Gluten Free Shortcrust Pastry

gluten free shortcrust pastry baked in tart pan

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This sweet, buttery gluten free shortcrust pastry is light, flaky, and melts in your mouth. Perfect for making tarts!

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Chilling time3

Course: Pastry

Cuisine: French

Keyword: gluten free shortcrust pastry

Servings: 11-inch round pastry shell

Author: Nicole Hunn

Equipment

Ceramic pie weights or dried beans
11-inch tart pan with removable bottom or other pan for baking the pastry

Ingredients

⅜ cup cold water with ice, plus more by the half-teaspoon as necessary
1 egg at room temperature, separated
1 ½ cups all purpose gluten free flour blend (my Better Than Cup4Cup blend is ideal, but please click thru for full information on appropriate flour blends), plus more for dusting
¾ teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
½ cup confectioners’ sugar sifted
½ teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter roughly chopped (into large chunks) and chilled

Customary - Metric

Instructions

To make the raw crust.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk the egg yolk (reserve the white) and 3/8 cup cold water until well combined. Add some ice to the mixture to keep it cold, and set it aside.
In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, confectioners’ sugar, and salt, and whisk to combine well.
Add the chopped and chilled butter, and toss to coat the butter in the dry ingredients.
Press each floured chunk of butter between a floured thumb and forefinger to flatten. Work quickly, only handling each piece of butter once.
Create a well in the center of the large bowl of dry ingredients, and add the egg yolk and water mixture, taking care to filter out the ice.
Mix to combine. The dough will come together.
If there are any very crumbly bits, add more ice water by the half-teaspoon and mix to combine. Knead the dough together lightly just enough to press it into a disk.
Transfer the dough to a large piece of plastic wrap. Cover and press into a disk.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight. You can chill the tightly-covered tart dough for up to a week, but it may be too difficult to roll out at first. Just allow it to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes or until it rolls more easily (but make sure the dough stays cold).
Once the dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 375°F. Grease the bottom and sides of an 11-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom, or other pan you'd like to bake your pastry in, and set it aside.
Unwrap the dough, then turn it out onto a well-floured surface. Dust the surface with a bit more flour, and roll it out with a rolling pin into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle.
Fold the rectangle in half lengthwise, dust again lightly with flour, and roll the dough out again into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle.
Once more, fold the rectangle in half lengthwise, and then fold again widthwise to create a thick square.
Dust the square lightly with flour, and roll the dough out into a round that is about 13-inches in diameter (or about 2 inches larger in diameter than the diameter of the pan you have chosen).
Transfer the round of dough to the prepared pan, and press it gently into the bottom and the sides of the pan.
Using a knife or kitchen shears, trim the edges of the dough flush with the upper edge of the sides of the pan.
Pierce the bottom and sides of the tart crust with the tines of a fork about 25 times.
Brush the bottom surface of the crust generously with the egg white. Place the crust in the freezer for about 5 minutes or until it is beginning to feel firm.

To fully bake the crust.

Cover the bottom of the crust with parchment paper, and then dried beans or heat safe pie weights.
Place the tart crust in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes at 375°F.
Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F, and remove the parchment and pie weights from the tart.
Return the tart crust to the oven and bake at 350°F for another 10 minutes or until dry to the touch and lightly golden brown in spots.
Remove the tart crust from the oven and allow it to cool fully before filling.

Notes

Nutrition information.

Nutrition information is for the whole crust, including the portions that are cut off and discarded before baking. It is an estimate only from online calculators, provided as a courtesy, and should not be relied on under any circumstances.

Nutrition