Pâte Sucrée
This Pâte Sucrée is a sweet, shortcrust pastry dough with the snappy texture of a shortbread cookie.
Servings: 16 (Makes 2 9-inch tart shells)
Calories: 389kcal
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons butter slightly softened
- ¾ cup powdered sugar (3.2 ounces)
- ¼ cup almond flour (1 ounce)
- Pinch kosher salt
- 1 egg
- 2 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour (12.6 ounces)
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, almond flour, and salt until well-combined.
- Beat in egg until smooth, scraping down bottom and sides as necessary.
- Add flour and mix just until dough comes together.
- Split dough in half, and form each half into a disk.
- Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill until firm. (At least 1 hour, and up to 3 days).
- To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Remove dough from refrigerator and let warm up on the counter for 10 minutes.
- Put the disk of dough on a floured sheet of parchment paper, then cover with a second sheet.
- Roll out dough into an 11-inch circle. If dough cracks and breaks while you are rolling it, wait until it has warmed up a bit more.
- Once dough is rolled out, return to the refrigerator for 5 minutes.
- Peel off the top sheet of parchment paper and flip the dough over a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.
- Peel off the bottom sheet of parchment (now on the top) and press dough gently but firmly into the bottom and sides of the pan.
- Trim excess dough around the sides, and press the dough over the top of the tart shell cutting the excess off with your thumb and making a smooth edge that goes right up to the top of the pan.
- Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork.
- Put back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
- Cover dough with parchment paper, then baking weights, beans, or rice.
- Place tart pan on a baking sheet. Bake until edges are golden, about 20 minutes.
- Remove parchment paper and beans.
- If tart shell needs to be fully baked for your recipe, put back in the oven and bake until crust is totally dry and golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
- Cool on rack before filling.
Notes
Storage Tips:
Baked tart shell can be wrapped with plastic wrap or foil. It can be kept at room temperature for 2-3 days. Expert Tips:
This pâte sucrée recipe makes two 9-inch crusts. If you don’t need both at one time, put the extra dough into the freezer for up to 3 months. This sweet pastry dough is very soft, which is the reason we recommend chilling after rolling and before putting in tart shell. If it is too soft when you try to line your tart pan with it, it will break. On the other hand, it will also break if it is too cold! So just a few minutes in the fridge to firm it up, then line your pan with it. The good news is that this dough is very forgiving. Just patch it if it breaks, and smooth the patch into the rest of the dough. The reason this shortcrust needs to chill before baking is that chilling lets the butter firm up so the hot oven doesn’t melt it too quickly and cause dough to shrink. The chilling/resting also lets the gluten relax which also reduces shrinking in the pan. This crust is particularly great for mini tartlets, as it is sturdy and somewhat hard to slice in its larger format.
Baked tart shell can be wrapped with plastic wrap or foil. It can be kept at room temperature for 2-3 days. Expert Tips:
This pâte sucrée recipe makes two 9-inch crusts. If you don’t need both at one time, put the extra dough into the freezer for up to 3 months. This sweet pastry dough is very soft, which is the reason we recommend chilling after rolling and before putting in tart shell. If it is too soft when you try to line your tart pan with it, it will break. On the other hand, it will also break if it is too cold! So just a few minutes in the fridge to firm it up, then line your pan with it. The good news is that this dough is very forgiving. Just patch it if it breaks, and smooth the patch into the rest of the dough. The reason this shortcrust needs to chill before baking is that chilling lets the butter firm up so the hot oven doesn’t melt it too quickly and cause dough to shrink. The chilling/resting also lets the gluten relax which also reduces shrinking in the pan. This crust is particularly great for mini tartlets, as it is sturdy and somewhat hard to slice in its larger format.
Nutrition
Calories: 389kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 69mg | Sodium: 157mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g
