I just made this triple berry shortbread tart and I have to say it just may be my favorite dessert! This berry shortbread tart is a mixture of shortbread and berry preserves which are definitely two of my favorite things.

About 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.
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 dough in this one just to make sure it it tastes great and because it is so good.
These shortbread bars are made with a shortbread crust on the top and bottom and Triple berry preserves (mixed berry 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 preserves 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 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 one are real simple and you probably already have these items on hand.
- Butter
- All Purpose Flour
- Sugar (brown and white but if you only have white sugar that is fine)
- Berry preserves (any variety/flavor)
- salt
- almonds (optional)
How to make shortbread tart
Step 1: Combine Butter and Sugars together
Step 2: Add your flour to the butter sugar mixture
This 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 π 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!
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.
After you make your shortbread dough, it is time to prepare your crust:
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.
You will bake it for about 20 minutes 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.
The last step to make this delicious berry shortbread tart is to add your toppings.
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 π
Here are what those steps look like:
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.
Then 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.
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 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.
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.
Triple Berry Shortbread Tart (or bars)
Tried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!
Ingredients
- 3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
- Β½ cup almond flour or almonds very finely ground ground. If you do not have almonds or almond flour just substitute Β½ cup of flour instead.
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- Β½ cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- Β½ cup granulated white sugar or turbinado sugar
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 10 oz jar of triple berry preserves
- 1 tart pan or 9x11 or so pan
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
- Spray or butter a 9x11-inch pan or 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.
- Next, add your vanilla and salt and mix that in.
- Now, add your almond flours and your all purpose flour into the butter mixture and mix on low-speed until the mixture starts to form a ball .
- 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.
- 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 π
Melissa says
Thanks! So glad to hear this!