Shortcrust pastry for cookies: recipes with photos

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Shortcrust pastry is considered the easiest to prepare among cooks. Nevertheless, it is it that can be used as a basic recipe for an infinite number of gastronomic experiments. In this article, we will talk about how to make shortcrust pastry for cookies. Recipes with photos, step-by-step instructions and different options for how to prepare this base for desserts will be given below.

This simple pastry is good for Sunday or Saturday night, children's party, light breakfast. Festive options for cookies from such a dough can be served for the New Year or Christmas. Many nations have interesting traditions associated specifically with shortcrust pastry. Now we will learn how to make it at home. It's so much tastier and he althier.

Why is it called that

Before giving recipes for shortcrust pastry for cookies, let's find out why it was given such a name. There are several versions of this. Some think they are calledculinary products from such a base are sandy because they are cut out with curly molds, as if children were playing in a sandbox.

These desserts are actually called that because, if done right, they become crumbly and melt in your mouth. And all because they contain a lot of fat. From this cookies will be not only tasty, but also tender. And anyone can cook them. Moreover, no special tricks are needed for this. The products are all very affordable and you can buy them everywhere: eggs, butter, flour… Let's get started.

Shortbread cookie dough. Step by step recipe

To make several servings of such culinary products, you need to take a little less than one hundred grams of sugar, 2 eggs, 250 g of flour, 150 g of butter (in the budget version they can be replaced with margarine or spread). We will need a teaspoon of baking powder, as well as a pinch of s alt.

The first step is to beat the eggs well with the sugar until the mixture turns whitish and thickens a bit. While we're at it, it's best to put the butter in a warm place so that it becomes soft (but never melts).

Now you can proceed to the second step. Sift flour through a sieve and mix with baking powder and s alt. Add the dry mixture to the beaten eggs, put the oil in the same place.

To the third step - kneading shortcrust pastry for cookies - the recipe requires you to approach it very carefully. It is not worth doing this for a long time. Otherwise, the dough will turn out too clogged. Knead quickly and form into a ball. Now cover it with cellophane, cling film orwet gauze. We place in the refrigerator. That, in fact, is all.

A quarter of an hour to cook, twenty minutes in the refrigerator - and the dough is suitable for baking. If you want to make cookies, then go to the fourth step. We roll out the dough on a floured board, cut out the figures that our imagination suggests, and then transfer it to a baking sheet and keep it in the oven for 10-15 minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees. Allow cookies to cool before serving. You can sprinkle it with powdered sugar.

More complicated recipe

If you want to prepare such desserts for a large company, then you should change the number of products. Take three glasses of flour, more than a pack of butter (about 300 grams), sugar - a glass. But the number of eggs can not be changed, two is enough. To improve the taste, you can add a bag of vanilla sugar. But the principle of preparation remains the same as in the basic recipe for shortcrust pastry for cookies, which we described step by step.

All bulk products are joined together. Then add the butter - if it is not too softened, it can be cut into small pieces. In this case, it is better to put everything in a blender. Then the oil with bulk products will be crushed into crumbs. Add eggs there and beat until smooth. And then we form a ball and do the same as in the previous recipe. By the way, not only products should be chilled, but also the hands with which we work with the dough.

How can I improve the composition of the dough and the taste of products from it

Even when making the simplest desserts, you need to follow the rules and know the secrets. We have seen that the recipe calls for simple products to make shortcrust pastry for cookies. But you can also use additives. They will give the cookies a special flavor and aroma.

We met with one such additive above. This is vanilla sugar. But in the preparation of shortcrust pastry, grated lemon or orange zest, nuts, chocolate, as well as cocoa or cinnamon are also used. Flour can be mixed with some of the starch. It is appropriate to replace baking powder with soda.

But if the dough is skillfully made, then you should completely abandon the baking powder. To do this, cool all surfaces on which you will “conjure” over kneading. If you do everything very quickly and do not allow the dough to heat up, it will “fluff up” on its own. Refrigerate it so that it becomes matte and smooth. Otherwise, the dough will crumble and roll out poorly. That is, it should not only be well kneaded, but also let it “rest.”

Secrets of "friability"

Above we have given two ways to make shortbread dough. It is prepared by hand or with a food processor. The recipe for crumbly shortcrust pastry for cookies depends on whether you add baking powder there or not. If you are using softened butter or margarine, cookie powder is fine. If you grind it into crumbs with a knife, thenno baking powder needs to be added. Then the moisture that is in the oil will evaporate while you knead the dough.

What is it for? So that the steam released during kneading makes the dough crumbly. And the movements themselves are best done from the center to the edges. So gradually, working with both hands, you will capture all the flour. If the oil is soft, then it, like other liquid components, is mixed with eggs. Dry ingredients are most often added to flour. They do the same with crumbled butter.

The dough becomes very crumbly if part of the flour is replaced with starch. But then there will be desserts "for an amateur." The golden classic rule for combining ingredients for shortcrust pastry is 1 to 2. That is, for 300 grams of butter or fat, there should be twice as much flour.

How to roll out shortcrust pastry for cookies: recipe with photo

Different products require dough of different thicknesses. To make cookies, the layer needs to be rolled out. But its thickness should be no more than 4-8 millimeters. Otherwise, the dough will not bake well. And the cookies that you cut out with cookie cutters or a curly knife should also be the same thickness. This is done so that all products are baked evenly, and there is no such thing that some burnt, while others remain damp.

It is best to roll out such a dough on parchment paper laid on a board. It needs to be dusted with flour. And the dough must be covered with another sheet of parchment. If you roll it out on top of the paper, it will remain smooth andkeep the desired texture. If the dough is torn, remove the parchment, cover the hole with a stretched edge. Then carefully roll it out again.

Baking

Often, before putting products in the oven, a baking sheet is greased or covered with special paper. But in the case of shortbread cookie dough, the recipe leaves that up to you. The thing is, it's way too oily. Therefore, most likely, the products will not stick to the baking sheet. But the cookies need to be pricked with a fork. This is to ensure that air bubbles do not form in the dough during cooking.

Place the cookies in the oven, which is already preheated. The fire should be medium, but it depends on the thickness of the products. Know that the thinner your layers, the higher the oven temperature should be. And vice versa - thick pieces of dough are baked at a not too strong fire. But you need to follow the process. It happens that during baking the cookies begin to burn on top. Then they are covered with parchment paper.

Cookies with almonds or nuts

Would you like some homemade shortcrust pastry nut or almond cookies? Recipes in some cases prescribe to take only half the required amount of flour. The rest can be replaced with very finely grated hazelnuts or almonds. At the same time, powder is taken instead of sugar, and cocoa is often added to the dough. The taste of such products is simply extraordinary.

Almond shortbread cookies are popular in many European countries. They are prepared in the form of crescents or stars. After baking, they are rolled in vanilla sugar. The French add grated chocolate to the festive version of the dough for such cookies, and the Italians add chopped marzipan.

It happens that ordinary shortcrust pastry is also prepared. It is only sprinkled with crushed nuts or peanuts before baking. In this case, the pieces should be large, they do not need to be crushed much. Shortbread cookies sprinkled with nuts require protein. The dough is divided into balls. The top half of each is dipped in protein, then in nuts, and then placed on a baking sheet, pressing lightly.

Cookies with jam and other fillings

How do we know how well our products are baked? You can tell by their color when you take the cookies out of the oven. They should be light brown or golden. If there was not enough fat in the dough, and the cookies stuck to the baking sheet, it is better not to try to “tear them off” right away. Wait for them to cool down a bit. Then hit the baking sheet and they will move.

Often such products like to be smeared with fruit, butter or cream fillings, or glued together with jam. They are prepared according to the usual recipe from shortcrust pastry for cookies. With jam and fruit fillings, you can start desserts while they are still warm. They are greased almost as soon as they are taken out of the oven. But if you want to use butter or custard, then it is better to wait until the cookies have cooled. This isnecessary so that the filling does not delaminate.

Cookies in molds

In order to prepare products that do not need to be rolled out, but rather molded or squeezed out with a pastry bag, a special kind of dough is needed. It must be soft so that it can be placed in molds. The shortcrust pastry recipe for cookies in this case prescribes to take 400 grams of butter or margarine, 3 eggs, an incomplete glass of sugar for three glasses of flour, and also extinguish the soda on the tip of a knife in a teaspoon of lemon juice. It is kneaded very quickly, and then put in the refrigerator for two hours.

This dough is literally spread on molds, and baked according to the general rules. Products are soft. Well suited for such baking and shortbread dough on sour cream. Then they take a couple of spoons of sugar, and only 200 grams of oil. But one and a half glasses of sour cream and soda slaked with lemon juice are added to the dough. Vanilla sugar doesn't hurt either. This dough can be spread on molds or rolled out if you keep it longer in the refrigerator.

Shortbread dough without eggs

Vegetarians can also enjoy such confectionery. Here is a step by step recipe for making shortbread dough without eggs. The first step is to select the ingredients. We will need three glasses of flour, a pack of butter and four tablespoons of sour cream. But that is not all. We take a glass of sugar, s alt on the tip of a teaspoon, as well as any spices: vanilla, anise, cinnamon or nutmeg.

This dough is made with softened butter. Therefore, the second stage consists in the fact that we leave the fat for a while at room temperature, and then knead it well with a fork. The third step is to grind the sugar with butter until the grains are no longer felt. It is even better to take powder, not sand. Fourth step - combine the rest of the dry products and add to the oil mixture.

At the very end, we will have sour cream. The rest of the steps are the same as in other cookie dough recipes. It is put into the oven no earlier than after half an hour in the refrigerator.

For vegans, a recipe for such a dough is also suitable without butter and dairy products. In this case, it is worth using vegetable fat, olive oil is best. Condensed almond or coconut milk is used instead of sour cream.

Butter or margarine?

Like any other dough, shortbread has certain physical and chemical properties that create its taste after baking. Therefore, cooks often face the question of what is better to use for its preparation - butter or margarine. The latter is usually replaced by expensive products.

The recipe for margarine shortbread dough for cookies, of course, is suitable. But do not forget that this is an artificial product. It contains so-called trans fats, which can contribute to the formation of malignant tumors. On the other hand, margarine dough makes baking easier and is preferred by many dieters.

Oil is not only more expensive, but also better. Most often, it is it that is part of the originalcookie dough recipes. In oil, the products are more tender. If you decide to use this particular creamy product, it is better to buy one so that it does not have foreign odors. Otherwise, it will affect the quality of baking.

Storage

Most often, small shortbread dough products are eaten immediately. And what to do in the event that you knead it too much? In any case, if you have followed the classic cookie dough recipe (or with some variations), you do not need to bake it all at once. It is well kept. You can bake it in small batches and leave the rest in the refrigerator. If you send such a dough to the freezer, then it can stay there for two to three months without any harm to the quality of the products.