Eggless shortbread dough can be used as the basis for a huge variety of baked goods - from simple shortbread cookies to gourmet pies. Here I will share four shortcrust pastry variations - 2 sweet pastry variations and 2 savory pastry variations. Sweet can be used for pastries, cookies and sweet pies, and savory - for baskets, tartlets, pies with vegetables, cheese, salty snacks, or, conversely, for pies in which the filling itself is very sweet and does not require additional sweetness of the dough .

The ingredients are for a small amount open cake with a diameter of 20 cm. For a closed pie of the same diameter, increase the amount of ingredients by 1.5 times.

Unsweetened shortbread dough without eggs. Option 1.

Ingredients:

• 250 grams of flour;
• 125 grams of butter;
• 2.5 tablespoons of sour cream;
• a pinch of salt.

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Cooking process:

1. Butter for shortcrust pastry should be very cold. Cut it into small cubes.

2. Then sift the flour mixed with salt into a bowl with butter.

3. Grind flour and butter until coarse crumbs form.

⇒ By the way, you can even cook from such flour crumbs!

4. Add sour cream and knead into a thick, homogeneous dough. Try to knead it quickly so that the butter that is included in the composition does not melt, otherwise the products from this dough will turn out tough.

5. When the dough is ready, put it in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes, then use according to the recipe.

Unsweetened shortbread dough without eggs. Option 2:

Ingredients:

• 250 grams of flour;
• 125 grams of very cold butter;
• 50 ml very cold water;
• a pinch of salt.

Cooking process:

1. Grate the butter, add salt and grind into crumbs with flour.

2. Gradually pour in cold water, kneading into a homogeneous dough. Also, as in the previous version, you need to work with the dough quickly so that the butter does not have time to melt from the heat of your hands. Place the finished dough in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes, then work with it according to the recipe.

Sweet shortcrust pastry without eggs. Option 1:

Ingredients:

• 250 grams of flour;
• 125 grams of butter;
• 2.5 tablespoons of sour cream;
• 50 grams of powdered sugar;
• a pinch of salt.

Cooking process:

1. Cut the cold butter into cubes, add powdered sugar and grind.

2. Add a pinch of salt and sift the flour into the butter mixture.

3. Mix everything thoroughly until coarse flour crumbs form.

4. Add sour cream and knead the dough until smooth. As with all variations, do this quickly to prevent the butter from melting.

6. Before using, put the dough in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes.

Sweet shortcrust pastry without eggs. Option 2:

Ingredients:

• 250 grams of flour;
• 125 grams of cold butter;
• ½ teaspoon of soda;
• 50 grams of sugar or powdered sugar;
• 45 ml ice water.

Cooking process:

1. Grind butter with sugar, combine flour with soda.

2. Combine both mixtures, grinding them into crumbs.

3. Gradually pour in cold water and knead the dough as quickly as possible.

4. Place in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes before further use.

Eggless shortbread

You can make shortbread cookies from sweet shortbread dough ( and you can see the recipe for delicious chocolate shortbread cookies).

To do this, roll out the chilled dough into a layer 0.5-1 cm thick and cut out the cookies of the desired shape.

Bake at 200 degrees for 10-15 minutes (depending on the thickness of the cookies and your oven settings).

All is ready! Bon appetit!

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Shortbread dough is not at all fussy, its recipe is extremely simple and even a beginner can prepare it. Unsweetened shortbread dough can be prepared with different fillings; its main difference is that it is prepared without sugar.

In addition, this dough is well suited for tartlets, baskets, and cakes or snacks will look original and appetizing on any table.

• Premium flour - 200 grams;
• Butter 150 grams;
• Salt 0.5 teaspoon;
• Yolk - 1 piece;
• Water - 3 tbsp. spoons;

Step by step recipe

After you knead the dough well, you can put it in the refrigerator for one hour, covering the bowl with a towel or cling film.

The dough needs to be rolled out quite thinly, about 4-8 mm. The thinner the dough, the less it bakes. When rolling out cake layers or pastries, it is important to roll out each subsequent layer to the same thickness as the previous one.

There is no need to grease the pan before you place the crust. The dough is quite oily. The oven should first be warmed up well, and then place the molds with the dough. If during the baking process you notice that the cakes are burning on top, then they should be placed lower or covered with parchment paper.

A pie from this dough can be prepared in 20-30 minutes. The cake is baked at 220 degrees for 15-25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the cake and the type of filling. Products made from shortcrust pastry are crumbly due to the high fat content. This dough is suitable for small children and diabetics, because according to the recipe it does not contain sugar.

You can add starch to the dough instead of some of the flour. Just be careful while kneading so that the dough does not get warm, since the dough contains a lot of fat. In this case, the board for rolling out the dough should be cool and the dough should be kneaded for a minimum time.

If necessary, the dough can be put in the freezer and used, for example, when unexpected guests arrive. Only this dough can be stored in the freezer for no more than 6 months, and in the refrigerator for a maximum of 2 weeks. And if you are going to bake tomorrow, then today you should take the dough out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator.

You need to put the dough in the refrigerator in any case, regardless of whether you are baking today or in a week. If the dough stands for half an hour in the refrigerator, it will be manageable and will not stick to your hands. In addition, the dough will be easy to roll out. Before you start rolling out, the table should be well floured. Then the sheet of dough is rolled out and transferred into the mold with a rolling pin.

For sweet pies, you can also use unsweetened dough. In this case, you should use sweet jam or berries, adding sugar or powdered sugar at the end. Just first you need to bake the cake, having previously formed the sides. After the crust is almost baked, add the filling and bake the pie with the filling for about 10 minutes.

Pies made from unsweetened shortcrust pastry can be prepared closed or open. Closed pies are more juicy and the dough is softer than open pies. Covered shortbread pies have their advantages. The top of such a pie is covered in a variety of ways, laying out mesh, flowers, figures, butterflies, and animals from the dough. Closed pies look more beautiful on the holiday table.

The pie gets its original taste with lemon or orange zest. Sand pies with prunes, raisins, cinnamon and nuts are considered healthy. And cakes made from unsweetened shortbread dough with cream and nuts have long been considered a favorite treat for little ones with a sweet tooth.

This shortbread dough is also suitable for making pizza, but before adding the filling, the edges should be folded up a little. Then you can lay out the minced meat, sausage, vegetables and pour egg sauce over it. The pizza turns out crispy and tasty.

This is an intermediate option between shortcrust pastry and puff pastry. It is crumbly but firm, making it suitable as a base for large pies and quiches.

In a recipe, you can add the word “cold” before each ingredient and item, and this should not be neglected. The water should be ice cold and the oil should be rock hard. It's a good idea to keep bowls, knives and even the board on which you will work with the dough in the freezer. It is better to move the cutting table away from the radiator or open the window.

The secret of shortcrust pastry is in oil. It is thanks to him that the baked goods turn out crumbly.

All this trouble to prevent the butter from melting. Because otherwise you will get a completely different product.

Classic way

Ingredients

• 200 g butter;
• 300 g flour;
• a pinch of salt;
• 50–100 ml of water.

Preparation

Chop the cold butter into small cubes and place in the freezer for 15 minutes. At this time, sift the flour and salt and pour it onto the table or board. Place the butter cubes on top, sprinkle them generously with flour and use a knife or two to cut into the dough.

It is important to touch the oil with your hands as little as possible: body heat will quickly melt it, and the consistency will not be what you need.

When the butter and dough come together and turn into small grains, add water little by little, kneading the mass into a plastic ball. Place it in the freezer for 15 minutes. Then roll out the dough, put the filling, for example, and put it in the oven.

Lazy way

Technological progress does not stand still, why not use it in cooking. You will need the same ingredients and a food processor with blades. It is not necessary to chop the butter into small cubes: the device will handle it itself. Place butter and flour in a bowl and whisk. The main thing is not to overdo it; in the end you should get the same grains.

Gradually add ice water until the dough begins to come together into a ball. The following instructions are the same as in the classic recipe.

Shortbread dough can be stored in the freezer for several weeks.

Supplements

You can deviate from the basic recipe. Here are some ideas:

1. Place 50–100 g of sugar into the sweet pie dough.
2. Replace 30 g of flour with the same amount of cocoa - you will get chocolate dough.
3. Add up to half a glass of finely chopped nuts.
4. Flavor the mixture with citrus zest or vanilla.

This recipe will yield a more flexible dough that is easier to roll out. Baked goods made from it crumble less. By the way, in culinary disputes, some confectioners refuse to call chopped dough shortbread. They believe that only with the help of such a recipe can they obtain a classic base for tarts and baskets.

The oil should not be cold, but chilled. It is impossible to explain how one state differs from another. Just remove the product from the freezer an hour before cooking.

Ingredients

• 100 g butter;
• 100 g sugar (preferably powdered sugar);
• 250 g flour;
• 1 egg (or 2 yolks).

Preparation

It is better to mix the ingredients with a spatula or spoon, and use your hands only at the last stage, when you need to gather the dough into a ball. Cream butter and sugar, add flour, then egg.

If you have a food processor, delegate all these responsibilities to it.

You can chill the dough and then cut it. You can first give it the desired shape and then put it in the freezer. It is important that it goes into the oven cold.

3. Curd shortbread dough

This dough is less finicky to work with than its counterparts without cottage cheese, and has less calories, since the fermented milk product replaces half the butter.

Ingredients

• 100 g cottage cheese;
• 100 g butter;
• 180 g flour;
• ½ teaspoon of soda;
• ½ teaspoon salt.

Preparation

Rub the cottage cheese through a sieve, grate the cold butter. Mix both ingredients with a fork, add flour, soda and salt. Quickly knead the dough until smooth, put it in a bag and put it in the refrigerator for an hour.

What to do next

If there is a pie on the menu, roll out the dough to the size of the mold, pierce it several times with a fork to prevent it from swelling, cover with parchment paper and cover with a weight. Special heat-resistant balls or beans and peas can be used as a weighting agent. This design is baked for about 15 minutes at 180 °C. Then remove the weight, add the pie filling and cook until done.

It is better to choose the filling adjusted for the sugar content in the dough. Unsweetened chopped is suitable for quiches with filling, pies with meat and vegetables. Dough with added sugar will be the basis for fruit and berry

Baskets are baked in the same way, only the cooking time must be reduced in proportion to the reduction in the size of the cakes. It is enough to bake cookies and other small products in the oven until lightly browned, otherwise they will be too hard.

Managing partner of the culinary school “Bread and Food”, author of cookbooks, TV presenter Alena Spirina

Yes! And we, continuing our acquaintance with various types of dough, will make a smooth transition from sweet shortbread to unsweetened crumbly dough. It is not very popular in our country, although it makes excellent pies, pies and just snack cookies. This is a great alternative to store-bought puff pastry without yeast!

The most common use of unsweetened crumbly dough is an open-faced pie with an egg and cream filling, known as quiche. The famous American pies with apples or berries, covered completely or with a lattice, are also baked from it. Moreover, the legendary twelve cake layers for the iconic Soviet homemade “Napoleon” were rolled out from this very dough, consisting of flour, fat, salt and a minimal amount of liquid.

Dough composition and choice of ingredients

Like shortcrust pastry, crumbly unsweetened dough becomes so solely due to its high fat content - at least 50% of the flour weight. Fat envelops flour particles during kneading, preventing the formation of strong protein bonds. Then, during baking, the fat melts, the moisture evaporates, and the dough becomes crumbly and light.

Unsweetened crumbly dough differs from shortcrust pastry not only in the absence of sugar, but also in the presence of a fairly significant volume of liquid. The liquid is either an egg (or just the yolk) and milk (cream or sour cream), or cold water mixed with vodka or vinegar. The remaining ingredients are the same: flour, fat, salt.

Flour

Most often, premium wheat flour is chosen for kneading crumbly dough. It makes sense to start getting acquainted with it, but as you gain experience, you can start switching to first-grade or whole grain flour, first partially, and then completely. A good dough is made from spelled flour or from a mixture of wheat flour and other grains and legumes: rye, oatmeal, buckwheat, corn, soybean. Of course, you will have to find the correct ratio of flour and liquid yourself, but it is not that difficult. Start by replacing 10% of the total flour mass, and then look at the circumstances. Of course, any new flour affects the properties of the dough, as well as the taste, color, and aroma. As long as the dough and filling match, you'll be fine!

Liquid

If in shortcrust pastry the liquid is represented by eggs (whole, white or yolk), sometimes with a small addition of milk, then for kneading unsweetened crumbly dough, choose either the combination “egg (yolk) + water (milk)” or “water + vodka (vinegar)” " This is the main recommendation, but depending on the circumstances, you can use sour cream, yogurt, and cottage cheese.

For the classic French dough “Pate Brise”, take 100-110 g of butter, 1 egg yolk and 30 g of milk per glass of flour (150 g). In terms of its properties, this dough is very similar to shortbread, only unsweetened: just as tender and crumbly thanks to the butter and yolk.

The version with water and vodka gives the effect of a more layered dough; it is also crumbly, but not as soft as brize. Since gluten does not develop in the presence of alcohol, dough kneaded with a mixture of equal parts water and vodka has less developed gluten than dough kneaded only with water. The result is a more tender and flaky dough. In addition, mixtures of water and vodka can be added to the dough with more than just water to make the dough easier to knead and roll without fear of it becoming rough and tough. Remember that a little vinegar was always added to the dough for homemade Napoleon cakes. Vinegar, being an acid, destroys the proteins of flour, and the dough turns out to be tender and brittle.

The choice of fat affects not only the taste and aroma of the finished dough, but also its structure. The higher the fat content in the dough, the more crumbly the dough will be. Butter is the most common product, but a combination of butter and margarine works great. Recipe

Oil gives the dough a pleasant taste and aroma, but it contains water, which contributes to the development of gluten. There is no water in margarine, and besides, it does not melt as much from the heat of your hands, and the dough is easier to knead. The French use rendered duck, goose or pork fat - lard - for the dough, and the British use internal beef fat. The dough turns out simply luxurious, melts in your mouth. And no foreign smell! If possible, try it. Only the amount of liquid will have to be increased slightly, because animal fat does not contain it at all.

The ratio of flour to fat varies from recipe to recipe. The higher the fat content, the more crumbly and tender the dough will be. This factor is especially important to consider when choosing a recipe for the base of an open-faced pie: a dough that is too crumbly will not hold a heavy and/or bulky filling.

Salt and sugar

Salt is an essential ingredient in any dough; it harmonizes the taste. Often savory dough recipes include a small amount of powdered sugar or fine sugar. It doesn’t really affect the taste, it just browns the dough better. If you don't want to add sugar, don't add it.

Kneading dough

It is important that all dough ingredients are cold. Cut the butter into cubes and put it in the refrigerator along with the measured liquid. Remove the oil and liquid just before kneading the dough.

To prepare crumbly dough, butter is mixed with flour until the smallest particles are formed, no matter how it is made. Like shortbread dough, unsweetened crumbly dough can be kneaded by hand, in the bowl of a food processor, or in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. The goal is one: to get crumbs from flour and fat. The crumbs can be approximately the same size and resemble wet sand, or they can contain fairly large pieces of fat, ranging in size from a grain of rice to a bean. In the first case, the dough after baking will look like shortbread, in the second you will get a version of “false puff” dough.

You need to add just enough liquid so that all the flour is moistened and the dough comes together into a lump that does not crumble in your hands.

If you are mixing the dough with vodka and water, use all the vodka first and add water as needed. Very often, when kneading, much less liquid is used than indicated in the recipe. So don’t rush to add it all at once.

If the dough is a bit dry and just requires a few drops of water, spray it with a spray bottle.

Divide the kneaded dough into parts, wrap it in cling film or put it in a plastic bag, flatten it into a disk and put it in the refrigerator. If the dough will be stored in the freezer, be sure to label the bag so there are no unpleasant surprises.

Always knead the dough generously: removing excess dough from the mold is easier than stretching a small amount of dough to fit the mold. And bake snack cookies from scraps and leftovers. Just roll out the dough, cut with a knife or cookie cutters, sprinkle with coarse sea salt, grated cheese, cumin, sesame, poppy seeds (any seeds) and bake in an oven preheated to 190-200 degrees.

And it’s always useful to have delicious, versatile homemade dough on hand! Recipe

Bakery

At all stages of working with crumbly dough, it is important to keep it cold: knead it - in the refrigerator, roll it out - in the refrigerator, line the mold with dough - in the refrigerator. Only in this way will the dough be well stabilized and will not shrink or slide off the sides of the pan during baking, and it will be possible to do without baking under pressure (“blind baking”).

It is most convenient to roll out the dough between two pieces of film or baking paper and move it on them. Make sure that the dough is the same thickness everywhere - 2-3 mm, unless otherwise indicated in the recipe. Before baking, prick the dough with a fork to prevent it from bubbling during baking.

Even if you bake in a pan with a non-stick coating, do not be too lazy to cover the bottom with baking paper or place paper strips 5-7 cm wide - “slings” – crosswise into the pan. This will make it much easier to transfer the finished cake from the pan to a cooling rack.

Bake crumbly dough and products made from it in an oven well preheated to 180-210 degrees.

You can bake pies on a preheated loaf stone or baking sheet. The heat coming from below will bake the bottom of the pie faster and more evenly.

Unsweetened crumbly dough (Pate Brise)

Photo: / Arseniy Kosterin

For one open pie with a diameter of 24-26 cm:

Ingredients:

Flour - 1 cup
Butter at room temperature - 110 g
Salt - 1/2 tsp.
Egg yolk - 1 pc.
Cold milk - 2 tbsp. l.

How to cook:

1. Cut the butter into pieces of any shape.

2. Sift the flour into a bowl or onto a work surface and sprinkle with salt.

3. Place pieces of butter on the surface of the flour mixture. Using a knife or fork, chop the flour and butter until fine crumbs form.

4. Collect the crumbs in a pile, make a well in the middle and pour the yolk and one tablespoon of milk into it.

5. Using your fingertips, mix the ingredients into a soft dough and form into a ball. If the dough crumbles, add another tablespoon of milk. Knead the dough 2-4 times - it will become homogeneous. Form into a ball, flatten into a disk, wrap in film and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, preferably 4 hours.

Photo: / Arseniy Kosterin

Ingredients:

Pate Brise dough - 250 g
Cooked chicken (boiled, fried or baked) - 350 g
Starch (preferably corn) - 1 tbsp. l.
Cream with fat content 20-22% - 750 ml
Eggs - 7 pcs.
Salt - 1/2 tsp.
Black pepper - 1/4 tsp.
Grated nutmeg - a pinch
Ground cayenne pepper - a pinch
Hard cheese - 180 g

How to cook:

1. Cut the chicken into 1.5-2 cm pieces. Grate the cheese on a coarse grater. Recipe

2. Line a baking dish with a diameter of 24 cm with vertical sides 5 cm high with slings of baking paper. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.

3. Roll out the dough into a circle with a diameter of at least 30 cm (dough thickness 2-2.5 mm), transfer to the mold so that the dough hangs slightly over the sides. Using your fingertips, press the dough around the entire perimeter of the pan. Trim off excess dough with a knife. Prick the dough on the bottom and sides with a fork. Place in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.

4. Place the pan in the oven and bake the dough for 15-20 minutes. It will get stronger, but will hardly brown. Brush the bottom and sides of the pan with the white of one egg, sprinkle with a thin layer of cheese and return to the oven for 2 minutes. Take out the form with the dough and wait 10-15 minutes.

5. Reduce oven temperature to 160-165 degrees.

6. Prepare the filling. Grind the starch with a small amount of cream into a smooth paste. Add the remaining eggs (including the yolk and white leftover from the brushing) along with a pinch of salt (remember, cheese is also salty) and whisk lightly, add the remaining cream, season with black and cayenne pepper and nutmeg.

7. Place half of the chicken pieces on the bottom of the dough basket and fill with half of the egg mixture. Sprinkle with half of the remaining cheese. Place the other half of the meat, pour out the remaining filling. Sprinkle with cheese.

8. Bake the quiche for at least an hour, until the filling at a distance of 2 cm from the dough springs back when pressed with a finger, and the surface is slightly browned.

9. Remove the quiche from the oven, place on a wire rack and let it cool completely, at least two hours.

10. Lifting the edges of the paper, pull the quiche out of the pan (or remove the side of the springform pan). Serve the quiche at room temperature or reheat in the oven or microwave.

Photo: / Arseniy Kosterin

Ingredients:

Pate Brise dough - 250 g
Sour cream 20-25% fat - 200 ml
Egg yolks - 4 pcs.
Egg - 1 pc.
Fine sugar - 100 g
Pitted cherries - 350 g

How to cook:

1. Turn on the oven to preheat to 190 degrees. Place the baking sheet in the oven to warm up. Line the bottom of a 22-24 cm diameter mold with baking paper.

2. Roll out the dough into a circle with a diameter of 28-30 cm and transfer to the mold. Press into the bottom and sides, being careful not to pull the dough. Prick the dough with a fork, brush with egg white, cover with film and put in the refrigerator.

3. Prepare the filling by mixing the yolks and remaining whites with sugar and sour cream.

4. Place the pan with the dough in the oven on a hot baking sheet and bake for 17-20 minutes until golden brown.

5. Remove the pan from the oven, fill with berries and pour over the egg-sour cream mixture. Reduce the temperature to 170 degrees, return the pan to the oven and bake the pie for 40-45 minutes until the filling is set and browned.

6. Place the pan on a wire rack and leave for 5-7 minutes. Remove cake from pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Serve cold.

Shortbread dough in different interpretations can be found on the Internet. How to understand them?

The simplest recipe is Pâte Sableée. It is found in two varieties - sweet (most often) and unsweetened. Today we are talking about savory foods. Ideal for various types of open pies and... Conveniently, unlike other types of shortcrust pastry - Pate Brisee - There is no need to cool the ingredients to the desired temperature. And the most important thing for me is the property of Pâte Sablee - there is no need to bake the base separately from the filling. The dough does not absorb moisture very actively, so this dough is ideal for pies with liquid filling.

You will need:

• 125 g butter
• 200 g flour
• 1 egg

There are different proportions of the dough, when you take exactly 2 times more flour than butter. But I have verified in practice that in our case the dough turns out to be very tender, crispy and crumbly. The structure will not be stone and rigid. First, let’s look at what role each ingredient plays in the dough. After this everything will fall into place.

Let's talk first about the ingredients for shortcrust pastry.

Oil.

Many people buy special baking margarine for baking, but make it a rule - these special margarines will not give you excellent results. There is a lot of butter in this recipe; it is this that prevents the flour from sticking together; it is the butter that is responsible for the crumbliness of the shortcrust pastry. Any margarine is undoubtedly cheaper, but the composition leaves much to be desired. Unknown vegetable fats that are poorly excreted from the body. Why do you need this? Then margarine still has a specific taste, so you won’t be able to cheat. Even if the dough looks just right, the taste will suffer greatly from this. On the Internet you can find a lot of information on the request: is it possible to replace butter with margarine in shortcrust pastry? So my answer will merge with the chorus of French confectioners: no, you can’t.

Flour

In the store, your eyes widen at the different types of flour.
Choose one that is suitable for baking baked goods. You can find markings on the flour packaging, but more on that another time. Now we will be interested in gluten in flour. Gluten is now often called gluten. This is a complex protein that is part of grains. The presence of gluten affects the consistency of the dough. For simplicity, gluten is formed when the dough is kneaded after the flour comes into contact with water. Therefore, when making tender shortcrust pastry, try to mix as little as possible. Easily. Then your dessert will turn out crumbly.
And before starting cooking, sift the flour, this will saturate it with oxygen and eliminate possible unwanted impurities.

Eggs.

Eggs in shortcrust pastry glue all the ingredients together. The main role of the egg white is that it acts as glue.

Salt.

A pinch of salt will add brightness to the dough and eliminate the blandness.

Preparation

Step 1

Take flour, chop butter into it, add 1 egg, add salt and start kneading. The result will be crumbs, which after a couple of minutes will begin to bind together, forming a soft and elastic shortbread dough.

Step 2

Wrap the finished dough in cling film and place in the refrigerator. The processes of interaction of ingredients will continue. In 20-30 minutes you will have a wonderful dough.

Step 3