Berry jam shortbread tart is hands down one of my favorite desserts! This shortbread tart is a mixture of shortbread crust and shortbread crumble topping with berry preserves in the middle which makes the most delicious shortbread dessert out there. This berry jam tart is super easy to make and perfect for special occasions or just when you want something sweet.
Why you will love this shortbread tart
This shortbread tart, my mini cheesecake bites, creamy lemon bars and my classic carrot cake are some of my all time favorite desserts and I do not say this lightly. All of these desserts are my tried and true entertaining recipes and everyone always loves them.
I have made this shortbread tart in cookie form, bar form, tart pan form and it all comes out amazing. I definitely end up eating a lot of the raw shortbread dough in this one just to make sure it it tastes great and because it is so good.
This berry shortbread tart is made with a shortbread crust on the top and bottom and berry jam (or preserves) in the middle- super simple! It is so simple that it uses one dough that you make and that is going to be your base crust and also your crumble.
Variations for this recipe
You can use any berry preserves you can find in your store. If you have time, you can make your own preserves which is really easy.
I like making preserves on the weekend. My recipe for mixed berry jam uses frozen fruit and makes 2 (8 oz) jars worth so I have some for this dessert and some for PB&J during the week (a favorite around here).
You can use any flavor preserves to make this shortbread tart recipe. I like to make this with my nectarine jam or thick cranberry sauce as well.
Some more ideas that would be good are raspberry preserves for a raspberry shortbread tart, strawberry preserves for a strawberry shortbread tart.
You get the point!
Ingredients
The ingredients for this shortbread tart are very simple and you probably already have these items on hand.
- Butter. I like to to use unsalted butter for this recipe.
- All Purpose Flour.
- Brown Sugar (if you only have white sugar that is fine)
- White sugar.
- Berry jam or preserves (any variety/flavor)
- Kosher salt
- Almonds (optional)
How to make shortbread tart
Making shortbread is so easy. If you have tried my salted shortbread or cardamom shortbread, it is the same process. Here is what you need to do:
- Make the shortbread crust: Combine Butter and Sugars together for the shortbread crust and crumble topping: You want to cream the butter and sugar together for the shortbread crust.
2. Add flour: Add your flour to the butter sugar mixture. It will begin to form a crumble once you add the flour. This is how it is supposed to look and if you grab a bunch with your hand, you should come together.
This step will take a couple minutes with a mixer to get the flour and butter to form a dough. Be patient, sing a song or whatever helps you pass the time 🙂
The picture above is before mixing for a few minutes and the picture below is after it has been mixing for a bit. It almost magically comes together all at once!
3. Divide the shortbread crust: Now your dough is ready and you can go ahead and move on to dividing the dough in half inside your bowl. You will use half of your dough immediately for your crust.
The other half of your shortbread gets wrapped up and placed in the fridge until you are ready to add the crumble topping.
Prepare shortbread crust
- Press dough into pan: Now that your shortbread dough is made, you are almost done with making this dessert! The next step is pressing the dough into your pan. Here is what it looks like pressed into my round tart pan.
- Bake: You will bake it for about 20 minutes at 325 degrees or until you start to see the crust turn light brown all over. This step helps the crust set up and get crisp before we start to add those preserves. It prevents a mushy crust!
As you can see above, the crust is a beautiful light golden brown and now it will be ready for those preserves and crumble topping after it cools for a few minutes.
Adding the berry jam to the shortbread tart
My daughter pointed out that this step looks a lot like a fruit pizza and she is right, it does! The shortbread is the crust and the preserves are the sauce. Instead of cheese topping we are using a crumble 🙂
Here are what those steps look like:
- Add berry jam: With a large spoon just gently spread those preserves all the way around your crust. Like a pizza, I like to leave a little edge exposed.
- Add Shortbread crumble: The last step before you are on your way to eating this delicious shortbread tart, adding that shortbread crumble. Remove the other half of the shortbread dough from the fridge and break off small pieces of it and crumble it over the top of your preserves.
- Bake: Now it is ready to go in the oven and bake. Once it is done, you will want to let it cool a little to crisp up that shortbread. Some members of my household do not wait though and it is still amazing warm.
When it first comes out, you will see those preserves bubbling out between the cracks of the shortbread crumble!
For a closer look at the inside, I was able to save one piece from being eaten by my family. The bottom is nice and crisp and the top crumbles in your mouth.
The preserves are just the right amount and so good!
I love that this berry shortbread tart recipe doesn't need a special crumb topping that is different from the crust making it less work for me! Using jam or preserves also makes this a great recipe to have on hand since it works with so many things you already have in your pantry and refrigerator and it is insanely delicious.
This shortbread tart is usually made in a square or rectangular pan for bars but I thought I would jazz it up using a tart pan to give it those pretty crimped edges.
You can really use either! You can make this for just your family or for a special occasion.
Pans for shortbread tart
If you do not have a round tart pan, here are some alternatives pans to make this berry shortbread dessert:
- A jelly roll pan. Just grease or butter your pan well and make these into berry shortbread bars!
- Pie pans work great too. A pie pan will give you these same pie shaped slices that the tart pan does.
- An 8x8 baking dish will work as well. Starting from the middle press the dough evenly across the bottom and a little up the sides of the baking dish.
More like this
If you love this shortbread tart, you may also like these:
Berry Jam Shortbread Tart
Tried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!
Equipment
- 1 9x 11 tart pan or round tart pan
Ingredients
- 3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 10 oz jar of berry jam or preserves
- ½ cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
- Spray or butter tart pan well so your shortbread comes out easy after baking. See above for some alternative pans you can use if you do not have a tart pan.
- If you are using a tart pan, place the tart pan on top of another pan so butter doesn't drip out on to your oven when baking.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugar (brown and white) and beat until smooth.3 sticks unsalted butter, ½ cup light brown sugar, ½ cup granulated white sugar
- Next, add your vanilla and salt and mix that in.1 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Now, add flour into the butter mixture and mix on low-speed until the mixture starts to form a ball .3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- Divide your dough in half and wrap up one half and place in the refrigerator until later. Press the other half of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan to form the bottom crust.
- Bake the crust until it is just beginning to turn light brown, around 20 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for a few minutes.
- Place your preserves over on your shortbread crust and spread evenly.10 oz jar of berry jam or preserves
- Now, take your reserved half of the shortbread out of the refrigerator and crumble the dough over the preserves to make your crumbled topping, being careful to not have really large pieces.
- Return the pan to the oven and continue baking for another 30 minutes or so until the crisp turns golden in color. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
- Once cooled, your can slice up your tart (or bars if using a rectangular pan) and serve!
- Serve on its own or with ice cream.
- Enjoy!!
Nutrition
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
See full nutrition disclaimer here
Dave says
We made this for a party and it was gone in not time. Everyone wanted to know the recipe.
We will be making this again, thanks!
Neha Shah says
I would give it a 4.5 */star rating. I feel I had to cook it for longer period of time all throughout at 375 degrees mostly (some time at 350 degrees) but definitely used the mixed berry preserves and the top crust making recipe portions along with a store-bought shortbread bottom crust to make a raspberry (and a tad bit of blueberry) pie. The final product turned out very delicious indeed so thank you!!
Melissa says
I am so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the feedback.
Aliana says
This is insanely delicious! Thank you for the recipe. We will be making this again soon 🙂
Melissa says
Thanks! So glad to hear this!