Easy Shortbread crust Pastry recipe for Tarts or Pies and cheesecakes and other. A great dough idea to bake for desserts to add fillings on.
Easy Shortbread crust Pastry
There is two types of pastry, being shortbread pastry and shortcrust pastry. Shortbread pastry is more for cookies and biscuits with added suage, where as shortcrust pastry is used for tarts and pies. The same mix just the difference being the sugar added.
Shortbread pastry is made with the three basic ingredients flour, butter and water with the added sugar and used more for sweet bakes and biscuits.
Shortcrust pastry is the basic mix of butter, flour and water. Usually used for savoury or sweet tarts and pies.
Shortcrust pastry wouldn’t be nice to eat for biscuits as it doesn’t contain any sugar. Therefore is mostly used for a shell for fillings of your choice.
Is shortbread crust the same as shortcrust pastry?
Cookies and biscuits are normally made with shortbread pastry, where as shortcrust pastry is for tarts and pies. Shortbread pastry dough is made of the three ingredients of flour butter and water with added sugar and used more for sweet bakes and biscuits. Shortcrust pastry is made of the same, water, flour and butter, without the sugar for sweetness. Same thing really.
What is shortcrust pastry called in the US?
This shortcrust pastry is popular all over the world and is used for sweet or savory pies and other bakes. In the United States it is usually called “pie dough” or a similar name.
What are the 4 basic pastries?
- flaky pastry
- shortcrust or shortbread pastry
- puff pastry
- choux pastry
- filo pastry
Ingredients
View recipe attached for the full amounts for the ingredients and the instructions.
Making the dough
Mix the butter and sugar until creamy and add the other ingredients according to the recipe. Combine well and wrap in cling wrap and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Before taking out to roll and cut for tartlets or to use in a larger tart bowl or pie.
Pressing dough into pans
The photo below shows the dough rolled out and the tartlet being cut into its shapes. Then pressed and filled out in the little tartlet pans. Ready to bake until lightly golden brown.
If you do not have tart pans with scalloped edges, don’t worry as you can use an ordinary dish and use your fingers to scallop the edges as per the photo below.
Baking
Baking these tartlets and leaving to cool before you remove them from the pan. We use the shortbread crust recipe for more savoury tarts, to give it that sweetness needed. But it is good to use on any tart.
The shortbread is more for sweeter treats such as cookies and biscuits that do not require addition ingredients to make it sweeter.
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PrintEasy Shortbread Crust Pastry
Easy Shortbread crust Pastry recipe for Tarts or Pies and cheesecakes and other. A great dough idea to bake for desserts to add fillings on.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 30 min
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Desserts, snacks, meals
- Method: Oven Baking
Ingredients
The Dough Makes 12 (1 dozen )Tartlets
- 1 Cup of Butter (unsalted) (if you use salted butter then leave out the salt)
- 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Essence
- 1/2 Cup of fine sugar
- 2 Cups of flour
- 1 teaspoon of fine salt (If you use unsalted butter then add some salt)
Instructions
- Cream together the butter (room temperature) and sugar until cream with a mixer.
- Then add the vanilla essence. mix well.
- Once this mixture is blended well then add the flour and salt in a cup at a time, Mix well with a dough hook. This forms the shortbread dough.
- Wrap it in a cling wrap and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 150 Deg C (300 Deg. F)
- Then obtain the dough out of the fridge and roll it flat and then cut and press it into your greased tartlet pans. Pressing the sides in well.
- If you do not have a lovely shaped tartlet pan, then don’t worry. All you need to do is make a scallop edge with your fingers to visually make the tartlets look good.
- Place these tartlet pans on a baking sheet pan and bake in the oven until lightly golden. That would take about 10 – 15 minutes.
- Leave to cool on a cooling rack, before removing from the tartlet pans.
- Once cool then you may fill the shortbread crust bases with the fillings you desire.
Notes
Use this recipe to make a normal savoury tart or pie dish shortbread base as well.
Use your fingers to make a scallop edge around the top for a more pleasing eye catching effect.
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