Pastry Dough Recipe
Pastry dough, also called "short dough," is a light, sweet, crumbly dough used for making tarts and pies.As with all baking, use table salt instead of Kosher salt. Also, keep the shortening or butter cool -- keeping the dough cool prevents the gluten in the flour from developing too quickly, which would produce a chewy, rather than light and crumbly, pastry crust.
Tip: Don't overmix the dough or mix it at too high of a speed. Doing so will also overwork the glutens.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 lb butter (or ½ lb butter, ½ lb shortening)
- 6 oz granulated sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 extra large eggs (or 5 medium eggs)
- 1½ lb pastry flour, sifted
Preparation:
- Using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer at a low speed, combine the butter, sugar and salt until they're fully mixed.
- Add the eggs and keep mixing until they're incorporated.
- Add the flour. You're only going to mix until the flour is fully incorporated and not a second longer.
- Chill the dough for 3-4 hours before using.
