A perfect late-summer dessert that everyone will enjoy, these small tarts are made with a sugar-cookie crust and creamy filling and topped with your favorite berries. If berries' peak season is already over in your part of the country, swap in stone fruit, like plums and peaches.
FOR THE CRUST:
1 package Organic Sugar Cookie Mix from The Pure Pantry
¼ cup butter or butter alternative, such as Earth Balance, cut into small pieces
¼ cup organic, non-hydrogenated shortening, such as Spectrum
1 egg
1 teaspoon cold water (or more if needed)
FOR THE FILLING:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese or cream cheese alternative, such as Tofutti Cream Cheese
½ cup raw agave nectar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 pints fresh raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Prepare pastry crust by placing sugar cookie mix, butter and shortening in large mixing bowl. Blend with pastry blender or fork until mixture is in pea sized bits. Add egg and water and blend with pastry blender until dough comes together, adding a few drops of water if necessary. Using your hands, pat dough into a flat disk. Cover with waxed paper and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
In large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer until soft. Add agave nectar, egg and vanilla and beat on low until combined.
Remove pastry dough from refrigerator. Prepare a work surface by placing a large sheet of parchment paper or waxed paper down and lightly dust it with rice flour or corn starch. Dust rolling pin with rice flour or cornstarch as well. Roll out dough to ¼ inch thickness.
Place individual tartlet pans upside down on top of dough and push down. Create 12 tartlets cuts outs. If you have just a few little tartlet pans, you can prepare a few at a time. With a metal spatula, lift cut out dough up and place in tartlet pan. Press dough down firmly and evenly throughout pan with your fingers.
Poke holes in each pastry with a fork so surface has tiny holes throughout. Place pans on cookie sheet. Fill tarlets with ¼ cup cream cheese filling. Bake on middle rack and back for 12-14 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely. Place berries on top of tartlet and dust with powdered sugar. Gently remove tarts from pans and serve.
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Elizabeth Kaplan is the founder of The Pure Pantry, an allergen-free natural foods company that creates nutritious, great-tasting, and easy-to-use baking mixes. She is the author of Fresh from Elizabeth’s Kitchen: Gluten-free & Allergy-free Recipes. When she was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2002, and subsequently her children were diagnosed with severe food allergies and gluten intolerance, she focused her passion for the culinary arts on gluten-free cuisine. Elizabeth teaches cooking classes that help others transition to a gluten-free lifestyle, lectures on topics related to gluten intolerance, and writes a lifestyle blog in which she shares recipes, nutrition tips, entertaining and travel ideas, and her first-hand knowledge about raising children with food allergies. Her husband and three children all enjoy being her official taste testers for the recipes and products she creates.
