Coconut and Berries

Healthy, Vegan Recipes by Emma Potts

Healthy, No-Bake Cranberry Jam Tarts

Healthy, No-Bake Cranberry Jam Tarts

It’s only just occurred to me that many of you are probably not familiar with jam tarts. They’re very traditional in Britain and I have memories of them as a regular childhood treat, especially at birthday tea parties!

Usually a shortcrust pastry topped with a dab of jam and then baked, I always enjoyed them, especially when filled with my favourite- raspberry jam. You had to be patient and leave them to cool though as the jam would turn molten hot in the oven and you’d burn your tongue if you rushed to dig in!

Even if you’ve never tasted them I’m sure many of you have read Alice in Wonderland and might remember the scene with the Queen of Hearts and her jam tarts?

“The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts all on a summer’s day;

The Knave of Hearts he stole the tarts and took them clean away.

The King of Hearts called for the tarts and beat the Knave full sore

The Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts and vowed he’d steal no more! “

Healthy, No-Bake Cranberry Jam Tarts

My version is a little different to the norm. I went for a variation on my usual nut and date no-bake tart crust instead of the pastry, adding in some oats to cut the richness a tad. With the crust already being sweet I didn’t want a super sweet filling so tangy cranberries were the perfect choice for my quick “jam”. Lightly sweetened with coconut sugar, maple syrup and orange juice it worked wonderfully in these.

I recommend making a double batch of jam as it’s fabulous with plenty of other things: the perfect accompaniment to your Christmas meal, a lovely topper for pancakes or ice cream, swirled into non-dairy yogurt, and I recently discovered that cranberry and hummus are rather a delicious duo too.

Healthy, No-Bake Cranberry Jam Tarts

Healthy, No-Bake Cranberry Jam Tarts:

1C Almonds
1/2C Rolled Oats (not quick-cooking)
3/4C Soft Dates
Pinch of Salt

Quick Cranberry Jam:

1 1/2C Fresh OR Frozen Cranberries
2T Maple Syrup
2T Coconut Sugar
1/4C Orange Juice
1/2C (approx) Water
Zest of half an orange
1/2t Vanilla Extract

Using a food processor, blitz the almonds and oats together to form a fairly fine flour. Add the salt and the dates and process until you have a thick mixture which holds together when pinched between finger and thumb. You may need to add a couple of extra dates if it’s too crumbly.

Divide mixture between the 12 holes of a shallow cake/tartlet tin and press firmly in the base and up the sides to form 12 neat tart shells.

Refrigerate or freeze until ready to fill.

For the jam, place all ingredients except vanilla in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, stirring, until the cranberries have all popped and the jam has thickened up. Pour into a jar and refrigerate until cool. (I left mine chunky but blend with an immersion blender if you prefer yours smooth)

Runn a knife around the edges of the tart shells to loosen them and pop them out of the tin. Fill each with a couple of teaspoons of the jam.

Serve at room temperature

Makes 12

I’m submitting this recipe to the weekly link-up, Wellness Weekends.

Healthy, No-Bake Cranberry Jam Tarts

Anything red and sparkly speaks Christmas to me at the moment so I think these pretty little tarts would be a nice bite-size dessert passed round with Christmas drinks or to accompany your cup of tea on those relaxed afternoons over Christmas.

So tell me, have you had a jam tart before?!

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Comments

  2. Wow, these look terrific!!! I am making these as soon as possible. By the way, you mentioned using coconut sugar in the jam but I don’t see it in the ingredient list.

  4. Have i had a jam tart?…hell yeah!! not for a while though. Loving the inventive crust too. I need to get into cranberry mode… i can’t believe we’re mid way through December and i haven’t yet used cranberries- what’s going on! 😉

    • Hehe. I probably will have to make a more traditional jam tart at some stage too!
      I always forget about the seasonal foods until it’s too late but you’ve got plenty of time for cranbs :)

  8. I’ve been drooling over these beauties ever since your first post on Instagram! I don’t think I’ve ever had jam tarts, but the jam alone looks stellar! I would eat that with a spoon I’m pretty sure. Did you swirl it into the hummus? Or just eat them together somehow?

    • Thanks Anna! I hope you get to try jam tarts some time- both the traditional type and mine 😉
      I just spread a little on top of hummmus on some toast and then dipped carrot sticks in both- yum!

  12. These cranberry jam tarts look lusciously tasty and I love Alice in Wonderland and I remembered the scene with the Queen of Hearts and her jam tarts, what a cute story! Now I would love to try your healthy no-bake crusts with some exotic jams 😉 I saw hot pepper & mint jelly at Galeries Lafayette today and sooooo many jam flavors to choose from! The holiday shopping here in paris is crazy!

    • I’d completely forgotten you were in Paris! Hope you’re having a wonderful time! It’s such a wonderful city with so much to see and do…and eat 😉
      I think you already know I lived there for 6 months last year and had an amazing experience.

  14. These are really the perfect bite-sized healthy Christmas treat!! I don’t think I’ve ever had a jam tart, tragically, but there’s a first for everything!

  16. Oh, I love new ideas for cranberries, and these look delightful! We have been enjoying frequent batches of cranberry salsa that is such a fresh change of pace ….

    • That does sound like a fun idea. Cranberries are a new discovery of mine this year-I’d only had them in cranberry sauce before. You might want to check out my Chocolate Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins too :)

  17. I’m totally going to make these with my leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. Do you suppose I could use muffin tins?
    And if they’re a hit…well, let’s just say jam tarts will be my new go-to quick dessert. I always have jars and jars of homemade jam from my mom.

    • Perfect! These would be yummy with any jam filling. As for the muffin tin, I’d guess the muffin tins are deeper so they might be a little hard to get out? If you freeze the tart shells in the tin they might be easier to get out intact. Let me know if you try them!

  21. these are gorgeous - we had jam tarts occasionally with leftover pastry when I was little - but it was when I met E that there were a lot of jam tarts in my life - he loved buying them from greggs for some time but doesn’t eat them much these days - not unless I have some leftover scraps of pastry. I would love these cranberry fillings too but sadly it is hard to find cranberries in Australia. I do love the no bake version though for an Aussie christmas

    • We always had them when there was leftover pastry too. Or jam twists.
      A shame it’s hard to find cranberries in Australia, but I’m sure these would be yummy with another fruit filling, just as long as it’s not too sweet.

  22. I made these and they were absolutely delicious! I substituted walnuts in the crust as I’m allergic to almonds.. so they were quite soft at room temp but I may have just processed them too long. I enjoyed the leftovers for a couple breakfasts with a raw maple coconut cream (wow), and I’m going to make them again tomorrow but try brazil nuts or pecans next. Thank you for a beautiful and delicious recipe!

    • I’m thrilled you enjoyed them Christine! Thanks so much for letting me know. I bet they were absolutely wonderful with that coconut cream 😀 Send me a picture and I’ll share on facebook.

  23. These tarts are gorgeous! Thanks for linking up to 5-Ingredient Mondays. I’m featuring your recipe this week and I’ve also made some slight changes to the link-up party so I hope you drop by this week and link-up again :)

  25. These look beautiful! For the jam, it mentions to add all ingredients except the vanilla to a saucepan. At what point do you add the vanilla to the mix? I did not see this, but may have missed it. Thanks!!

    • Hi Sara, sorry for the confusion. I always add vanilla after removing from the heat as I find cooking can take away the flavour (as the alcohol cooks off so does the vanilla flavour).

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