Garlic, mushrooms and red onions with a hint of thyme feature in this recipe for creamy mushroom tarts. These little tarts make a great addition to any buffet table, or why not serve them as a side dish with your next roast.
**As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.**
The ultimate party snack
There’s something about mini savoury pies and tarts that makes them so appealing. Just imagine taking a bite out of one of these little beauties and hearing the satisfying crunch as your teeth sink into the crispy puff pastry, before your mouth explodes with the flavours of mushroom, garlic and thyme.
These creamy mushroom tarts (or mushroom pies if you’re from the north of England) always make an appearance on my buffet table when I’m entertaining. And they are always one of the first things to get devoured. They are so incredibly moreish. It’s impossible to stop at just one.
And once the guests have gone home, and life gets back to normal, this recipe gets relegated to the back of my mind and forgotten about until the next party. Which is a pity, because these mini mushroom hand pies really are incredibly tasty, and deserve to be eaten more often.
I’ve called them mushroom tarts, but I think my US readers would probably refer to them as mushroom hand pies – which is a pretty apt description. You just pick them up in your fingers and eat them!
What makes them so good?
I’m glad you asked!
These mini pies are so good, firstly because as I’ve said, they have an incredible taste. Mushrooms and thyme pair amazingly well, and if you add garlic and cream to the mix you have a match made in heaven. These tarts are like garlic mushrooms in pie form!
Secondly – they are so quick and easy to make. You can use store-bought puff pastry, so you don’t have to make your own. And the filling takes minutes to prepare. Seriously, you can have these pies in the oven in less than 20 minutes.
Thirdly, they are economical. The cost of making 12 of these creamy mushroom tarts works out at less than £3.00. And just look at how they are crammed with filling.
And finally – you don’t have to serve them only as party snacks. They make a great dinner party starter, or you can even serve them as a light lunch with a slice of crusty bread and a plate of cherry tomatoes.
What ingredients do I need?
You only need a few ingredients to make these mushroom tarts, and you will probably have most, if not all of them, in your cupboard already. You can get the exact measurements and full instructions for making creamy mushroom tarts on the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
This recipe will make 12 mushroom tarts, but you can easily double up on the ingredients to make a larger batch.
- A roll of ready-rolled puff pastry. If you can only find a block of pastry, you will need to roll it to about one-eighth of an inch in thickness.
- Mushrooms – I’ve used chestnut mushrooms because I like the nutty taste, but you can use your own favourite.
- Red onion – very finely diced. You could use white onion too if you prefer.
- Butter – this is used for frying the onions and softening the mushrooms.
- Cream and milk – this is for making the sauce – I used equal quantities of cream and milk. If you are watching your weight you could use all milk and skip the cream.
- Garlic – if you have fresh cloves you can crush them, otherwise just use ready crushed garlic from a jar. You will need approximately 1 clove fresh garlic for each teaspoon of garlic from a jar.
- Thyme – I’ve used dried thyme. If you prefer you can use fresh thyme, but you will need three times the amount of fresh.
- Flour – This is used to thicken the mixture. Plain all-purpose flour is fine.
- A lightly beaten egg – for glazing the pies.
- Salt and black pepper (which are optional) for seasoning.
What are the steps involved?
There are 3 main steps for making these little pies:
- Prepare the filling
- Prepare and fill the pastry cases
- Bake
Prepare the filling
- Peel the onions and chop them finely. Wipe any black bits off the mushrooms and chop then coarsely.
- Melt the butter in a large frying pan, then add the chopped onions, garlic and thyme and sweat over a low heat until the onions start to soften.
- Add the mushrooms, cover the frying pan with a lid, and leave for about 5 minutes on a very low heat until the mushrooms have released their moisture.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the flour, removing as many lumps as possible.
- Now add the cream and milk, return to the heat and stir until the mixture thickens.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool while you prepare the pastry cases.
Prepare and fill the pastry cases
- Grease a 12-hole muffin pan lightly with butter or spray with cooking oil.
- Unroll the puff pastry. You should have a rectangle approximately 36cm x 24cm. Cut the pastry into 12 equal squares approximately 8cm or 9cm square.
- Place each pastry square in one of the holes of the muffin pan. Don’t be too precise (see image 2 above) – leave the points of the pastry sticking up. These will be folded onto the filling once it has been added.
- Divide the mushroom mixture equally between the 12 pastry cases and fold the points of the pastry down over the filling. Don’t enclose the filling completely. It’s fine to leave gaps – this will give the finished tarts a nice rustic look.
- Brush the top of the tarts with beaten egg to help them brown nicely.
Bake
- Place the muffin pan in a pre-heated hot oven (200C / 400F) and leave them to bake for about 15 minutes. All ovens are different – my tarts were perfect after 15 minutes. Start to check after 12 minutes and remove from the oven when they are nicely browned.
- Leave the tarts to cool slightly, then remove from the muffin pan and arrange on a serving platter.
- Serve warm.
If you’d like to be notified of any new recipes, why not subscribe to my newsletter? As a thank-you gift, you will receive a free recipe e-book containing some of my most popular cakes and desserts.
Your questions answered
Yes, you can freeze them. Just put the cooked baked tarts in a single layer in a rigid container and freeze for up to three months.
To use, remove from the freezer and allow to defrost in the container. Then arrange them on a baking sheet and heat in a hot oven for about 5 minutes until piping hot. Serve immediately.
Yes, you can make these mushroom pies up to two days in advance. Store the cooked tarts, covered, in the refrigerator and reheat in a hot oven once you are ready to eat them.
These tarts will make a great accompaniment to a roast dinner. Serve as a side vegetable. The garlic mushroom flavour would go particularly well with roast chicken or roast lamb.
Other recipes
If you enjoyed these creamy mushroom pies, perhaps you’d like to try some of my other recipes that would be suitable for a party buffet.
- Crispy chicken wings with barbeque sauce
- Scotch eggs
- Sticky oven-baked pork spare ribs with honey glaze
- Pork and apple sausage rolls
- Sesame chicken strips
Pin for later
Why not pin this recipe for creamy mushroom tarts to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find later. Just click the image below.
Creamy mushroom tarts with puff pastry recipe
Creamy mushroom tarts with puff pastry
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 roll (13 oz or 375g) puff-pastry shop-bought
- 9 ounce (250g) chestnut mushrooms
- 1 large red onion finely chopped (approx 1 cup)
- 2 ounce (60g) unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon crushed garlic or 1 clove fresh garlic (minced)
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon plain flour
- ¼ cup single cream
- ¼ cup milk full-cream or semi-skimmed
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (optional)
Instructions
Prepare the mushroom filling
- Peel the onions and chop them finely. Wipe any black bits off the mushrooms and chop them coarsely.
- Melt the butter in a large frying pan, then add the chopped onions, garlic and thyme and stir over a low heat until the onions start to soften.
- Add the mushrooms, cover the frying pan with a lid, and leave for about 5 minutes on a very low heat until the mushrooms have released their moisture.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the flour, removing as many lumps as possible.
- Now add the cream and milk, return to the heat and stir until the mixture thickens.
- Taste for seasoning, and add salt and black pepper to taste if necessary.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool while you prepare the pastry cases.
Prepare and fill the pastry cases
- Grease a 12-hole muffin pan lightly with butter or spray with cooking oil.
- Unroll the puff pastry. You should have a rectangle approximately 36cm x 24cm. Cut the pastry into 12 equal squares approximately 8cm or 9cm square.
- Place each pastry square in one of the holes of the muffin pan.
- Divide the mushroom mixture equally between the 12 pastry cases and fold the points of the pastry down over the filling. Don't enclose the filling completely. It's fine to leave gaps – this will give the finished tarts a nice rustic look.
- Brush the top of the tarts with beaten egg to help them brown nicely.
Bake
- Place the muffin pan in a pre-heated hot oven (200C / 400F) and leave them to bake for about 15 minutes. All ovens are different – my tarts were perfect after 15 minutes. Start to check after 12 minutes and remove from the oven when they are nicely browned.
- Leave the tarts to cool slightly, then remove from the muffin pan and arrange on a serving platter.
- Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
If you made this recipe and enjoyed it, I’d love it if you could give me a star rating in the comments below. And if you’d like to get in touch, you can email me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you. And don’t forget to subscribe to my mailing list so you can grab yourself a copy of my FREE COOKBOOK!
If you’d like to continue browsing, just click on this link to all my recipes.
I have linked this recipe to #CookBlogShare week 10 run by Sisley & Chloe which was hosted this week by yours truly.
Love this recipie! Baking them again now. Thank you 👍