Hello my dear readers and guests of my blog. Today I will tell you all the secrets of a successful shortbread dough. Depending on what kind of product you will bake, you will choose the recipe you need.

Frankly, I wrote this post for a long time, for a very long time, because I got confused. I collected information on the Internet, clarified it in books and even from French bloggers. I tried to structure so as not to miss anything. The dough seems to be like dough - everything is simple, not just yeast, but the methods of preparation made me difficult.

Have you noticed in recipes how to make shortbread dough, two different options are described everywhere.

1. Grind the softened butter with sugar and eggs, then add flour.
2. Cold butter is ground (chopped) with flour, and then eggs beaten with sugar are added.

Sometimes we prepare the same recipe in these different ways. Do you end up with the same baked goods? Let's figure it out.

So the first option is shortbread dough, and the second option is chopped.

But let's start with the basics of cooking. We will remember and lay out on the shelves the completely obvious properties of the products, which are known to you without me, and there will be nothing new here. The point is to further learn how to apply this knowledge about making the perfect shortcrust pastry.

Ingredient properties

Shortcrust pastry should be crumbly. How can this be achieved? You need to know a little about how each component works in the test.

• Flour. Flour, as you know, is different, but here the amount of gluten and gluten is important for us. Translated from Latin, gluten is glue. The smaller it is, the looser the dough will be. Sometimes starch is added to the flour to remove just the viscosity. It is allowed to add another type of flour, for example, oatmeal is mixed with oatmeal.
• Butter. Butter is fat; it prevents flour from sticking together. The higher quality and fattier the butter, the tastier the baked goods will be. Oil in some recipes is replaced with cooking oil (such as lard). Previously, it was sold on a par with margarine and in the same packages of 250 g, now I have not seen it anywhere in stores. You can replace the butter with margarine. In Soviet times, all the recipes in culinary notebooks were on margarine. See for yourself according to your financial capabilities. But I still recommend using butter. Do not forget that margarine is a combination of fats that are difficult for the body to digest and poorly excreted from it.
• Eggs and water. It is the link between flour and butter. Depending on the recipe, it is added in a certain amount so that the mass is kneaded with dough, otherwise everything will not be combined. Protein is like a glue, so for a more gritty effect it is better not to use them. Cookies with yolks are more crumbly and stay soft longer, such as Palets Breton.
• Sugar. Since the dough must be cooked quickly so that the butter does not have time to melt, it is best to replace it with powdered sugar. Alternatively, grind with eggs until the crystals are completely dissolved.
• Salt. Salt is a must in any dough, even in a sweet one, a small pinch is enough to set off the taste, salt shows the taste of sugar, makes it brighter. The dough will not taste bland with salt.
• Soda or baking powder. Soda is not put into shortbread dough; flowability is achieved by proper preparation. But some housewives not confident in their abilities resort to the help of a baking powder. Baking will certainly work with him. So it's your choice.
• Additional flavoring ingredients. By adding different ingredients such as vanilla, cocoa, lemon peel, a variety of nuts, dried fruits, drops of chocolate, ground ginger, cinnamon, you will get a new exquisite taste and aroma.

Cooking rules

Now you know how the components work, but there are still prerequisites, so to speak, a technological process that must be followed, no matter what recipe below you cook.

1. All ingredients must be weighed on a scale. The recipe in cups, spoons is not suitable here, the recipe must be observed strictly in grams. Of course, you can use measuring cups, but be sure to follow the recipe more closely. Use the table of weights and volumes.
2. Dry ingredients (flour, salt, soda or baking powder, cocoa powder, ground nuts) are mixed before cooking. But remember that cocoa is equated to free-flowing, i.e. to flour. Therefore, if you add cocoa powder to the dough, then subtract the same amount of flour in the recipe. For example, subtract 1 tablespoon of flour and add 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder.
3. If you are preparing chopped dough, then all kitchen utensils (beating bowl, whisk, rolling board, rolling pin) must be cold.
4. You cannot knead the shortbread dough for a long time, just combine all the crumbs into a lump and knead a couple of times. Strike out.
5. The finished shortbread dough must be cooled. Put in a plastic bag, close tightly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and preferably an hour. To make the dough cool faster and better, do not put it in a bun, flatten it slightly. Why refrigerate at all? Look, butter, when heated, stratifies into milk fat and liquid. You could observe this if you cooked ghee, and staying cold in the mass with flour will prevent the flour from absorbing moisture, because the flour contains gluten, which combines with the liquid and adds viscosity to the dough. And this cannot be allowed.
6. Roll out the dough in a uniform layer, otherwise the thinner layers will be more dried in the oven. If one large crust is baked, it must be chopped over the entire surface with a fork.
7. Bake shortcrust pastry products in the preheated oven at 200 ° C, placing the pastries in the middle of the oven using the standard top-bottom oven setting until slightly golden brown.

Shortcrust pastry recipes

France is considered to be the founders and unsurpassed leaders of the confectionery art. So in France, shortbread dough is divided into three types.

1. pâte brisée - basic basic chopped dough.
2. pate sablee - minced sweet.
3. pate sukree - delicate sweet shortbread dough.

Completely unfamiliar names, incomprehensible to ordinary housewives, but familiar to everyone from the cooking technology.

Basic minced shortcrust pastry or pâte brisée

It is considered the most versatile, basic test. As a rule, savory pastries are made on its basis, such as meat pies, open pies with vegetables or Kish.

Pate Brize is a chopped dough made with only flour, water and a moderate amount of butter; no sugar or salt is added to it.

Ingredients:

• flour - 250 g;
• butter - 125 g;
• ice water - 50 ml;
• salt - a pinch.

It is prepared using a combine-mixer, but you can easily knead it with your hands.

1. Put well chilled butter on flour and chop with a knife (grate or cut into small cubes), grind with flour until fine powdery crumbs are obtained.
2. Gradually adding cold water, quickly combine the dough into a ball.
3. Send to refrigerator.

Due to the large grains of cold oil, when moisture evaporates during the baking process, the dough acquires the properties of lamination. Sometimes this dough is called "false" or "pseudo-puff".

Depending on the proportions of water, flour and oil, you can even make a dough for the cakes of the famous and beloved Napoleon cake.

Chopped dough or pate sablee

This is the same chopped dough as the base dough, but with slightly different proportions of ingredients, or rather, with the addition of sugar, eggs and, if necessary, water.

Ingredients:

• flour - 250 g;
• salt - a pinch;
• butter - 125 g;
• sugar - 60 g;
• eggs - 1 pc.

Sweet or pastry shortbread pastry (pate sukree)

This is the simplest dough and the easiest to make in my opinion. Cookies from it are crumbly, they just melt in the mouth, and the shapes of cookies can be formed in a variety of ways.

The following products can be made from shortcrust pastry:

• kurabye;
• Viennese biscuits;
• rings with nuts;
• baskets with protein cream;
• envelopes with jam;
• sugar rolls;
• and many more, many different sweets.

Shortcrust pastry is an excellent base for cakes with curd and fruit fillings, and is also suitable for pie with jam.

Depending on the amount of flour, the dough will be either softer or denser. The ideal proportion is 1-2-3, i.e. 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter and 3 parts flour. And, mind you, this is in grams.

The classic one-two-three shortbread dough recipe looks like this:

• sugar - 100 g;
• butter - 200 g;
• flour - 300 g;
• egg - 1 pc. whole or two yolks;
• salt - a pinch;
• baking powder - 1 tsp.

But sometimes a different proportion is more justified in a recipe, namely, there is twice as much flour as butter, especially if milk or sour cream is added to the dough.

How to make shortbread dough?

It is good to cook such a dough in advance, the night before, put it in the cold at night, and in the morning quickly shape the cookies so that you can be content with fresh pastries for breakfast for breakfast.

Have you noticed that there are no grains of oil during the cooking process? The butter is ground with sugar and eggs, which means that large voids are not formed when heated in the oven, as in chopped. This will make the cookies more tender.

I hope you figured out the specifics of cooking. Maybe I missed something or made a mistake, write in the comments, we will discuss it together.

Shortcrust pastry has long become a favorite product in many families. Despite the variety of pastries on store shelves, which are produced by both large confectionery factories and private mini-bakeries, homemade cookies are always tastier and better. The base for treats, that is, ready-made dough, can be easily purchased in stores. This simplifies the preparation of food, but, according to many caring mothers, it does not give confidence that baked goods can be offered to children without fear.

The history of the origin of shortbread dough goes back centuries. The first mention of it can be traced back to the 12th century, and English pastry chefs invented its recipe. At that time, products made from classic shortcrust pastry resembled crackers. The usual kind of delicacy for us from such a dough was acquired only when they began to add sour cream, chicken eggs and baking powder to the batch. Beautiful shortcrust pastries were also popular in Russia. An interesting fact: the famous culinary pastry chef of the 19th century Elena Molokhovets, in her book "A Gift to Young Housewives", devoted a whole section to the creation of all kinds of sweets, and actually the preparation of this delicious and simple dough, and in a wide variety of versions. Even then, shortcrust pastry products were popular and loved.

The shortbread dough got its name due to its structure. The classic version of the product looks like the one in the photo. Products from such a semi-finished product are crumbled into small crumbs, like real sand. According to GOST, a real sandy product consists of only three components, but recently this semi-finished product has been improved by chefs to obtain baked goods with new tastes and qualities. Real and false shortbread dough is a very high-calorie product, which, if consumed excessively, leads to an increase in body weight. But nevertheless, the well-known French nutritionist Pierre Ducan found a way out and in his famous system of proper nutrition told how to make an ideal dietary shortbread dough with a minimum of calories. By the way, it is this technique that has become a favorite among many chefs.

Soft and tender dough in supermarkets can be found in the form of frozen layers of various thicknesses wrapped in polyethylene. It is stored exclusively in refrigerators and looks more than attractive. But still, not everyone is willing to acquire it. The fact is that the price of the product, although not too high, still exceeds the cost of all the necessary ingredients. Homemade dough is cheaper and tastier because you can easily experiment with its composition.

Making the dough is not difficult, but it will take a little patience and knowledge of the specifics and cooking technology. There are several secrets of obtaining a crumbly and truly shortbread dough, the essence of which we will definitely reveal in this article.

Composition and ingredients

The composition and ingredients of shortcrust pastry differ depending on the types, varieties and classification of the product, as well as the technology of its preparation. Dough is distinguished by the following features:

• yeast and yeast-free;
• unleavened (unsweetened), salty and sweet;
• with and without animal fats (vegetarian);
• regular and gluten-free;
• classic (simple) and complex (sandy sour cream, sandy biscuit, sandy puff, sandy lemon and others).

Dividing the dough by composition, one can distinguish the following varieties:

• saber - suitable for baking classic sand products;
• breeze - preparation without the use of sugar and other sweeteners;
• Sucre is a fragile, sweet and very fatty product.

Classifying a product by ingredients, the following main subtypes of dough can be distinguished:

• sour cream;
• vanilla;
• curd;
• potato;
• chocolate;
• lean (no eggs and animal fat);
• cheese;
• nutty;
• apple;
• pumpkin;
• on beer.

The following are considered the basic recipes for preparing a blank:

1. French. It is used to knead dough for quiche (Laurent pie) - open baked goods with sweet berry or more hearty fillings of boiled eggs, fish or meat products.
2. Swiss. Perhaps this method is the simplest. This method of making shortbread dough is appreciated by vegetarians. It is prepared in a hurry and does not require knowledge of wisdom, and the ingredients for it are ice water, vegetable oil, salt and water. From such an instant dough, false puffs are obtained, inside which you can hide absolutely any filling.
3. Vienna. The dough using this technology is used to make the world-famous and beloved Viennese jam biscuits, as well as multilayer open cakes. This delicacy is served in pastry shops-cafes to the famous Viennese coffee or aromatic black tea.
4. Tatarskaya. Such a dough is used to bake a national pie bearing the unusual and very interesting name of gubadiya.
5. Breton. The unusualness of the dough lies in the fact that it is cooked in fat and very cold milk, which is used instead of butter, and vinegar, chicken eggs and, separately, yolks must be added to it. The filling for the classic pie is steamed prunes.

All of the above methods for preparing dough are today the basic technologies for preparing shortcrust pastry, and are used by pastry chefs both on an industrial scale and in a home kitchen.

Main ingredients

The main ingredients for the original recipe for the simple dough are wheat flour, granulated sugar, and butter. Flour must be of the highest grade, preferably beet sugar, and butter must be very fatty and must be very frozen.

Recently, chefs have used low moisture margarine instead of butter for kneading, and wheat bakery flour is often replaced with whole grain flour. Most often, the dough is made with flour:

• rice;
• almond;
• peanut;
• oatmeal of fine and medium grinding, as well as on high quality flakes;
• rye.

In some types of shortcrust pastry, instead of flour, potato starch is required at all, and among the list of ingredients necessary for cooking in step-by-step recipes you can see:

• dairy and fermented milk products:
• milk;
• cream;
• sour cream;
• kefir;
• natural pure yogurt;
• condensed milk;
• cottage cheese and hard cheeses;
• water;
• cocoa powder and chocolate;
• cinnamon;
• walnuts and peanuts;
• icing sugar;
• baking powder, soda and yeast;
• beer;
• lard;
• chicken eggs and their yolks;
• natural honey;
• mayonnaise;
• citrus zest, most often lemons, oranges, tangerines.

A huge number and options for filling shortcrust pastry products makes it easy and quick to diversify the menu even for the most inexperienced hostesses, and the sweets on the table will certainly delight households.

Cooking use

The use of shortcrust pastry in cooking can be found quite wide. Of course, all the dishes made from it are baked goods, but nevertheless, their assortment is simply huge. The blank is used to prepare all kinds of desserts and snacks, simple and complex, for example:

• cookies in the form:
• hearts;
• "Nuts" and "mushrooms" in molds;
• sticks and strips;
• droplets (kurabye) and "shells";
• "Chrysanthemum" (through the grill grill);
• rings and horseshoes;
• waffles;
• cheesecakes;
• ossnikov;
• biscuits;
• bagels;
• gingerbread;
• apple or pear share;
• buns;
• cupcakes;
• cakes, letters, figures and flowers for decoration, as well as "roses";
• baklava;
• kurnikov;
• lush puffs;
• sour cream;
• cottage cheese makers;
• strudel;
• fingers;
• rolls and "turbines";
• baskets with cream, meat pâté or julienne;
• pretzels;
• cheesecakes;
• shaneg;
• tartlets;
• open and closed pies;
• pies;
• samsa;
• tart with all kinds of fillings;
• tubules;
• croissants;
• whitewash tank;
• rolls;
• bases for canapes or pizza;
• koloboks or "peaches";
• envelopes and triangles with all kinds of fillings;
• cakes for cakes such as:
• curd "Napoleon";
• "Woodpile";
• "Hut";
• "Rotten tree stump";
• "Curly Vanka";
• "Artemon";
• "Anthill";
• pastries.

False gingerbread with multi-colored coating and pictures on their surface is baked from shortcrust pastry, and then Christmas cities are "built" from them. The most beautiful products are locks.

For filling and decorating shortcrust pastry products, the following are most often used:

• fruits:
• apples;
• pears;
• quince;
• berries and stone fruits:
• strawberries;
• lingonberries;
• currants;
• irgu;
• blueberries;
• viburnum;
• raspberries;
• cherries;
• blackberries;
• cherries;
• plums;
• apricots;
• peaches;
• raisin;
• dried apricots;
• prunes;
• citrus;
• figs;
• bananas;
• canned and fresh pineapples;
• jam;
• jams;
• sorrel;
• rhubarb;
• marmalade;
• jelly;
• carrot;
• pumpkin;
• cabbage;
• mashed potatoes;
• cottage cheese;
• protein and custard creams, pure or flavored;
• meringue;
• poultry and animal meat and offal (liver, for example);
• chicken pate;
• fish and canned fish from saury, mackerel, trout,
• hard, soft cheeses (for example, marscapone, feta cheese or mozzarella) and processed;
• glaze.

All of the listed ingredients can either be added after the dough has already been baked until half cooked or cooked, or participate in the baking process.

The dough itself can be divided by chefs according to the method of preparation. Most often, a product is classified as follows:

• dense or jellied;
• cooked "cold" or custard;
• chopped, grated, or whipped.

Depending on the technology and method of preparing the dough, baking powder, natural yeast and soda can be added to it. These components will not do much harm, but such cookies are hardly suitable for children. Caring mothers study many recipes and reviews on them, but often they cannot opt ​​for any one of the cooking options. We suggest trying a proven step-by-step recipe for baking delicious and healthy cookies for toddlers and never look for better options again. Read about this wonderful and simplest option in the next section.

And to all those who cook for older children, and also like to pamper their beloved men with sweets, we offer a video recipe for a delicious and very beautiful pie with chocolate-nut filling. Such an unusually beautiful flower will decorate the table and will perfectly fit into the festive and everyday menu.

How to choose a quality product?

In this section of the article, we want to tell you how to choose a quality product on the shelves.

The first thing to pay attention to is the shelf life of the product. Naturally, the closer the date is to the time of its expiration, the less quality the baked goods from such a semi-finished product will be.

If the date suits you, you should carefully examine the packaging. First of all, its integrity: the presence of punctures in the film may indicate inadequate quality. Then pay attention to the manufacturer: try to purchase blanks from manufacturers that indicate not only the composition and belonging to the quality certification system, but also do not hide the location of the production. Reputable manufacturers are always open to consumers.

Examine the product in the package carefully. The dough should be smooth, without inclusions (if they are not specified in the recipe), shiny and evenly cut. There should be no condensation, no mold, no darkened edges of the dough in the package.

If possible, try to buy a product with ingredients familiar to you in the composition, or even better, learn how to cook shortbread dough yourself!

How to make shortbread dough at home?

Making shortbread dough at home is actually very easy. In this section, we will try to reveal all the secrets and describe the most favorite methods of cooking. For convenience, classic and modified cooking methods are collected in separate subsections. And the first, of course, will be a story about a real, time-tested and hosted method. The following sections describe the methods and recipes for making mock dough, which is used to bake most of the tempting treats on store shelves. Do not forget to write down the recipe you like in your personal cookbook!

Classic dough

All three recipes described below refer to the classic kneading methods, and the dough does not contain eggs, milk, sour cream, or other fatty ingredients or baking powder. Our grandmothers baked cookies according to this recipe, and it is he who is the most common.

Immediately, we note that according to the first method, you will get an elastic and resilient dough, which can be rolled out into a thin layer without effort. In the second case, the dough will turn out to be liquid, and products from it are formed exclusively with the help of a confectionery syringe.

So, to knead the classic version of the cookie dough, you will need:

• one glass of wheat flour;
• one hundred and fifty grams of quality margarine or peasant butter;
• one tablespoon of ice water;
• one pinch of fine salt;
• a third of a glass of sugar or a quarter of a glass of powdered sugar.

Dough preparation consists of three main steps.

1. Quickly mix cold butter, salt and sugar. This is best done by grating the butter and adding small portions of granulated sugar. An important condition: the product must not "float". If you notice this, then immediately send the workpiece to the freezer, and then just proceed to the next step.
2. First add water to the butter-sugar mass, then flour, and then quickly knead the dough. Shortcrust pastry doesn't need to be kneaded, so don't put too much effort into it. Long kneading can cause the dough to thicken and the baked goods will be too dry.
3. Wrap the dough with cling film, then send the dough into the freezer for an hour, and after this time, divide it into pieces. Take them out of the refrigerator one at a time and roll them into a layer no more than 10 mm thick.

Use a cookie cutter or knife to cut out the cookies, and then proceed to the last step - baking. To do this, put the finished figures on a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake for fifteen to twenty minutes in an oven heated to one hundred and sixty degrees. The readiness of the product is determined by the bakedness of the dough, but do not expect the dough to brown! If you use a multicooker for baking, do not close the lid on it too tightly. Ignoring this advice will lead to the fact that the gathering steam will not allow the workpiece to cook properly. Before serving or decorating baked goods, be sure to cool them down to room temperature!

But everyone's favorite "shells" or kurabye cookies cannot be made according to the above method, but all because they are squeezed onto a baking sheet from a pastry bag. This opportunity is provided by a dough that is more liquid in consistency, for the preparation of which cooks will need to have in stock:

• butter - 1 pack (200 grams);
• potato starch - four tablespoons;
• table salt - a pinch;
• granulated sugar - two-thirds of a glass;
• bakery flour of the highest grade - half a glass;
• vanilla sugar - 4 grams.

The dough kneading and subsequent shaping should be done according to the following algorithm:

1. Mix the butter with vanilla and regular sugar, and then beat with a mixer, whisk or blender until airy.
2. Mix flour and starch, and then add them to the sweet butter mass.
3. Turn the mixer or blender to low speed, and then knead the dough as thick as pancakes.
4. Put the finished dough in a pastry bag, and then place the cookies of the desired shape on a baking sheet with parchment.
5. At the end, the sheets with the blanks need to be taken out in the cold for one hour, and after the time has elapsed, they must be rearranged into an oven preheated to one hundred and eighty degrees Celsius.
6. Baking biscuits from liquid shortbread dough lasts no more than twenty-five minutes.

Take note that the finished baking is not removed from the parchment until it cools down, and its decoration begins no earlier than an hour after removing it from the paper. Decent quality cookies according to this recipe will also be obtained when using buckwheat, coconut, corn or rice flour.

The third among the basic recipes for making shortbread dough, as promised, is a simple in execution and generally uncomplicated recipe for a gluten-free "baby" dough. It is prepared without flour familiar to many. For one serving of healthy, lean yet tender dough, you need to prepare:

• vegetable (sunflower, corn or olive) oil - 100 ml;
• icing sugar - 100 grams;
• gluten-free flour - 300 grams;
• lemon juice - 2 tablespoons.

The process of making healthy baked goods is, of course, lengthy, at first glance, but not complicated.

The first thing to do is freeze the vegetable oil in the freezer. To achieve the desired consistency of the product, it is enough to keep it in the cold for eight hours. I would like to say that vegetable oil never freezes completely, so don't expect it to become a solid lump.

The most crucial step is to knead the powdered sugar with the thickened vegetable oil. This must be done very quickly so that the oil does not return to its previous consistency. At the end of mixing, half the measured amount of flour should be added to the resulting mass in fractional parts and the dough is not cool. The last step in kneading the dough is adding lemon juice, remaining flour and kneading the finished product.

The beauty and distinguishing feature of this dough preparation method is that it does not need to be proofed. That is why the finished dough is immediately cut, rolled out, figures are cut out and placed in the oven to bake. The finished treat is cooled and stored in paper bags. These cookies are suitable for the nutrition of diabetics, as well as those who have decided to adhere to dietary restrictions on religious days.

Regarding whether it is possible to knead not by hand, I would like to note that neither a kneading machine, nor a blender bowl, nor a combine, nor a bread maker are suitable for making a real dough.

Recently, more and more often you can hear the statement that shortbread dough can be prepared without oil. In fact, this opinion is erroneous, because only butter, be it butter or vegetable, makes it possible to give a recognizable structure to baked goods, and it cannot be replaced in the recipe with cream, milk, sour cream, or any other high-fat dairy products. An alternative might be mayonnaise or lard. Products based on these ingredients can have a specific flavor, and the dough itself is most often used to make snack pies or muffins with savory filling. It is also kneaded with minimal or no sugar.

Butter dough

Butter shortbread dough in its composition contains components used when kneading dough for ordinary oven pies and cake layers. Without fail, such a dough contains:

• chicken eggs and separately the yolks - three and two, respectively;
• butter in half with lard - only two hundred grams;
• salt - a pinch;
• powdered sugar - half a glass;
• flour - three glasses;
• baking powder or soda - one teaspoon.

The kneading technique is slightly different from the one described above. When making such a test, proceed as follows:

1. The butter heated to room temperature is ground with chicken eggs kept warm for an hour, powdered sugar, and then the yolks are added.
2. The flour is mixed with baking soda or baking powder, and then added in small portions to the butter-egg mixture.
3. The finished compacted dough is wrapped in foil and placed in the refrigerator for proofing, after which small pieces are separated and products of the desired shape are made.

The dough prepared by this method is very elastic and pleasant to the touch, but it should not stay warm for a long time, so the baking sheet with the products is placed in the oven without delay and kept there at a temperature of about one hundred and eighty degrees Celsius for twenty minutes. I would like to draw the attention of readers that dough products of this method of preparation differ in some characteristic features, for example, they are always ruddy, and also remain soft for a long time after baking..

Custard

Another of the unusual types of shortcrust pastry is its brewed version. Such a product is used for making pies and closed pies. Even the most inexperienced housewives will master this kneading method, and often this particular cooking option becomes a favorite with many for many years.

For a portion of dough, which will make twelve small pies, you will need:

• bakery flour - 350 grams;
• creamy margarine - 200 grams;
• granulated sugar - 3-4 tablespoons;
• water - 5 tablespoons;
• sunflower oil - 4 tablespoons;
• salt to taste.

Brewing and subsequent kneading of the dough must be carried out in the same container, therefore it is advisable to choose a vessel with wide edges that can be heated on the stove.

1. Boil water, and then add a pinch of salt and a standard of granulated sugar to it and dissolve them. After that, carefully pour the vegetable oil into the water and put the margarine grated on a coarse grater there.
2. Bring water to a boil with constant stirring.
3. Wait until the margarine is completely dissolved, and then start kneading. To do this, in fractional parts, add flour to boiling water (without removing the container from the fire).
4. Stir the dough with a spoon until the spoon rotates, then remove the bowl from the stove.
5. Add the rest of the flour to the mass and knead the firm dough with your hands.
6. Put the workpiece on the table, crush it without flour, and then cover it with a dry towel. Soak the dough until it cools, and then roll it out and shape the products into the desired shape.
7. When finished making the selected flour products, bake them immediately.

In order for, for example, pies from such a dough to turn out shiny, before placing in the oven, be sure to grease them with the yolk of a chicken egg, beaten with a few drops of vegetable oil..

According to Ducan's recipe

The dough prepared according to Ducan's recipe is nothing supernatural. Baking from it can be made both ordinary white and colored. To obtain the desired color, natural dyes are added to the dough: carrot juice, beet juice or decoction, cocoa powder and other ingredients that can add color.

To prepare three servings of cookies, you will need to mix oat and wheat bran with milk powder, salt and baking powder, and then combine them with cottage cheese, chicken egg and yolk. After that, with wet hands, you need to form a dense dough, wrap it in foil and send it to the cold for a couple of hours. You need to roll out such dough in a film, because it sticks strongly to the rolling pin, and you cannot use flour for dusting.

The proportions of the ingredients are as follows:

• oat bran - 8 tablespoons;
• wheat bran - 2 tablespoons;
• chicken egg (40 grams) - 1 piece;
• chicken egg yolk - 1 piece;
• cottage cheese - 70 grams;
• baking powder - 2 teaspoons;
• salt to taste.

This dough can be used to bake vegetable pizza, tart with berry fillings, tartlets and even delicate baskets with protein cream.

How to cut?

We will tell you how to properly cut the dough for baking in this small section of the article. As such, products from real and false shortbread dough are not subject to sculpting. One of the basic techniques for cutting dough has already been described in the section above, but it only applies to a liquid product. For a semi-finished product that is standard in consistency, preparation of the dough before baking consists in rolling out and forming the products of the desired shape and size.

The following devices are currently used:

• molds of various themes: stars, crescents, animals, flowers, cars and others;
• a curly knife that allows you to quickly create regular geometric shapes with wavy or zigzag edges;
• a meat grinder with a regular or shaped grate-attachment.

When rolling, be sure to dust the table with flour, otherwise the dough will stick and tear. The thickness of the roll depends not only on the desired result. A real classic dough should never be set aside more than one centimeter thick, while sour cream or sandy yeast should not be made too thin.

Kneading and rolling out the shortcrust pastry does not take much time. That is why it is most often prepared at home. Particular attention should be paid to the fact that when using molds, they should be placed as close as possible to each other when cutting. Otherwise, you will have to collect the remains many times, crumple and roll them out. As a result, each subsequent batch of finished baked goods will become more dense, and the cookies themselves will become hard and will not melt in your mouth.

How to store shortbread dough?

How to store shortbread dough is probably interesting for many novice confectioners to know. We note right away that there are no difficulties in this. Any of the subtypes of the product must be kept cold. That is why the finished dough, rolled into layers, is stored in refrigerators in grocery stores. Even yeast slows down in coolness, and after getting into the heat, they easily restore their qualities.

The best way to preserve the shortbread dough for a long time is to freeze the product to a temperature of minus eighteen degrees Celsius, which corresponds to the marking of three snowflakes. With constant cold and humidity, the product can be stored for about six months.

You should know and remember that defrosted dough should be used immediately, because repeated freezing will worsen the quality of the finished product, and the dough itself will become tough and too elastic.

Home-made dough can be stored both in layers (as in the store) and in portions. A mandatory requirement is to wrap the workpiece with several layers of cling film, which helps prevent the outer layer of the semi-finished product from drying out.

If the hostess does not intend to store the dough for a long time, then you should know that the dough will be suitable for baking for three days, provided that it lies in a plastic bag on the top shelf of the refrigerator.

How to fix shortbread dough?

How to fix shortbread dough? This is a fairly common question, the answer to which is needed not only for young cooks, but also for quite experienced housewives.

Let's start in order, and for convenience we will arrange the existing knowledge in the form of a small plate.

Another question regarding why the finished dough is bitter does not give rest to many chefs. We will answer it too. This happens very rarely and happens due to the inability to choose the right ingredients. Always remember that only fresh ingredients are needed to make a great dough: flour, butter, sour cream and other products. Also, always pay attention to the amount of vanillin in the recipe, which is used to give the baked goods a pleasant aroma, and in no case add more than it should. Be aware that if you overdose on this flavoring, you run the risk of getting bitter cookies.

Benefit and harm

The benefits and harms of shortcrust pastry are due to the composition of the product. A variety of recipes with a variety of components allows you to saturate the human body with vitamins and trace elements contained in the original ingredients.

Shortcrust pastry is very high in calories and therefore, if consumed uncontrolled, can lead to rapid weight gain. A large amount of sugar can cause diabetes mellitus, and a high fat content of the product negatively affects the work of the gallbladder and intestines.

In general, shortcrust pastry baking is an excellent solution for family tea drinking, especially if it is prepared with your own hands. And also, cutting out cookies from such a delicate material is a wonderful opportunity to keep your favorite fidgets for a long time!

Not sure how to make shortbread dough?

We will teach you !!! See our detailed step-by-step recipe with photos later in this article.

Do you like shortbread pies?

We propose to plunge a little into home cooking and prepare shortbread dough on your own, relying on a step-by-step recipe with photographs for clarity.

Cooking secrets:

• There are no special secrets when creating shortbread dough, but you should definitely sift the flour, this will saturate it with oxygen.
• For the dough to come out homogeneous and tender, it must be kneaded thoroughly. Many hostesses do this in a food processor, then the dough comes out more elastic. But even kneading it with your hands, it is possible to achieve such an effect, you just need to make a little effort.
• But after this, it is better to give the dough a little rest in the cold, so that it becomes more pliable and ready for sculpting.

How to make shortbread dough correctly?

Ingredients

• 350 grams of flour;
• 200 grams of butter;
• 110 grams of sugar;
• 1 egg;
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt.

Instructions:

Remove the oil from the refrigerator some time before preparing the dough so that it becomes soft and plastic. Divide the oil layer into several smaller pieces to make it easier to work with. But do not melt it on the stove, then you will get a completely different result.

Prepare a spacious container, put soft butter inside, add the specified portion of granulated sugar. The dough with this amount of sugar will be moderately sweet. Also, be sure to add a pinch of salt, it will accentuate the sweetness. Stir the mass intensively for several minutes so that the sugar crystals are maximally dissolved in the oil.

Pre-sift the required amount of flour through a special sieve, this will rid it of debris. It is also worth noting that baked goods with sifted flour are more airy.

At the same time, you can add a spoonful of baking powder, which will make the dough softer and fluffier.

When all the components are in place, the dough will already be difficult to knead with a spoon, then you can let the palms of your hands enter.

After a long kneading, you should get a single piece of plastic dough, which should be placed in a bag, tightly closed and loaded into the refrigerator for 25 minutes.

After the time has elapsed, the shortbread dough is ready to use.

Sometimes you want to enjoy some pastries. And the more successful it is, the greater the feeling of satisfaction. Each of us has a favorite delicacy based on shortbread dough. A skilled hostess can add her favorite ingredients to the classic recipe, which will allow you to create an individual culinary masterpiece.

Shortcrust pastry

This is a semi-finished product that is used in the preparation of flour products both on an industrial scale and at home. It turns out when mixing different ingredients and is the basis of many recipes, so it largely depends on how delicious the finished dish will be. In this case, you need to know which dough is being prepared for what purpose and how to knead it correctly.

The dough can be prepared using two different technologies:

• yeast;
• yeast-free.

In the manufacture of the first technology, yeast is used as a leavening agent. There are two possible ways: sponge (first the sourdough is kneaded, and then the dough itself) and bezoparny (the dough is used immediately after kneading).

Yeast-free dough is divided into biscuit, shortbread and puff pastry. Each of them is prepared according to its own technology and is significantly different in taste.

The classic recipe of which is based on the observance of the ratio of 3: 2: 1 (flour / butter / sugar), is used for baking cookies and pies, also found in some recipes for pastries and cakes.

Classic shortbread dough

The right shortbread dough is very tasty and tender. The classic recipe suggests several options:

• flour, butter, sugar, water, egg yolk;
• flour, butter, sugar, water;
• flour, butter, sugar, eggs, soda, vanillin;
• flour, butter, sour cream, sugar, soda, baking powder.

Such a dough is prepared easily and quickly, it turns out to be very tender and crumbly.

Shortbread dough, the classic recipe of which necessarily includes butter, is kneaded in several ways. It depends on what consistency the oil is in. Frozen is rubbed on a grater, hard butter from the refrigerator is cut into cubes with a knife, softened is put into flour and mixed with a mixer, melted butter is poured out and also mixed. If you need to get lean shortbread dough, then butter is replaced with vegetable oil.

Cookie dough

Freshly made homemade shortbread cookies have a unique taste and delicate aroma. This is where the simplest is the best. Such cookies, intended for perhaps, will take longer to cook than to show off on the dinner table.

Classic does not contain any frills, unnecessary ingredients. Such cookies are good because they are served warm, sometimes still hot, as they say, in the heat of the heat. This is its charm and consists. Their shape also makes such cookies especially attractive: you can cut out animals, flowers and stars.

So, let's take the necessary products:

• 200 g butter;
• 100 g granulated sugar;
• 2 eggs;
• 2 cups of flour;
• 0.5 tsp soda.

Let's start cooking:

If desired, raisins, cocoa powder, nuts can be added to the mass before baking.

Pie dough

The classic recipe for shortcrust pastry for a cake allows you to well retain the moisture that is released from the fruit during baking. At the same time, the cake remains crispy on the outside, and so that it does not flow, you need to put a little starch in the filling.

The minimal version of such a test looks like this. Take as ingredients:

• 235 g flour;
• 115 g butter;
• 115 ml of water.

Preparation:

1. We put all the products and equipment in the refrigerator for ten minutes.
2. Cut the butter into small cubes with a knife and then chop it with flour.
3. Add ice water to fine oil crumbs and collect the dough in a lump.
4. Having wrapped it in a film, we send the dough to the refrigerator for half an hour.
5. We spread it on the table, roll it out, add the filling and send it to the oven.

If everything is done using this technology, the dough will be crispy and will not form bubbles when baking.

The cake can be served open or closed, on a baking sheet or in a tin. As a filling for such a cake, you can take strawberries, cherries, wild berries, apples. You can simply sprinkle the filling with sugar, or you can pour the berries or fruits with gelatin dissolved in yogurt. This delicacy will be appreciated by everyone.

Wonderful dessert

The classic shortbread dough forms a beautiful golden brown crust during baking. A recipe with a photo of the finished product is a vivid example of this.

The dough made according to the previous recipe is very suitable for a pie with berries. The only thing that can be added to the ingredients is granulated sugar. In addition to sweetness, it also forms a pleasant aromatic crust, which will give the finished product a beautiful appearance.

Such a pie will be a wonderful dessert, it goes very well with milk, juice, compote. The enthusiastic praise of loved ones will be the reward for the efforts in making the cake.

Various shortcrust pastry products

Recently, shortcrust pastry products have become very popular, because they are prepared simply, and they have a homemade taste.

Dough made correctly has a crumbly texture and a sweetish taste. It can be used to make closed and cakes, cakes, bagels, tartlets. They will decorate the festive table, and are also suitable for a modest evening tea party.

Wonderful shortcrust pastry, the classic recipe of which is supplemented with kefir, will go to bagels with jam. Kefir makes the dough very elastic, which makes it possible to roll a bagel filled with a fragrant filling.

Shortbread dough, the classic recipe of which allows you to roll it out very thinly, will be an excellent basis for cheesecake with cottage cheese. Children love this pastry very much, because it has a very delicate creamy taste.

Used for biscuits, crostat (shares, tartlets, baskets).

A few words about the main products for such a test:

It is always based on a large amount of butter. , combined with sugar, flour, yolks. Other variations - with vegetable oil or without it at all, these are already separate recipes, for special cases in the recipe. If you want a "classic" dough, I don't even recommend replacing butter with margarine.

Sugar - You can use either regular sugar or powdered sugar or brown sugar. This will affect color, texture and overall taste.

If you increase the amount of sugar (up to a 1: 1 ratio with flour), such a dough will come out more crunchy and brittle.

If you increase the amount of "fat" (by the way, both cream-fresh and creamy caramel can act as such), the dough will be softer, more tender and will less justify the name "shortbread" dough.

The main thing is not to be afraid to experiment, to know the properties of products and what the addition or, conversely, exclusion of one or another ingredient will lead to. And also for what purpose you are making shortbread dough.

The original recipe contains a fairly large dose, but it's convenient: divide into small pieces and store in the freezer. From this, the dough does not lose its qualities.

I cut the ingredients in half.

Ingredients:

500 g flour (weak)
300 g butter
200 g icing sugar
80 g yolks (about 4 pcs.)
1/2 bourbon vanilla pod (seeds only)
1/2 lemon zest
1 g salt (pinch)

Application:

If you don't have time to wait for the butter to soften, place the pieces on parchment paper, cover with a second sheet on top, and gently tap with a rolling pin until the butter becomes plastic. But in no case should it be at room temperature and you shouldn't "warm up" it in the microwave. For shortcrust pastry, the butter must be exactly "chilled".

Pour all the flour onto a cutting board.

Make a hole in the middle.

Pour the icing sugar into the hole.

Pour in the yolks.

Mix the yolks with the powder with your hands, without adding flour.

Add vanilla seeds and zest.

Mix until smooth.

Add soft butter and mix with yolks, powder until smooth.

Cover the egg and butter mixture with flour. Collect all the flour from the board, clean your hands with flour from the egg-oil mass. Further, as if you are rubbing flour with a mass between your hands, until large pieces are formed.

Knead the dough by pressing the dough lightly against the board until a smooth paste is formed. Kneading is not long, at this stage it will not become perfectly homogeneous. After the end of the batch, the board and hands must remain clean.

Roll out the dough lightly, making it look like a thick flatbread so it will cool quickly and evenly. Place in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic tape for a couple of hours, or in the freezer for 10 minutes.

After refrigeration, the dough will become brittle. Separate the required amount - divide the rest into even portions, wrap each in plastic wrap and put in the freezer before use. There it can be stored for a month.

Knead the remaining dough lightly with your hands until it becomes elastic. Then roll in different directions to a thickness of 0.3 cm.

Lightly grease the baking dish with butter, not to make it easier to lag behind after baking, it will not stick anyway, but in order to bake better.

Roll the dough onto a rolling pin and transfer to the mold. Stick it well over the entire surface with a fork.

Cover with 4-fold cling film, top with beans or rice. Fold up the edges.

Bake at 170-180 ° for 10 minutes. Then remove the weight and brown for another 10 minutes.

The second option - you can fill with jam and bake with pavidl.