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Portuguese Milk Tarts (Queijadas de Leite) – EASY

Portuguese Milk Tarts, Queijadas de Leite, are a traditional Portuguese dessert made with pantry staple ingredients. They are creamy on the inside and crispy on the outside!

Queijadas de Leite Portugese Tarts plated on a wood board with a rooster

Portuguese Milk Tarts (Queijadas de Leite) Recipe

These tarts are creamy and custardy in the middle and crispy on the outside. A must try… but be warned, they are highly addictive!

Growing up my Mom made these for special occasions, holidays and birthdays. Everyone would always get even more excited for a gathering knowing there would be queijadas de leite.

This is my Moms famous family secret recipe!

You may be familiar with Portuguese Egg Custard Tarts – Pastel de Nata, which has a flaky crust on the outside and a creamy egg custard filling. These are the most famous dessert of Portugal and one of my favorites. However, they are quite tricky to make. Portuguese Milk Tarts are another variation of Egg Custard Tarts but without the flaky crust and they are just as delicious!

What is in Portuguese Milk Tarts (Queijadas de Leite)?

ingredients to make Queijadas de Leite Portugese Tarts plated on a wood board
  • My favorite kind of desserts are ones that I can whip up in a flash with only a few pantry staple ingredients. This is one of those great recipes that only needs 5 ingredients – milk, eggs, flour, butter and sugar. The cinnamon is optional but highly recommended.

How to Make Portuguese Milk Tarts (Queijadas de Leite)

steps to make queijadas de leite portuguese tarts

Full Printable Recipe Below

Check out my short video tutorial here

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray (recipe will fill 18 cups of a muffin tin).

2 In a large bowl beat the eggs, sugar and melted butter with a fork or whisk until smooth.

3 Add in the flour and mix until smooth.

4 Add in the warm milk and mix until smooth. The batter will be very thin and runny.

5 Pour into greased muffin tins filling each cup 3/4 of the way full.

6 Bake 20 – 30 minutes, or until golden brown, on the middle rack of oven. Note: while baking the tarts will puff up and while cooling they will sink.

7 Remove from oven. Sprinkle cinnamon on top of each tart (optional).

8 Allow tarts to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes and then carefully remove from pan. Use a knife or cake spatula to loosen the edges of the tart from the pan to remove.

9 Serve and enjoy!

Queijadas de Leite Portugese Tarts plated on a wood board with a rooster

Looking for More Simple Sweets?

Try some of my favorite simple dessert recipes:

  • Mini Berry Dutch Babies – so quick and easy to make using a blender and muffin tin!
  • Rice Pudding – sweet and creamy rice pudding topped with a pinch of cinnamon is the perfect after dinner treat!
  • Banana Breadsuper moist texture, rich banana flavor it is a must try. This recipe is so simple and only needs a few pantry staple ingredients.
Queijadas de Leite Portugese Tarts plated on a wood board with a rooster

Enjoy!

– Sab

Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, may earn me a small commission.

Queijadas de Leite Portugese Tarts plated on a wood board with a rooster

Portuguese Milk Tarts (Queijadas de Leite)

Portuguese Milk Tarts, Queijadas de Leite, are traditional Portuguese dessert made with pantry staple ingredients. These are the perfect last minute dessert to bake up before a get together. These are creamy and custardy in the middle and crispy on the outside. A must try… but be warned, they are highly addictive!
4.83 from 41 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Portuguese
Servings 18 tarts
Calories 147 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
 
 

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 cups milk, warm, microwave 30 seconds
  • 3 tbsp butter, melted
  • 3 eggs, room temperature
  • 2/3 cups flour, all purpose

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray (recipe will fill 18 cups of a muffin tin).
  • In a large bowl beat the eggs, sugar and melted butter with a fork or whisk until smooth.
  • Add in the flour and mix until smooth.
  • Add in the warm milk and mix until smooth. The batter will be very thin and runny.
  • Pour into the greased muffin tins filling each cup 3/4 of the way full.
  • Bake 20 – 30 minutes, or until golden brown, on the middle rack of oven.
  • Note: while baking the tarts will puff up and while cooling they will sink.
  • Remove from oven. Sprinkle cinnamon on top of each tart (optional).
  • Allow tarts to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes and then carefully remove from pan. Use a knife or cake spatula to loosen the edges of the tart from the pan to remove.

Video

Notes

Note/Tip: Milk must be warm and eggs must be at room temperature. If they are cold the melted butter will harden while making the batter and the batter will be lumpy and not bake properly.
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NUTRITION

Calories: 147kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 2gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 35mgSodium: 39mgPotassium: 52mgFiber: 1gSugar: 24gVitamin A: 142IUCalcium: 36mgIron: 1mg
This nutrition information is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

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Recipe Rating




Sandy Fernandes

Thursday 7th of December 2023

This is a wonderful recipe that I’ve made several times. The last time they were difficult to pull out of the muffin tin. Would I be able to use cupcake liners?

Julie

Monday 5th of June 2023

Mine came out super good and this was really easy to make. We are Portuguese and I love to learn how to make the things I ate growing up. The taste is similar to natas. I did leave mine in for an extra 10 min so that they could get more golden. They are a hit!

beth Pietlicki

Monday 13th of February 2023

Oh, my heavens, I lived in Granja, Portugal and we always went to the city to get these delightful treats, and cappacino. These tarts are in every bakery, on every corner, and in most resturants. How delighted I am to see your recipe and finally make them. Everything is ready for me to start. Thank you so much. Oh, how I love and miss Portugal. We adopted our first born daughter from OPorto. <3

Deb

Sunday 12th of February 2023

Can you use a sugar substitute?

fedbysab

Sunday 12th of February 2023

Hi Deb, I have not tested making these with a sugar substitute.

Tiffany

Friday 10th of February 2023

I'm making this recipe for the second time tonight. They're addictive!

fedbysab

Sunday 12th of February 2023

Hi Tiffany, I am so happy to hear you have enjoyed the recipe!