Valentine’s Day Butter & Jam Tarts

I always think that Valentine’s Day is the sweetest little holiday to brighten the winter weeks. While we don’t really do gifts (but definitely do cards and flowers) and forgo restaurant reservations (but consistently make a special dinner), it’s a day I always look forward to. And having a little one makes it feel extra special! Madeleine is so taken with holidays (I wonder where she gets that from!) that it’s really fun to celebrate in kid-friendly ways.

This year, we’re making the Butter and Jam Tarts shown above! They’re made of flaky pastry, filled with our very favorite jam, and require absolutely zero special ingredients. Madeleine loves using cookie cutters, so she helps me cut the hearts out of the top pastry layer and then I do the rest. The tarts are delicate and buttery and best eaten the same day they’re made (preferably in the afternoon with a cup of tea!), so my favorite trick is to bake just what we’ll devour in the day, then freeze the rest for another time. They’re the perfect sweet for a day that celebrates our sweethearts. Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Butter & Jam Tarts

adapted from Better Homes & Gardens

• Yield: 12-14 pastries

• Prep Time: 30 minutes plus resting

• Cook Time: 17 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ cups flour

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ¾ cup cold butter, cut into cubes

• 1 egg, beaten

• 2-4 tablespoons milk

• Bonne Maman quatre-fruits jam (or your favorite jam!)

Directions:

Mix flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Sprinkle butter over mixture, then process until it resembles course meal. Add the egg, blend well. Gradually add the milk one tablespoon at a time, stopping when the mixtures comes together in a ball. Separate the ball into two disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and allow it to chill for 20-30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 375°. Lightly flour your work surface and roll out one disk of pastry to ¼-inch thickness. Using 2-inch circular cookie cutters*, cut out as many disks as possible. Using heart-shaped cookie cutters, cut designs in the top layers of the pastry. When ready to assemble, lay the bottom pastry pieces on parchment or silpat-lined baking trays. Add a dollop of jam in the center of the pastries. Use milk to wet the edges of the pastry, then top with another pastry cutout. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal. If you’re adding heart pastry pieces, apply a little milk to the pastry to get it to stick. Repeat with second ball of pastry. Finally, brush pastry with a milk wash, then bake for about 17 minutes. Serve warm. 

*NOTE: I cut the pastries pictured above freehand but then decided it was too much work! Using a cookie cutter makes the tarts more precise and less complicated.