Cute little Nutty Caramel Chocolate Tarts have a thin tart shell that’s filled with caramel, nuts and then topped with indulgent chocolate ganache.

Looking for an impressive but not too tricky recipe to serve up at your next dinner party. Well I have the answer right here and everyone loves a…

• Crispy tart shell
• Decadent caramel and nut filling
• Luxurious chocolate ganache topping
• Oh and sprinkles or extra nuts to finish

….. right???? Yes, so let’s do this thang!

A perfect tart shell

I took a step away from the flaky pastry that I normally like to make in recipes like these Nutella Hand Pies and this Almond and Apple Crostata. I do love my sweet, flaky pastry but this is not that. This pastry is used to make thin tart shells that have 2 simple but absolutely necessary tasks.

1. Hold the filling – very important!
2. Add a nice crunch

Done and done. They taste good too but the real flavour here is in the heavenly filling.

The shells are easy to make. Just stick all the ingredients in a food processor, then a light knead until the dough is smooth and Voila! Pastry done. Now you just have to roll it out nice and thin, turn it into tart shells and it’s ready for baking and filling with ….

Click here to pin this recipe for later!

… a combination of almonds, cashews and caramel. Aha! I know. Need. One. Now.

Everyday ingredients

So you don’t have cashews and almonds handy? No problemo, friends. Unsalted peanuts, macadamias, pecans or hazelnuts would all work just as well. It’s all about options around here.

You just have to love a recipe that uses ingredients you have on hand. The ingredients in these nutty tartlets uses things that I constantly have in the fridge or pantry – flour, butter, sugar, nuts, chocolate. Whenever I make ganache I just use simple shelf-stable / long-life cream – so I even have that on hand.

Click here to pin this recipe for later!

Go forth and bake 🙂

5 from 2 votes

Nutty Caramel Chocolate Tarts

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings: 6 tarts

Author: Marie Roffey

PRINT PIN

Nutty Caramel Chocolate Tarts are perfect dinner party food. Almonds & cashews wrapped in caramel, filling a thin tart shell topped with chocolate ganache.

Course: Afternoon Tea, Dessert, Sweets

Ingredients

For the tart shells

• 260 g (2 cups) plain (AP) flour
• 1/2 cup (115g / 1 stick) cold unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons icing (powdered / confectioners) sugar (notes)
• 2 tablespoons ice cold water (notes)

For the caramel nut filling

• 57 g (1/4 cup / 1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 75 g brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (90g) golden syrup
• 1 1/2 tablespoons plain (AP) flour (notes)
• 3/4 cup mixed chopped nuts (I used almonds & cashews)

For the ganache

• 1/2 cup (125ml) thickened cream (long life / shelf stable is fine)
• 60 g dark chocolate, chopped

Instructions

For the Tart Shells

• Using a food processor, process the flour, butter and icing sugar until it is like a wet send. Add the water slowly while pulsing until the dough starts to clump. 
• Pull the dough together with your hands, then knead lightly to form a smooth ball.
• Sit the dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll out to about 2-3mm thick. It should be very thin, so that you can cut all 6 circles out (notes) 
• Grease and flour 6 crumpet rings or small tart pans if you have them. Lay a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray and sit the crumpet rings on top. 
• Cut out shapes using a plate a little larger than crumpet ring. It needs to be big enough that the pastry comes about 2 cm high up the sides (my crumpet rings are about 2cm high). Lay dough over the crumpet ring and press it gently into the corners of the tin (where the bottom of the ring meet the baking paper) using your fingers. Chill for 15 minutes.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan. Fill the pastry case with a round of baking paper and add baking beans or rice to weigh it down. Bake for 20 mins, then carefully remove the paper and beans / rice and cook the pastry for 5 mins more.

For the caramel nut filling

• Add all except the nuts to a saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is smooth. Add nuts and stir to combine.
• Distribute the nut filling evenly between the tart shells, leaving just a small gap at the top. Bake for a further 10 minutes.
• Cool on a wire rack before removing the crumpet rings.

For the Chocolate Ganache

• Once the tarts have cooled, place the chocolate in a small bowl and set aside. Pour the cream into a small saucepan and heat, stirring every so often over low heat until it starts to bubble around the edges.
• Pour the hot cream over the chocolate then don’t touch it for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes have past, stir the chocolate and cream until you have a smooth ganache.
• Distribute the ganache evenly over the top of each tart. Allow to set in the fridge at least 2 hours before serving.

Notes

1. I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (4 teaspoons worldwide)
2. If you want to make even smaller tarts, cut out rounds using a cookie cutter, that is just larger enough to fill a muffin tin.

More recipes you may like

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL COCONUT CUPS

NO BAKE SALTED BUTTERSCOTCH CHOCOLATE TART

NUTTY CARAMEL COOKIE CUPS