Shortbread dough is very popular among housewives, since pastries from it are tender and crumbly. As a rule, biscuits, cakes and pastries are baked from this test, but it can also be used for salted pies. Most often, cookies are made from sweet shortcrust pastry, and from lean meat, the basis for open cakes.
The cooking process has its own characteristics, so some housewives do not know how to make shortcrust pastry. The recipe for any variety of this dough includes 3 main ingredients: flour, oil and water. You do not have to add baking powder, because it is replaced with high-quality butter. It seems to envelop the flour, due to which the baking is soft and crumbly. This distinguishes shortbread dough from other types. Obviously, dishes from it contain a high percentage of fat, which must be considered by those who follow the figure.
History of creation
The traditional recipe for shortcrust pastry - breeze (Pate Breese) was created in France around the 12th century. It is believed that after baking bread, cookies were prepared from the rest of the dough. Later, butter began to be added to it, which not everyone could afford because of its high price.
The classic shortbread dough consists of flour, oil and water mixed in a ratio of 3: 2: 1. This standard is the basis for any shortcrust pastry recipe.
Depending on which additional ingredients are added, you will get dough for either sweet pastries or savory pies.
Cooking secrets
Things to remember before making shortcrust pastry:
- Fine flour with an average gluten content should be selected. Before preparing the dough, it must be sieved.
- Avoid heating the ingredients. Water must be cooled, and the butter melt to such an extent that it is conveniently chopped and not melted. Cook the dough in a well-ventilated area.
- The butter should not be too melted, otherwise when kneading the dough will crumble.
- No need to delay the cooking process so that the dough does not have time to heat up. Otherwise, the baking will be tough.
- The baking dish does not need to be oiled, because the dough itself contains a large percentage of fat.
- Biscuits and pies from shortcrust pastry are baked at a temperature of 200-240 ° C in the lower part of the oven.
- Some sources indicate that shortbread dough should be kneading with hands. Someone argues that you need to use a spatula or mixer, so as not to heat the dough with warm hands. It all depends on the specific recipe and the experience of the hostess.
- If the dough is used to make cookies, it needs to be rolled out to a thickness of 0.5 centimeters. Shortcrust pastry can be a little thicker for pies and cakes, but not more than 1 centimeter.
Classic Dough Recipe
The classic recipe is suitable for making shortcrust pastry for a pie. How to make it universal so that any salty filling fits? We need a minimum of components:
- 185 grams of fine flour;
- 115 g butter;
- ½ teaspoon of sugar;
- ½ tsp salts;
- 60 milliliters of ice water.
Pre-cool the water and oil in the refrigerator. Sift flour and mix with sugar and salt. Cut the butter into small cubes, add to the remaining ingredients and chop together to the size of a pea. Pour water in a pit in the middle of the flour by 1 tablespoon and knead the dough. When it starts to hold its shape, water is no longer needed. Wrap the finished dough in cling film and leave in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This base is used for the preparation of quiches, tartlets and closed pies. The dough needs to be rolled out with a 1 cm thick layer.
Shortcrust pastry for sweet pastries
A little different from the classic shortbread cookie dough recipe . How to make it airy and friable so that the pastries melt in your mouth? For the test you will need:
- 3 cups premium flour;
- 2/3 cup sugar;
- 450 grams of butter;
- ¼ teaspoon of baking soda;
- 3 eggs;
- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice;
- vanillin.
Grind the butter with sugar, then add the eggs and mix. Quench soda with lemon juice and mix with sifted flour. Combine all ingredients, add vanillin, quickly knead the dough and put in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Chilled dough needs to be rolled into cakes with a thickness of 0.4-0.7 cm. The cookie cutters should have sharp edges. Products are baked at a temperature of 200 ° C.
How to make shortcrust pastry
Preparation of the test does not require a lot of time and money. Even with a minimal set of ingredients, you can make shortbread dough at home, as if you bought it in a store. This recipe is suitable as a basis for pies with any filling, sweet or salty. Since the dough does not knead with hands, it will not have time to warm up. This method is suitable for beginner housewives.
- 210 grams unsalted butter;
- 300 grams of flour;
- 60 grams of sugar;
- 1 egg
Butter and sugar must be mixed with a mixer for 4 minutes at a slow speed. Then add the egg while continuing to mix the mass at medium speed. Pour the sifted flour in small portions and mix the dough at a slow mixer speed. Leave in refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Shortcrust pastry with rye flour
Recipe using rye flour - the answer to the question of how to make shortbread dough for cookies more useful and original. This recipe also differs in that it uses vegetable instead of butter. To prepare such a test you will need:
- 200 grams of rye flour;
- 1 yolk;
- 50 grams of sugar;
- zest of 1/2 lemon;
- 100 grams of vegetable oil.
Mix all ingredients except flour. Sift rye flour and add to the dough. Leave in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Products from this test should be baked at a temperature of 180 ° C.
With the addition of sour cream
Many housewives love to use original Russian ingredients in baking - sour cream and margarine, which everyone was used to back in the days of the USSR. The following recipe will tell you how to make shortbread dough that resembles the taste of childhood:
- 650 grams of flour;
- 180 g margarine;
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice;
- 150 g sour cream (10-20% fat content);
- 200 g of sugar;
- 1 sachet of baking powder;
- 2 eggs.
Chop margarine in slices, mix with sugar. Add eggs and sour cream to them. Gradually pour the sifted flour with baking powder, lemon juice and knead the dough. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
How to use shortcrust pastry
Some more tips for housewives.
- Roll out the dough on a flat, even surface, sprinkled with flour, or on baking paper.
- When using the dough as the basis for the pie, it is necessary to pierce it in some places with a fork so that the baking does not swell.
- Laying out the dough on the form, you need to carefully press it so that when baking the product does not deform.
- To prepare thick layers, the oven temperature should be lower, for thin layers - higher.
- If the finished baked product is stuck to the foil or mold, let the product cool before pulling it out.
Why dough does not work
In order to make the shortbread dough as tasty, delicate and airy as possible, you will have to be patient and gain experience. Sometimes the wrong proportions or errors in the cooking process can prevent you from achieving the desired result. Let's consider some of them:
- If the baking came out too friable, this means that too much butter was added to the dough or only yolks were used instead of eggs.
- If the butter is added last to the dough, or if it is kneaded for too long, the pastries will become rough.
- Too melted butter and insufficiently cooled foods will prevent the dough from rolling out: it will be unplastic and crumble.
- If you add too little oil, the dough will compress during rolling.
- Do not use flour with a low gluten content, otherwise the dough will turn out to be of poor quality.
- If the baking turned out to be uneven, it means that the dough was stretched during preparation or did not lie in the refrigerator for long enough.
- Shortbread dough may turn out to be too greasy if the oil is not sufficiently cooled. It is necessary to remove the workpiece in the refrigerator for another half hour to get rid of excess fat.
Mistresses get the perfect baking if they follow these tips.