filling into chilled crust, spreading evenly.
15. 13 Dot tops with whole pitted Medjool dates, spacing as desired.
16. 14 Bake about 55 minutes or until edges are golden and filling set but slightly wobbly center.
17. 15 Remove from oven. Let cool on rack until warm or room temperature.
18. 16 Serve plain or with a dollop of crème fraîche for contrast.

Nutritional information

Calories

380

Protein

4g

Carbs

45g

Fat

22g

Print Recipe Save to Pinterest

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you make this a butter tart filling recipe without corn syrup? That’s this one. Brown sugar replaces the sticky stuff. Same richness, less throat-coat feeling. Works every time.

What’s the best butter tart filling recipe if you want to use dates? The one you’re looking at. Medjool dates melt into the filling as it bakes, or stay whole if you want them. They dissolve partway. Sort of both.

Can you use a pop tart just the crust without the filling? Absolutely. That crust works for anything—fruit, custard, just butter and sugar. Keep it and freeze it. Crust stays good frozen for months.

How thick should the pop tart crust be? Thin enough that you can see your hand through it if you hold it up. Not paper-thin. Just thin. The crust should barely taste like it’s there—it’s just the delivery system.

Is this vegetarian? Yes. Eggs, butter, milk, flour, dates, almond extract. All vegetarian. No gelatin. No weird additives.

Can you swap the almond extract for something else? Vanilla works. Tastes more normal. Almond extract does something weird and good—without it, this is just a regular butter tart with dates. With it, something shifts. Hard to explain. Try it once with almond, once without, and decide.

How do you know when it’s done baking? The edges are golden. The center jiggled when you nudge the pan but doesn’t slosh. If it’s totally solid, it’s overdone. If it jiggles a lot, it’s underdone. That wobble is everything.

Does it need to cool completely before serving? No. Warm is actually better. The butter flavor comes through more. Room temperature is fine too. Cold is the only way I wouldn’t serve it, but only because I haven’t tried it yet.