[4] The butter tart is different from pecan pie in that it has a "runnier" filling due to the omission of corn starch.

Often raisins, walnuts, or pecans are added to the traditional butter tart, although the acceptability of such additions is a matter of national debate.

Examples such as maple, bacon, pumpkin spice, chili, and salted caramel cardamom flavours have been made for competitions.

The butter tart is a derivative of one or more of the following:[1] The earliest published Canadian recipe is from Barrie, Ontario, dating back to 1900 and can be found in The Women's Auxiliary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Cookbook,[11] to which a chef by the name of Mrs. Mary Ethel MacLeod submitted the recipe for a butter tart filling.

In France, they are related to the much more common tarte à la frangipane, that differs from the basic Canadian recipe only by the addition of ground almonds.

[18] The first Kawarthas Northumberland Butter Tart Tour Taste-Off was launched at the Flavour Festival in Peterborough on Sunday, April 28, 2013, where four bakeries were crowned winners by a panel of celebrity judges.