Sweet and tangy mini lemon tarts with buttery shortbread crusts and simple lemon curd filling are delicious and adorable spring and summer desserts!
This post was originally published June 2017 and has been updated.
When life gives you lemons... don't make lemonade?
That's right. Make dessert. Because there's nothing better in the springtime than a bright and cheery lemon dessert! But unfortunately, life does not give me lemons. So I go to my sister's house, because life has blessed her with a whole tree full of gorgeous lemons right in her backyard! And her backyard lemons are just perfect for making mini lemon tarts!
Why You'll Love These Mini Lemon Tarts
- These lemon tarts are simply delicious! With a crisp, buttery shortbread crust with just a hint of vanilla and a smooth, creamy, tart lemon curd filling, they're so cheerful for spring!
- The tiny size is adorable! Bring these perfectly portioned treats to Easter brunch, showers, or make them just because.
- They're a great use for lemon curd. I use homemade lemon curd in this recipe, but if you have a spare jar sitting around, these would be the perfect recipe for using it!
- They're made with just a few simple ingredients that you probably already have - butter, eggs, flour, sugar, lemons. That's just about all you need!
How To Make Mini Lemon Tarts With Shortbread Crust
First, make the crusts.
- Cream butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer). Add the vanilla and mix. Then, mix in the flour and salt.
- Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes. This will make it easier to press into the pans.
- Press the dough into mini tart pans. I use 3.5 inch pans like these.
- Bake the crusts for 10-15 minutes at 300°F until they are golden.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs very well. They should be fully combined and fluffy.
- Combine the lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar and salt in a non-reactive saucepan or pot. Heat over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved, then turn off the heat.
- Temper the eggs by pouring about ½ cup of the warmed lemon mixture into the bowl of eggs, whisking as you pour.
- Pour the egg mixture into the saucepan with the lemon juice, whisking the entire time to prevent curdling.
- Turn the heat back on to low and cook, stirring the entire time, until the mixture has thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the butter.
- If you want your lemon curd super smooth, you can strain it by pushing it through a fine mesh strainer, or just leave it as is. Let the lemon curd cool before spreading into the tart crusts.
Assemble the mini tarts.
- Once tart crusts are completely cooled, carefully pop them out of the pans.
- Spoon lemon curd evenly into the crusts and spread it with the back of a spoon to fill each crust.
- Top mini tarts however you'd like!
Tips For Making The Best Mini Lemon Tarts
- I like homemade lemon curd best (the flavor is out of this world!), but you can absolutely use premade lemon curd if that's what you have.
- Some commenters have experienced a metallic taste due to using a metal saucepan. I've never had this occur with stainless steel, but it may be best to use a non-reactive pan, such as an enameled pot to avoid leaching.
- When making the lemon curd, make sure the eggs are fully whisked to prevent lumpy curd. You'll also want to make sure you don't skip them tempering step, and then keep the heat as low as possible in the final cooking and thickening step.
- Make sure crusts are completely cool before taking them out of the pans and adding the lemon curd to them. If you don't have pans with removable edges, you can gently slide a toothpick between the edge of the crust and the pan to help you pop it out.
- If you have Meyer lemons, you can make Meyer lemon curd. It's a little sweeter and so delicious!
- If you like your lemon curd a little sweeter, increase the sugar to ¾ cup.
How To Decorate Mini Lemon Tarts
For a more rustic, understated dessert, top with a dollop of whipped cream and call it good. For something a little more elegant and fun, you can pipe whipped cream onto the tarts and/or top with berries or lemon slices.
How To Store Mini Lemon Tarts
Store leftover mini lemon tarts in the refrigerator. I don't recommend freezing them and the crust will get soggy as they thaw.
I also don't recommend assembling your mini tarts too far ahead of time, as the crust will get soft, but you can make the crust and lemon curd up to 2 days in advance and leave them separate until just before serving (or a couple of hours before). Store the crust at room temperature in an airtight container, and the lemon curd in the fridge in an airtight container.
More Spring Desserts You'll Love
- Gluten Free Lavender Lemon Bars
- Strawberry Rhubarb Mini Tarts
- Coconut Cake with 7 Minute Frosting
- Healthy Hummingbird Cake Banana Bread
- Lavender Shortbread Cookies
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the comments!
PrintMini Lemon Tarts with Shortbread Crust
Sweet and tangy mini lemon tarts with buttery shortbread crusts and simple lemon curd filling are delicious and adorable spring and summer desserts!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: about 6 tarts (depending on pan size) 1x
- Category: dessert
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 cup white whole wheat (or all purpose) flour
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt (omit if using salted butter)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup lemon curd (recipe below)
For the lemon curd:
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- ¾ cup fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt (omit if using salted butter)
- 3 large eggs + 4 large egg yolks
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (½ stick), cubed
Instructions
- In a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in vanilla. Add flour, and salt and mix well. Refrigerate dough for 30 min.
- Preheat oven to 300° F. Remove dough from refrigerator and press into mini tart pans. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden.
- Remove from oven and let cool before removing tarts from pans.
- Fill each cooled tart crust with lemon curd. Top with berries or whipped cream (optional).
To make lemon curd:
- Whisk eggs and egg yolks very well in a bowl. Set aside.
- In a small nonreactive saucepan, heat lemon zest, juice, sugar and salt over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Turn off heat. Slowly scoop a about ½ cup into the eggs while whisking.
- Pour egg mixture into the pan on the stove while whisking to prevent curdling. Turn heat back on to low and cook, whisking, until mixture has thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the cubed butter until it’s completely mixed in.
- At this point you can strain the zest out and any egg solids that may be in the curd if you’d like, by pushing it through a fine mesh stainer, or just leave it as is.
- Cover lemon curd and chill until ready to use.
Notes
- I like homemade lemon curd best (the flavor is out of this world!), but you can absolutely use premade lemon curd if that's what you have.
- Some commenters have experienced a metallic taste due to using a metal saucepan. I've never had this occur with stainless steel, but it may be best to use a non-reactive pan, such as an enameled pot to avoid leaching.
- When making the lemon curd, make sure the eggs are fully whisked to prevent lumpy curd. You'll also want to make sure you don't skip them tempering step, and then keep the heat as low as possible in the final cooking and thickening step.
- Make sure crusts are completely cool before taking them out of the pans and adding the lemon curd to them. If you don't have pans with removable edges, you can gently slide a toothpick between the edge of the crust and the pan to help you pop it out.
- If you have Meyer lemons, you can make Meyer lemon curd. It's a little sweeter and so delicious!
- If you like your lemon curd a little sweeter, increase the sugar to ¾ cup.
- You can make the crusts and lemon curd up to 2 days in advance, but wait until a couple hours before serving to assemble them.
Keywords: mini lemon tarts, mini lemon tarts with shortbread crust, lemon tartlets, mini meyer lemon tarts
vale says
100% recommend. I made them in cupcake tins and divided the dough into 9 parts. Rolled each part into a ball, flattened it and then pressed to the tin after greasing 8 with butter but I forgot one and it came out just as easily so really isn’t necessary. I set a timer for 10 min but when I checked on them, I realized I didn’t poke holes with a fork so I did that 10 min in and then kept baking them until they were golden brown for about 10 more minutes. Let them cool for about 10 min and then used a fork to pull them out easily. For the custard, I followed the recipe exactly but I recommend straining it because I didn’t and you can feel the zest but not that necessary. Will definitely make again!
Kaleigh says
Thank you so much for your review! I'm glad to know they work well in a cupcake tin.
Linda Dyer says
First, might be my fault but the crust was way too buttery and wouldn't come out of the tart pans.
I used almond flour? Also I used my Kitchen Aid mixer? The curd was very good, a little to sour for me so I added extra sugar. I made this for a supper club, so crumbled the crust into a glass cup, topped with lemon curd, added whipped cream and toasted almonds. Tasted great, just not what I had hoped.
★★★
Kaleigh says
Hi Linda,
As you experienced, almond flour does not function in the same way that regular flour does which is why your crust turned out crumbly and greasy. If you need a gluten-free alternative, I'd suggest a cup-for-cup gluten-free blend.
Michael says
I already had lemon curd left from my Christmas baking. I just needed a good recipe for a tartlet crust. This was great. It’s like butter melting in your mouth. I didn’t have tartlet pans so I used a muffin top pan. I cut out rounds with a scalloped cookie cutter and pressed it into the wells perfect size perfect shape
★★★★★
Kaleigh says
Awesome, so glad you liked them!
Jennifer says
Hi, I followed all the directions and my curd did not seem to completely thicken (still liquid-y). I won't do final assembly until tomorrow but do you think the curd will thicken up overnight in the fridge? Thanks.
Kaleigh says
It's usually thickened about as much as it will by the end of cooking.
Kim Cruickshanks says
Reading through your recipe was like flipping through a beautiful cherished cookbook. Thanks for the gorgeous photography!
★★★★★
Kaleigh says
Thanks so much Kim, that made my day!
Andy Sledden says
Cover centre with baking paper and weight down cover with rice , dried pasta or dried beans or baking stones.
Andy Sledden says
Made these yesterday, wonderful.
★★★★★
Xheksi Peci says
My shortbreads cases are rising and i don’t know what to do😭😭 pleaseeee help
Carmen Crabtree says
Oh LORD!!! I'd picked up 2 jars of really good Lemon Curd and found your recipe for shortbread tartlets. We made 12 VERY thick tartlets with your recipe. We had to eat them with our hands; That's how thick they were! But oh! WHY did you have to make the recipe so simple and so quick? I still have a jar of curd left and another pan of thick tartlets baking. I don't know whether to shame you or stalk you. Either way, I'm addicted to you, your site and these BLOODY SHORTBREAD TARTLETS!
PS: I suppose a Thank You is in order.
★★★★★
Kaleigh says
Thanks so much for leaving a review, this comment made my day! So glad you're enjoying them!
Gracie says
Hi! I was wondering if I would be able to make recipe in a 10 in tart pan?
Kaleigh says
I haven't ever made one big tart, but I've seen others do it. Let me know if you try!
Katie says
Hi! I’m hoping to make this recipe with a couple friends who are gluten free. Do you think gluten free AP flour work instead? Thank you!
Kaleigh says
Yes I think it will work out fine! It just probably wouldn't with almond flour or another single-type GF flour.
Levi says
I tried this receptive and it is fabulous! All though I did find that while making the pastry crust, it did need a bit more all purpose flour. But that doesn’t stop my thoughts on how tasty this receptive was. 10/10 AMAZING! Definitely using this recipe again.
★★★★★
Kaleigh says
Thanks so much for your kind words! I'm so glad you liked the recipe.
Xheksi Peci says
how much more flour did you used because mine is a bit wet?
Jess says
Hello! Can you sub olive oil (since its solid at room temp) in lieu of the butter? Trying to make this vegan! Many thanks 🙂
Kaleigh says
Olive oil is liquid at room temperature, so it probably wouldn't be the best. You could try solid coconut oil for dairy free!
Jess says
Yes! What was I thinking lol?! I just reread my comment and I meant to say coconut oil. Olive oil would give this a distincrive flavour, one that were not aiming for lol. Thank you fod your response, you answered my question and will try it out.
Meghan says
I was wondering if you have any of the nutritional facts for these tarts?
Kaleigh says
Hi Meghan, I don't provide nutrition information for my recipes, but you can use a free online calculator to estimate it!
Jayme says
Could you make these in mini cupcake pans?
Kaleigh says
Hi Jayme, I'm sure you can, but I've never tried. They might be a little harder to pop out of the pans without breaking.
A.A. says
Great! I love how tart it is.
I didn't make the crust, but I did the curd.
The difference I made was that I divided everything by 3 with the lemon curd (I used one yolk and one egg) and it still worked out. Thanks!
★★★★★
Kaleigh says
I'm so glad you enjoyed the lemon curd recipe!
Peter says
For the Lemon Curd you call for:
6 large eggs + 8 large egg yolks
are you calling for 14 eggs in total? 6 eggs whites and yolks PLUS 8 egg yolks?
Or is it 6 eggs whites and yolks PLUS 2 egg yolks?
or something else?
Thanks.
Peter
Kaleigh says
Hi Peter,
The recipe uses the whole eggs + extra egg yolks. Enjoy!
Dawn Terbush says
Hello There! I’m confused by the amount of eggs needed and don’t want to waste any. Does this recipe require 14 eggs? 6 whole + 8 yolks?
Kaleigh says
Hi Dawn,
If you are doubling the recipe for the lemon curd, yes, that would be correct!
Mary B says
Do you think this tart could be used to make a mini key lime pie? I'm hoping to bring them to a baby shower gathering.
Kaleigh says
Hi Mary, I think these crusts would work great for mini key lime pies!
Dani says
Melt in your mouth recipe! Outstanding! Thank you for sharing. Yum!
★★★★★
Kaleigh says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for leaving a review!
Elizabeth says
When pre baking the tart lets will they shrink without any weights?
Kaleigh says
Hi Elizabeth,
I haven't had problems with shrinking, but if you'd like to use weights I certainly don't think it would hurt anything!
Julie krucek says
Do you need to grease the tart pans first before putting the dough in??
Kaleigh says
Hi Julie,
There is enough butter in the crust that it's fine without greasing the pans, but if you're worried it certainly won't hurt anything!
Monica says
Hiya! I enjoyed your recipe so much, it was so lovely. It tasted absolutely beautiful
Kaleigh says
Hi Monica,
I'm so glad you enjoyed these tarts! Thanks for stopping by to comment. I'd love if you'd take a moment to give them a star rating!
Monica says
I left you a star rating on how beautiful your recipe was, it was spectacular
★★★★★
Kaleigh says
Thanks Monica! I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Minnie says
Should I use granulated sugar or castor sugar for this recipe?
Kaleigh says
Hi Minnie, I used granulated sugar.
Saranyaa Vellaiya Ravichandran says
How far in advance can I make and what would be the best storing method? I want to make it for a home party a week in advance..
Kaleigh says
Hi Saranyaa, I would suggest storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I probably wouldn't make them more than 2-3 days in advance. Thanks for stopping by!
Med says
I'm not sure what happened with this recipe. The dough seemed way too dry and didn't even form a ball, it was loose like flour. I made sure to cream the butter and sugar correctly, but the flour just took over. I pressed them into muffin tins and baked them at 300 degrees, and over an hour later, they were still not golden brown at all and were soft and mushy. I just gave up and took them out of the oven. Is the dough supposed to be that dry and not form a proper ball? My oven works just fine, so I'm not sure why it took forever and never properly baked.
Kaleigh says
Oh no, I'm not sure what went wrong either. Did you use wheat flour? I'm sorry you had trouble with the recipe.
C M says
I had the exact same problem. I make a lot of tarts, but for some reason this dough was extremely dry. Mine didn't become golden brown either and I also had to bake them for much much longer, and still they never turned golden. They were crumbly and didn't hold shape, even after careful removal. Curious from other people who followed this dough recipe exactly, did theirs come out well?
Kaleigh says
What flour did you use? Did you measure it correctly (by scooping it into the cup with a spoon and the leveling off)?
Safaa Akbar says
Hey!!
Im trying your recipe for the first time rather any lemon tart recipe. I am keeping my fingers crossed :D. Can you tell how long can i keep this in the fridge before the crust gets soggy? Should i add the curd at the very end before serving? or the crust would stay fine if i add the curd and refrigerate it.
I had a disaster with cheese cake topping :/. The cherry topping was liquidy and it made my base go soggy :l so im kinda worried about the crust.
Thanks for your recipe 🙂
Regards,
Safaa Akbar
Kaleigh says
Hi Safaa,
They should be fine for a day or so. If you are going to make them any farther ahead of time, you could store them separately until ready to serve. Good luck!
Mary says
What are the dimensions of the tarts. How wide across?
Kaleigh says
Hi Mary,
My tart pans are about 3 inches across. Thanks for stopping by!
Jeanette says
The Easter roundup is live on my blog 🙂 http://takeasweetbite.com
AP says
First time making lemon tarts. I use bigger tart tins so it only made four and I had to cook them longer. All this to say , that my husband , who doesn’t like lemon desserts, ate the whole thing... Thanks, so easy and great instructions. Now looking on your site for his favorite... chocolate anything
Kaleigh says
I'm so glad you and your husband enjoyed these! Thanks for stopping by!
Sheree Howley says
Hi, would these be the same as lemon tarts at cafe's?
Kaleigh says
Hi Sheree, I can't say as I'm not sure I've ever had what you're describing, but they might be a little more tart and less custard-like since the filling is just lemon curd. Thanks for stopping by!
Kyla says
absolutely delicous! Portions and ratios were all perfect. I used smaller tart tins, so I didn't have enough shortbread dough to pair with the lemon curd. But still delicious and easy!
Kaleigh says
Hi Kyla, so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for stopping by!