This simple vegan pâte sucrée shortcrust dough is crispy, buttery, flaky, a little sweet, and completely vegan! It comes together easily with 6 simple ingredients.
A vegan pâte sucrée, or French sweet shortcrust pastry, works well as a reliable, simple base for any sweet tarts. You may want to use a stand mixer to combine the ingredients well, but this recipe works without one.
Ingredients
You’ll need:
- Butter (vegan)
- Icing sugar (if you only have granulated sugar, blitz it in the blender or a coffee grinder until powdery)
- Potato starch “egg” (1 tablespoon potato starch + 2 tablespoon water = a vegan “egg” perfect for this dough)
- Almond flour
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Let’s get to it.
First, cream your butter and sugar together. If using a stand mixer, your butter does not have to be soft; the mixer will soften it. If mixing by hand, leave your butter out in advance, or zap it in the microwave for 5 – 10 second bursts until just slightly softened.
Next, combine your potato starch and water to form your starch “egg”; mix well until the flour dissolves. Incorporate your starch egg into your creamed butter and sugar mix.
Add almond flour, all-purpose flour, and salt. Mix until just incorporated. Don’t overmix! The pastry will become tough.
With your hands, shape the dough loosely into a ball. Transfer it onto a big baking sheet or floured surface. Place a second baking sheet over the dough or sprinkle with more flour to preclude sticking.
Using a rolling pin set to a maximum ⅙” thickness, roll the dough into a flat sheet. Place in the fridge to rest 30-60 minutes. This allows the shortcrust dough to firm up a bit to prevent too much cracking in the next step.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
Carefully remove the rested pâte sucrée dough from the fridge and, if you used a second baking sheet, peel it away.
Flip the baking sheet over so the dough is on the underside of the sheet and resting on top of the tart pan. Carefully peel the baking sheet away from the dough, leaving it draped on the tart tin.
Using your fingers, gently prod the dough into the tart pan. Little cracks are fine! You can patch them up and smooth them out with the extra dough you’ll pinch off the sides.
Use a fork to puncture holes along the base of the shaped shortcrust dough. This allows moisture to escape as it bakes out of the dough without bubbling and misshaping the tart.
Place the tart tin in the preheated oven and bake for 12 – 18 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove the pâte sucrée and allow to slightly cool before adding any filling.
Hint: Allow the shortcrust to turn golden before removing it from the oven.
Substitutions
I don’t suggest using coconut oil with this recipe; it has a tendency to make the shortcrust a bit too heavy. Vegan butter is best.
Equipment
A springform pan is important to maintain the structure of the cooked shortcrust.
Storage
The crust will keep for 3 weeks in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
Top tip
Don’t overmix the dough- this causes gluten strands to develop, making the pastry tough.
FAQ
This shortcrust is sweet– its high fat content and sugar component mean that in addition to being flaky and crumbly like regular shortcrust, it’s also slightly sweet. This makes it perfect for tarts.
Pâte sablée is literally “sandy”- it contains less sugar and is made by combining a higher percentage of cold butter with flour. The texture is a lovely, crumbly, and more buttery taste. With pâte sucrée, we’re going for a lightly sweet, more neutral taste and more rigid texture.
Cold tarts with custard, creme, or fruit fillings are ideal to make with pâte sucrée, which holds up well stored in the refrigerator.
📖 Recipe
Simple Vegan Pâte Sucrée (French Sweet Shortcrust Pastry)
Equipment
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 stand mixer
- 1 springform tart or pie tin
Ingredients
- 100 g vegan butter
- 50 g icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon potato starch
- 2 tablespoon water
- 50 g almond flour
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Cream your butter and sugar together. If using a stand mixer, your butter does not have to be soft; the mixer will soften it. If mixing by hand, leave your butter out in advance, or zap it in the microwave for 5 – 10 second bursts until just slightly softened.
- Combine your potato starch and water to form your potato starch “egg”; mix well until the flour dissolves. Incorporate your potato starch egg into your creamed butter and sugar mix.
- Add almond flour, all-purpose flour, and salt. Mix until just incorporated. Don’t overmix! The pastry will become tough.
- With your hands, shape the dough loosely into a ball. Transfer it onto a big baking sheet or floured surface. Place a second baking sheet over the dough or sprinkle with more flour to preclude sticking.
- Using a rolling pin set to a maximum ⅙” thickness, roll the dough into a flat sheet. Place in the fridge to rest 30-60 minutes. This allows the shortcrust dough to firm up a bit to prevent too much cracking in the next step.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- Carefully remove the rested pâte sucrée dough from the fridge and, if you used a second baking sheet, peel it away.
- Flip the baking sheet over so the dough is on the underside of the sheet and resting on top of the tart pan. Carefully peel the baking sheet away from the dough, leaving it draped on the tart tin.
- Using your fingers, gently prod the dough into the tart pan. Little cracks are fine! You can patch them up and smooth them out with the extra dough you’ll pinch off the sides.
- Use a fork to puncture holes along the base of the shaped shortcrust dough. This allows moisture to escape as it bakes out of the dough without bubbling and misshaping the tart.
- Place the tart tin in the preheated oven and bake for 12 – 18 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove the pâte sucrée and allow to slightly cool before adding any filling.