Buttery Tart Shells

These flaky, buttery tart shells are ideal for pairing with your favorite sweet or savory fillings. They can be made ahead of time and kept at room temperature for several days. They can also be frozen for a month or longer and allowed to thaw at room temperature before filling.

While this recipe contains a bit of sugar, they don’t bring much sweetness to a finished recipe. If you are creating savory tarts, you can omit the sugar entirely and add chopped herbs to your tart shells for a delicious savory treat.

I like to grate the stick of butter before working it into the dry ingredients.  I find that the small shreds of butter make it much easier to incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients without overworking it. The result is a tender, flaky pastry that requires much less work. If you prefer, you can cut the butter into very small cubes before working it into the dry ingredients.

I also like to incorporate a bit of cornstarch into my dry ingredients. By substituting a bit of cornstarch for the flour, I can create a mix that resembles pastry flour. I learned this trick years ago when I needed to create my own allergy-safe cake flour substitute. This mix lowers the protein content of your flour blend which helps to create a finished product that is flaky rather than chewy. It’s an easy switch that produces delicious results. If you prefer, you can simply use All-purpose flour (for a total of 1 ½ cups) in your dough and omit the cornstarch entirely.

I like to mix my dough by hand. I feel that I have better control that way. While I have used a food processor, I find that it often overworks the dough and I only have sight to judge the dough by as it whizzes through the bowl. When I mix by hand, I can judge the dough by feel and sight and make small adjustments until I know that it is just right. This is really just my personal preference.

Because I like to grate the chilled butter, I have taken to mixing my pie and tart dough in a shallow pan or casserole dish.  I can combine the dry ingredients before setting my box grater right on top and grating the butter directly into the dry ingredients.  It keeps me from needing to transfer the butter to the dry ingredients which helps me to make less of a mess that needs to be cleaned up.  I also find it easier to incorporate the ingredients when working in a shallow tray or dish rather than a bowl. Again, it’s merely my preference and you can use whatever sort of bowl or container you are comfortable with.

I decided to use a muffin/cupcake tin to form individual-sized tartlets. You can certainly use tartlet pans if you have them. They usually have beautiful fluted edges to make pretty tart shells with a flourish. I wanted to make these simple and sturdy so that I could store them in the freezer to fill whenever we wanted them. Also, I wanted to make this recipe something that anyone with an a cupcake pan could easily make without needing to purchase a specialty set of pans.

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Buttery Tart Shells

Jennifer from 1840 Farm

I like to grate the stick of butter before working it into the dry ingredients. I also like to incorporate a bit of cornstarch into my dry ingredients to lower the protein content of the flour. I learned this trick years ago when I needed to create my own allergy safe cake flour substitute. If you prefer, you can simply cube your cold butter and use All-purpose flour (for a total of 1 ½ cups) in your dough and omit the cornstarch entirely.

I decided to use a muffin/cupcake tin to form the tartlets.You can certainly use tartlet pans if you have them. They usually have beautifulfluted edges to make pretty tart shells with a flourish. I wanted to make thesesimple and sturdy so that I could store them in the freezer to fill whenever wewanted them. Also, I wanted to make this recipe something that anyone with acupcake pan could easily make without needing to purchase a specialty set ofpans.

Author: Jennifer from 1840 Farm

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cup All-purpose flour
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup 1 stick butter, chilled
• 1 egg yolk
• 2-4 Tablespoons ice water

Instructions

To Make the Dough:

• In a large bowl or a shallow casserole dish, combine the flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Stir with your hands or a spoon to mix the ingredients and break up any small lumps.
• Grate the stick of butter and begin gently working it into the dry ingredients. Work tenderly as you are just trying to coat the shreds of butter with the dry ingredients and break them into pea sized pieces. The mixture should remain crumbly. It will come together in the next steps as we add liquid to bind it together.
• Add the egg yolk to the mixture along with a tablespoon of the ice water. Gently combine them with the dry mix. Flecks of the yolk will be visible at this stage. If the dough feels too dry, add another tablespoon of ice water.
• The dough should come together into a supple dough that resembles clay. It should hold together when you press it between your fingers. If it crumbles and does not bind together, the dough needs more ice water. The total amount of ice water needed will vary due to the weather and type of flour used. On a humid summer day, the recipe will require less liquid to bind together. In the winter, more liquid will be needed.
• When the dough holds together, form it into a flattened disk and wrap it with plastic wrap or your favorite food wrap to prevent it from drying out. Refrigerate it for an hour or longer to help solidify the butter and allow the dough to rest. This will make it easier to work with and also create a more flaky pastry.
• When you are ready to create the tart shells, remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow it to sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. This time will allow the butter to warm just slightly which will make the dough easier to work with.
• Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. You can use a food scale to determine the portions or roll the dough into a log, cut in half, and then cut each half into six portions.
• Pick up a single portion of the dough and work it between your fingers just enough to make it pliable. Break the portion in half. Press the first half into the bottom of a cavity of your cupcake pan. Use your fingers to press it evenly to cover the bottom. Begin to add pieces of the second half of the portion of dough to cover the sides of the cavity evenly. The dough should become very easy to work and won’t take much encouragement to cover the sides and join the bottom. You can press the top edge down lightly to make it somewhat even and make any small adjustments to make the entire tart shell as even as possible.
• Continue this process with the other cavities until you have a dozen tart shells formed. At this point, I like to place the pan in my refrigerator or freezer to chill the dough. A cold dough will create a lighter, flakier crust because the solid butter will be cold when it enters the hot oven. That change in temperature will create pockets of steam as the cold butter heats. The steam will create a very flaky dough. You can chill the shells while you preheat the oven or for several hours depending on your schedule.

To Bake the Tart Shells:

• When you are ready to bake the tart shells, position an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Using a fork, perforate the bottom and sides of the tart shells. The holes will allow some of the steam to escape and prevent the crust from puffing up and filling the cavity of the tart shell. With a standard sized tart, I would blindbake to prevent the crust from puffing up, but that can be tricky with smaller shells. I find that creating the perforation works just as well.
• Transfer the cupcake pan to the preheated oven. Bake 12 to 14 minutes until the shell has browned slightly. Remove the pan from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Allow the tart shells to cool completely in the pan. When the shells are cool, they will be less fragile and easier to remove from the pan.
• Remove the cool shells from the pan. The shells can be stored in an airtight container for several days or frozen. Frozen tart shells should be allowed to thaw completely before filling.

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