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Tart pan lined with baked tart crust set on top of a marble surface.

Classic Tart Crust Recipe

  • Author: Lauren
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes + 1 ½ hours chilling
  • Cook Time: 40 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 ¾ hours
  • Yield: one 9-inch tart crust 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American

Description

Foolproof recipe for a crisp tart crust. Easy to make and requires just 6 ingredients!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 tablespoon heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 ¼ cups (6 ¼ ounces) all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces and chilled

Instructions

Whisk egg yolk, cream, and vanilla together in bowl. Process flour, sugar, and salt in food processor until combined, about 5 seconds. Scatter chilled butter over top and pulse until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, about 15 pulses. With processor running, add yolk mixture and process until dough just comes together, about 12 seconds.

Form dough into 6-inch disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate 1 hour. (Dough can be wrapped tightly in plastic and refrigerate for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month. If frozen, let dough thaw completely on counter before rolling.)

Let chilled dough sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes, roll dough into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Loosely roll dough around rolling pin and gently unroll into a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom, letting excess dough hang over edge. Ease dough into pan by gently lifting edge of dough with your hand while pressing into corners and fluted sides of pan with your other hand (make sure edges are about 1/4-inch thick). Run rolling pin over top of pan to remove any excess dough.

Wrap dough-lined pan loosely in plastic, place on a large plate, and freeze until dough is chilled and firm, about 30 minutes. (Dough-lined tart pan can be wrapped tightly in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.)

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375°. Set dough-lined tart pan on baking sheet, discard plastic and line with a double layer of aluminum foil, covering edges to prevent burning; fill with pie weights. Bake crust until golden brown and set, about 30–40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.

For a par-baked tart crust: remove weights and foil and let crust cool.

For a fully cooked tart crust: remove weights and foil and continue baking crust for an additional 5-10 minutes until deeply golden brown.

Notes

Equipment Needed:

  • 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom
  • Food processor

Make a whole wheat tart crust

Swap in whole wheat pastry flour for the all-purpose flour. The result? A toasty/nutty crust that’s just as crisp as the regular all-purpose variety.

Make a naturally sweetened tart crust

Swap ground sucanat in for the confectioners’ sugar. You can also use ground coconut sugar, but the crust will be a bit darker and not quite as crisp.


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/8 of a recipe
  • Calories: 194
  • Sugar: 2g
  • Sodium: 158mg
  • Fat: 13g
  • Saturated Fat: 8g
  • Carbohydrates: 17g
  • Fiber: 1g
  • Protein: 3g
  • Cholesterol: 59mg

Keywords: Tart Crust Recipe, tart crust, Tart

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