How to Make Shortcrust Pastry

Step 1: Make a shaggy dough

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar (if using), and salt.

Add the cold butter to the flour mixture, then use a pastry blender to cut it into the flour until coarse, pea-sized crumbs appear.

In a small bowl, whisk the ice water, egg yolk, and lemon juice or vinegar together. Add to the dough and mix until the dough just holds together (photo 1).

Collage of making shortcrust pastry dough. — Cut frozen butter into the flour mixture, add the ice water mixture, and form it into a shaggy dough

Making pastry dough in the food processor

I've noticed as I've grown older that it's getting harder for me to make pastry dough by hand, especially if I'm using frozen butter.

Using the food processor is a quick and efficient way to make pastry dough, as long as you follow the #1 rule: Don't overwork the dough! Use short 5 to 10 second pulses to process the dough - you still want to see the chunks of butter after the dough is mixed. Here's a step-by-step breakdown:

Pulse the flour and salt until it's combined.
Add the cold butter to the flour mixture and pulse a few times. Stop as soon as you see the flour mixture looking crumbly with pea-sized pieces of butter.
Add the ice water mixture and pulse just until the dough holds together.

Now you're ready to turn out the dough and continue with the recipe.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and push together into a rough ball. Knead a few times to combine. Squeeze a small amount of dough between your fingers. If it is very crumbly, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time (photo 2).

Pastry Dough Tip

You can use a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a food processor to make the dough. Just be mindful to pulse the ingredients quickly so as not to overwork the dough. You want that butter to stay cold and to keep the flour from developing too much gluten so the crust will be flaky.

Divide the dough into two equal balls (keep it whole if you're making a large tart). Flatten each ball into a disk with smooth edges, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to overnight. You want that butter to get cold again from all that manipulation.

Collage of adding a tablespoon of water to shortcrust dough on a rolling mat. — Add a small amount of water if the dough seems too dry

Step 2: Roll out the dough

If you refrigerate the dough for more than 30 minutes, you may have to let it rest for a few minutes at room temperature before it will be soft enough to roll out.

Lightly dust your rolling surface with flour. Use even pressure to roll the dough out front to back and on the diagonals. Turn and loosen the dough occasionally as you continue to roll the pastry out into a circle about 2 inches larger than your pan with a thickness of approximately ¼-inch (about the height of two stacked quarters), unless otherwise directed by your recipe (photo 3).

Collage of shortcrust dough before & after rolling out. — Roll out the dough after chilling it

Step 3: Transfer the dough to the pan

Transfer the dough to the pan you're using. Here I'm using a 9-inch tart pan.

Ease the crust into the pan, pressing up on the sides and leaving the dough overhanging the rim (photo 4). Don't forget to save the dough scraps to repair the crust later if needed.

For a tart pan: Use your rolling pin to roll over the rim to create a neat edge.
For a pie pan: Trim the overhang to 1-inch, then turn the overhang inward and crimp as desired.

Collage of shortcrust dough in tart pan before & after trimming. — Transferring the shortcrust to a tart pan

You can successfully blind bake pie dough and shortcrust pastry without needing to use pie weights or dried beans using this frozen-foil method (photo 5).

Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork.
Tear off a piece of foil that fits over the entire pan with overhang (or add extra foil as needed).
Spray the foil with baking spray to keep it from sticking to the dough.
Press the foil into the pan and tightly up against the sides. Bring the foil up over the rim and mold it to the sides of the pan.
Freeze the crust for 15 minutes.
Bake the crust at 375˚F with the foil on for 20 minutes. At this point the crust is par-baked.
Carefully remove the foil from the crust. If the crust has puffed up, gently press it back down. Any tears or cracks in the crust can be repaired with dough scraps. Return the crust to the oven and bake the crust until golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes more.

There you have it. No more slumping sides or messing around with dried beans. Oh, and the leftover egg white can be whisked with a teaspoon of water and a pinch of salt for use as an egg wash before par-baking. It won't result in quite as golden a crust as a whole-egg wash, but it's a great way to avoid waste.

Collage of steps to blind bake shortcrust with foil. — Wrap your crust in foil and freeze it before baking...no pie weights or dried beans needed!

Storage instructions

Shortcrust pastry dough can be stored in the refrigerator after shaping into disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, for 2 to 3 days. For longer storage, place in an airtight bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Just defrost the dough overnight in the refrigerator before proceeding with rolling it out.

The dough can also be frozen directly in the pan, wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in an airtight bag. There's no need to defrost it before starting the blind baking process.

Yield Notes

Makes one 11-inch crust (with extra left over), two 8-inch crusts, or 48 mini crusts.

How to make mini tartlets

For mini tartlets (like these lemon tartlets and mini chocolate tarts), spray the cups of two mini muffin pans with baking spray. Roll out the chilled shortcrust pastry and cut rounds using a 2½-inch round cookie cutter. Using a pastry dough tart tamper, push the rounds into the muffin pan cups.

Chill the dough for 15 minutes in the freezer or 30 minutes in the refrigerator to firm up (you don't want slumped tartlet shells). Bake for 10 minutes at 400°F for par-baked shells or 20 minutes for fully baked shells. Allow to cool before proceeding with filling.

Collage of making mini tartlets before & after baking — Using shortcrust pastry to make mini tartlets

Questions asked and answered

Here are some questions you might have...

What is shortcrust pastry?

Shortcrust pastry (aka short crust pastry or just short pastry) at its core is an enriched pie crust - it has an egg whisked into the liquid before adding it to the flour and butter mixture. If "enriched" sounds familiar, that's because we use the term to describe scones…they're just enriched biscuits. And challah is enriched bread dough. I love parallelisms.

What is the difference between shortcrust pastry and pie crust?

What enriching the pastry dough does is give it sturdiness. That's why a tart can be released from a tart pan and still stand up, and a pie crust can't. So, shortcrust pastry is used for any type of filled item that's going to be free-standing. Think tarts, pasties (hand pies), quiches, and my personal favorite, mini tartlets (they're just so darn cute!).

How thick should I roll out shortcrust dough?

A good thickness starting point is approximately ¼-inch thickness, about the height of two stacked quarters. You can go thicker or thinner based on your recipe.

The best way to roll out shortcrust dough is to use even pressure and roll out from the center in all four compass directions, north, south, east and west. Turn and loosen the dough occasionally as you continue to roll the pastry out into a circle or square shape (unless, like me, you end up with a blob-shape).