Homemade Apricot Tarts

apricot tarts on a white christmas platter

Tender, flaky tart dough filled with homemade sweet apricot filling. These tarts are perfect for dessert and make a great addition to holiday cookie platters.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 35

Total Time 1 55

Servings tarts

Calories 97kcal

Author Amee

Equipment

Oven

Ingredients

For apricot filling:

1 cup chopped dried apricots
water
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp butter
1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg optional
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp orange juice

For tart dough:

1 1/3 cups butter room temperature
8 oz cream cheese room temperature
2 2/3 cups white whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract optional, but recommended

To garnish:

powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

For apricot filling:

Add chopped dried apricots and enough water to come 1 inch above apricots in a saucepan. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until thickened.
Stir in sugar, butter, nutmeg (optional), cinnamon and orange juice. Cook a bit longer, until texture is like jam.
Stir, cool and store in refrigerator in an airtight container until ready to use.

For tart dough:

Add cream cheese and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer.
Using the beater blade, combine ingredients on medium-high speed until well blended. Add vanilla, if using, and mix until incorporated. Turn mixer off, add flour and mix on low speed just until combined and a ball of dough forms. The dough should be thick.
Form into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least one hour, or overnight.

To assemble tarts:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Form dough into walnut size balls and place into a mini muffin or tart pan. Using a tart tamper dusted with flour, press down on each ball to form the tart shape.
Fill each tart with a rounded teaspoon of filling (homemade or store-bought apricot jam). Bake for 10 minutes or until very lightly golden. Be careful not to overbake! Remove pan from oven and cool completely on wire racks.
When completely cooled sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Store in an airtight container or freeze in freezer containers until ready to serve. Allow tarts to come to room temperature before serving for best texture.

Notes

If you are short on time or want a quick and easy version, you can use a store-bought apricot fruit spread for the filling. You want to make sure that it's a fruit spread (not preserves or jam) since it's usually chunkier and not overly sweet. Bonnie Maman and Trader Joe's make good options. My mom always liked to use Solo canned apricot cake and pastry filling. That's another quick and easy option. However, I highly recommend using the homemade version!

Nutrition