Tips for Perfect Tart Dough

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Perfect tart doughIn my years as a cooking instructor I’ve learned that dough is a four-letter word for many cooks. It’s sensitive – overwork it and it bakes up tough and dry – and fragile – how on Earth do you get it into the pie dish or tart pan in one piece?

Dough sounds like some scary stuff. Not anymore. I’ve learned a few tips and tricks along the way that will give you the confidence to tackle a homemade tart dough.

TIPS:
1. Make sure your butter is cold. Cold butter won’t mix completely with the flour. It’s not uncommon to see tiny dots of butter in dough. When the dough’s baking, those dots of butter melt, leaving behind tiny air pockets that give you the flaky dough you love.

2. Pulse the dough in the food processor just until it comes together. Stop the processor as soon as the dough forms a ball that pulls away from the sides of the food processor bowl. Over-processing or kneading a dough too much will make it tough.

3. Once your dough comes together, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and chill it for at least an hour.The butter will have softened in the food processor and chilling gives it a chance to resolidify. Chilling the dough will also make it easier to handle.

4. Roll your dough out on a piece of parchment or wax paper. This not only makes clean up a breeze, it makes it super simple to pick up the dough and get it into your tart (or pie) pan.

This tart dough recipe is easy-peasy-lemon-squeezey. A few pulses in a food processor and even a novice can turn flour, sugar, butter and an egg into this perfect tart dough. You can use this dough to make my Alsatian Apple Tart.

Watch the video for the super simple step-by-step.

The tools section may contain affiliate links to products we know and love.

TECHNIQUES:

Blind Baking

Perfect Tart Dough

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