1cupor 2 sticks unsalted cold buttercut into small cubes
2large egg yolks
5tablespoonsheavy cream plus 1 more tablespoon if needed
Caramel Maple Walnut Filling
2cupsgranulated sugar
4tablespoonslight corn syrup
½cupwater
1 1/3cupsheavy creamwarmed in a small saucepan
2tablespoonsmaple syrup
1teaspoonmaple extract
4cupswalnutscoarsely chopped
Instructions
Shortbread Crust
Pulse flour, sugar and salt in a food processor until well blended.
Add the cold butter and pulse until butter is the size of small peas.
Add the yolks and 5 tablespoons cream, and pulse until the dough forms a crumbly dough.
Pour out into a large bowl. If dough is too dry, add the extra tablespoon of heavy cream. Press the dough together to form a 1-inch thick disk.
Caramel Maple Walnut Filling
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.
In a medium saucepan, stir the sugar, corn syrup and water until blended.
Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove the spoon and stop stirring. Wash down any sugar crystals that have formed on the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water.
Keep boiling the mixture until it turns the color of medium brewed tea.
Remove from the heat and slowly whisk in the warm heavy cream. Be careful the mixture will spatter.
Return the pan to a medium low heat and whisk to melt down any clumps of caramel that may have formed. Remove the pan from the heat.
Whisk in the maple syrup and extract.
Using a spoon, blend in the walnuts, and pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl to cool.
Allow the mixture to cool for a few hours and thicken.
Assembly
Preheat the oven to 375° F. Cut the dough in half. On a floured work surface, roll out the dough to a ¼ inch thickness, and cut out 12 5-inch diameter circles. Press a circle of dough into each of 12 greased 4 inch diameter false bottom tart pans. Trim off any excess dough by rolling a rolling pin over each tart pan. Place tart pans onto 2 or 3 sheet pans that have each been lined with aluminum foil.
Fill each tart pan with ¼ cup of the cooled caramel maple walnut filling.
Roll out remaining dough to a ¼ inch thickness. Using a pizza cutter, cut ¼ inch wide strips about 4 ½ inches long to cover the top of each tart. You will need to make 72 strips total. Place 3 strips going across the filling spacing them so they do not touch. Place 3 more strips perpendicular to the others spacing them out as well.
Pinch off any excess dough from the sides of each tart.
Bake the tarts for 20-23 minutes or until crust is light brown and filling is bubbly.
Allow to cool completely before removing tarts from pans.