How to Make Perfect Shortcrust Dough by Hand or Machine (2024)

Recipes By Region
European Food
British Food
British Desserts

Elaine Lemm

Elaine Lemm is a renowned British food writer, classically trained chef, teacher, and author with over 25 years of experience writing about British food and cooking.

Learn about The Spruce Eats'Editorial Process

Updated on 02/28/24

Tested by

Danielle Centoni

Tested byDanielle Centoni

Danielle is a James Beard Award-winning food writer and editor based in Portland, Oregon.

Learn about The Spruce Eats'Editorial Process

(398)

Write a Review

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 0 mins

Chill:: 60 mins

Total: 75 mins

Servings: 8 servings

editor badge

398 ratings

Write a Review

Add a comment

Shortcrust pastry dough is a simple recipe used for pies, tarts, and quiche. It calls for just four ingredients—flour, fat, salt, and water—and the ratio of flour to fat is usually 4-to-1. Shortcrust pastry is easy to make and can be prepared either by hand or with a food processor. It's one of the most versatile pastries because it can be used for both savory and sweet dishes.

This recipe makes enough for the top and bottom crust of a seven-inch pie.If you are not sure how much pastry you need,check thepastry calculator.

How to Make Perfect Shortcrust Dough by Hand or Machine (3)

What You'll Need to Make This Perfect Shortcrust Recipe

A Good Set of Measuring Spoons

A Nice Big Mixing Bowl

A Zippy Food Processor

How to Make Perfect Shortcrust Dough by Hand or Machine (7)

"This is a simple, easy recipe for pie crust that turns out flaky, tender and delicious. I made it with all butter and the flavor was rich but not at all greasy. The machine method is very fast, but it only took me five minutes to work in the butter by hand, making both methods quite speedy." —Danielle Centoni

A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
8 tablespoons (4-ounces) cold unsalted butter, cubed (or an equal mix of butter and lard)
4 to 6 tablespoons ice water

Steps to Make It

By-HandMethod

Gather the ingredients.
Place the flour, salt, and butter in a large, clean bowl.
Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, working as quickly as possible to prevent the dough from becoming warm.
Add 4 tablespoons of water to the mixture. Using a cold knife, stir until the dough binds together. Add more cold water a teaspoon at a time if the mixture is too dry. Form the dough into a ball.
Flatten the ball into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for a minimum of 1 hour up to overnight. Use the shortcrust dough in your favorite pie, tart, or quiche recipe.

Food Processor Method

Place the flour, salt, and butter into the bowl of the processor.
Using only the pulse setting, pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Avoid overmixing. Too much handling can result in hard, dry pastry.
Through the funnel on the top of the processor, slowly add 4 tablespoons of the water a little at a time while pulsing until the mixture begins to clump together. Stop the machine and squeeze the dough. If it holds together, it doesn't need more water.
Flatten the ball into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for a minimum of 1 hour or up to overnight.

Shortcrust Tips

By following a few tips, you can ensure success when making shortcrust pastry.

Gather together all your equipment and ingredients, and weigh all of the ingredients before you begin.
The golden rule of making shortcrust pastry is to keep the ingredients, equipment, and your hands as cool as possible. When the pastry mixture becomes too warm, the end result is a greasy and/or heavy, dull finished pastry crust.
Work quickly as it makes a lighter pastry.
Don't skip resting the dough; resting allows time for the gluten (proteins) in the dough to relax.
Always put the pastry into a preheated, hot oven. If the oven is too cool, the pastry will melt rather than cook.
To ensure your tart or pie crust is crisp,place a heavy baking sheet in the oven while it is heating up, then place the tart or pie directly on the heated tray.

What's the difference between shortcrust pastry and pie crust?

Shortcrust pastry dough is a type of pie crust. Known as pâte brisée in French, it doesn't include leavening agents and (usually) no sugar. It's flaky and crispy rather than puffy once baked. The most often used type of pastry, it's good for both sweet and savory recipes.

Pâte sucrée is a sweet (or rich) shortcrust pastry that adds sugar and egg to the mix, creating more of a cookie-like texture in the finished pie.
The third kind of pastry is pâte sablée (sandy pastry). This version adds more butter and sugar, resulting in a very crumbly crust.

Does shortcrust pastry need to be baked before filling?

Whether or not you need to prebake shortcrust before adding the filling depends on the recipe. Known as "blind baking," partially baking the crust prevents soggy fruit pie crust and is used when the crust takes longer to bake than the filling. For pies in which the filling is not baked (e.g., cream pies), the crust must be baked first.

Best Shortcrust Pastry Recipes

British Desserts
Pastries
European Food
British Food

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
216	Calories
12g	Fat
24g	Carbs
3g	Protein

Show Full Nutrition Label

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories	216
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 12g	15%
Saturated Fat 7g	36%
Cholesterol 31mg	10%
Sodium 19mg	1%
Total Carbohydrate 24g	9%
Dietary Fiber 1g	3%
Total Sugars 0g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 0mg	0%
Calcium 8mg	1%
Iron 1mg	8%
Potassium 37mg	1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Recipe Tags:

pastry
shortcrust
dessert
british

Rate This Recipe

I don't like this at all.It's not the worst.Sure, this will do.I'm a fan—would recommend.Amazing! I love it!Thanks for your rating!