Blue Ribbon Group Nutty Seed & Honey Tart
All Time Favorite Recipe, Wisconsin State Fair, 2013
This Nutty Seed & Honey Tart will fulfill any nut lover’s dreams. This is because the tart packs in a ton of nuts. It has almost a pound of mixed nuts, plus sliced almonds and pistachios. You can’t go wrong with that many nuts. It’s nutty how many nuts it has! With our upcoming “Nutty Cookie Contest” at the Minnesota State Fair (find the deets here), this recipe immediately came to mind. You can make this recipe into nutty cookie cups or even tiny tartlets.
Let this all-time favorite blue ribbon recipe be your inspiration too! Here’s what it looked like when it was entered at the fair.
Pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds are this pie’s other “crunchy” ingredients. You could opt for pepitas, instead of pumpkin seeds. Vary up the ingredients however you want. Cashews and whole almonds would work well in this recipe too.
This award-winning tart is sweetened with clover honey and brown sugar. Almond extract gives the tart a flavor boost. Butter and cream in the filling give just the right amount richness. The amounts are perfect.
The recipe comes together easily, especially with a pre-made pie crust. If you want a homemade piecrust, find one of our favorites here or do a shortbread crust like we did.
Altogether, this Nutty Seed & Honey Tart makes for a delicious dessert you’ll be proud to serve. It’s sweet, but not overly so, and the texture is unforgettable. It’s both rich and chewy.
Award-Winning Recipe
Recipe credit for this blue ribbon winning tart goes to Elaine Mason who won first place with this recipe at the 2013 Wisconsin State Fair.
The contest was a pie baking championship that Pillsbury sponsored. It ran for 18 years and remained popular the entire time.
This Nutty Seed & Honey Tart is an all-time favorite. One taste and you will know why.
Enjoy!
-Cyndi
Nutty Seed & Honey Tart
1 package pre-made pie crust
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup clover honey
3 tablespoons cream
1 (12 ounce) can mixed nuts
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup pistachios
1/4 cup pepitas pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon almond extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place pie crust in a greased 10-inch tart pan. Line crust with foil and pie weights. Bake 15-20 minutes. Remove foil and weights. Bake until light golden brown, about 8 more minutes. In saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and honey until butter is melted. Add cream, mix well. Add nuts, seeds and almond extract. Pour filling into pre-baked pie shell and then bake an additional 10 minutes. Cool before serving. Makes 8 slices.
For tiny tart version, use phyllo dough cups. For cookie cups use a shortbread crust; recipe below. You will want to chop the nuts a bunch, but not fine. They will better fill the cups this way. Be sure to press the dough evenly up sides and across bottom of each. You will bake them for far less time: 8-10 minutes for first bake, about 5 on the second one.
Shortbread Crust:
1 cup (226 g) salted butter, softened
2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (56 g) confectioner’s sugar
