These little tarts (crostatine in Italian) were one of my favorite afternoon snacks when I was a kid. Back then, my grandmother used to buy them from the grocery store and kept them in her pantry, right next to the paper napkins. When it was ora della merenda (“snack time”- around 4pm), I’d run next door and sneakingly grab one of them. I even remember further digging in the box to look for a little match box that contained a little surprise toy (Sorpresine del Mulino Bianco may sound familiar to whomever was a child in the 80s in Italy!). I spent so many afternoons playing with my brother and my cousins with a crostatina in one hand and one of those little toys in the other. Who needed videogames back then? Sure, we watched cartoons but we certainly spent a lot of time outside playing with simple things like those little toys…and we were happy kids!

When I recreated this childhood snack, I couldn’t help but smile while reminiscing about those times. These tarts are only made of short pastry dough and jam. Quite simple, isn’t it? Their small size and the beautiful lattice top make them look so adorable! I couldn’t stop taking photos of them and – ahem – you can tell I went a little overboard this time…

MINI JAM TARTS – CROSTATINE ALLA MARMELLATA
Servings: Makes five 4.75″ tarts (8-10 people) | Prep time:  15 min (dough) + 25 min (tarts assembling) | Rest time:  30 min  | Bake time: 30 min

Recommended equipment: 4.75″ tart pans, rolling pin

INGREDIENTS
Short Pastry Dough
150 g (10 Tbsp + 2 tsp) unsalted butter
125 g (1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp) granulated sugar
1 large egg
250 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
a dash of vanilla
a pinch of salt
vegetable oil for plastic wrap
a bit of sugar to sprinkle on top

Filling
13 oz jam (1 jar)

Egg wash
1 egg
1 Tbsp water or milk

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Cream butter with sugar using a stand mixer. Add salt, egg, and vanilla extract.
2. Sift flour and add it into the mixture. Once flour is incorporated, remove dough from mixing bowl and knead briefly until you obtain a smooth dough.
3. Wrap it in lightly oiled plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Once the dough has rested, place it on a lightly floured surface and roll it out to a bit less than 1/8 inch (3mm). Add flour if too sticky. Cut dough in circles to fit into each tart pan, trimming the dough to cover the bottom and sides of the pan. Reserve excess dough for lattice top.
5. Heat oven to 350F.
6. Pour jam into dough-lined tart pans until half full.
7. Roll out remaining dough and cut into strips. Form a lattice top by following photo tutorial above. Trim even with the crust edge and pinch to seal.
8. Make egg wash by mixing 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of milk or water. Brush strips and crust edge with egg wash. Sprinkle a little sugar on top of egg-washed crust.
9. Bake for 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Buon appetito!

-Lisa