Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (2024)

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This is a basic sweet tart dough recipe, adapted from the cover for the tartlet molds I purchased at Williams-Sonoma. It makes a great flaky sweet crust for 6 small tartlets (mini tart shells), which are 3 inches diameter each. It's a great way to make individual fruit desserts or small savory appetizers. This recipe will also work for one 9.5 inch diameter tart pan.

Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (1)

To make this recipe, I am using a tartlet mold I purchased at Williams-Sonoma. I just love their products - you can always find something unique and unusual for your baking and cooking needs.

This recipe makes 6 small tarts, 3 inches diameter each.
This recipe also works for 1 large tart, 9.5 inches diameter.

How to make tart crust for 6 tartlets (mini tart shells):

Below are some helpful step-by-step photos. For complete recipe, scroll down to the recipe box.

How to prepare tart dough:

1) Using food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, salt to combine thoroughly.

2) Cut cold butter into small cubes. Add the butter into the food processor and pulse butter, flour, sugar and salt until the consistency becomes that of a coarse meal.
Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (2)
Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (3)

3) In a small cup, combine the egg yolk, ice water and vanilla and stir well together. Add the egg mixture to the food processor and pulse to combine. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (4)

How to bake tart dough after it's been refrigerated for 2 hours:

1) Preheat an oven to 350 F.

2) Divide the dough into 6 parts and roll each into a ball.
Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (5)

3) Grease your tartlet pan well.

4) Flour the working surface, and roll each ball into a disk larger in a diameter than a well of your tart pan, then place the round into a greased well. Because rolling each ball into a disk and placing it into a well usually takes time, I keep the rest of the balls in the refrigerator and take each one out to work on one ball at a time. This way, the dough is kept cold, which will help the crust be soft and flaky.

Also, after I shape 2 disks and place them into a tart pan, I put a tart pan in the freezer and shape the other 2 disks. Then, I take the tart pan out of the freezer, place the 2 disks in and repeat. Once you filled all of the tart pans (or all wells in a tart pan), place the tart pan(s) in the freezer for 5 minutes before baking.
Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (6)

5) Prick the bottom of each tart with a fork 2 or 3 times. Bake the shells for 25 minutes until golden brown, not dark. Rotate the tart pan 180 degrees halfway through the baking time.

6) Remove the tartlets from the oven and let them cool completely.

Tartlet recipes

  • Breakfast mini tartlets with eggs, gouda cheese, spinach and grape tomatoes
  • Bacon and egg quiche breakfast tartlets
  • Sweet tartlets with caramelized plums

Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (7)

4.92 from 12 votes

Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets (mini tart shells) or 9.5 inch tart pan

This is a basic sweet tart dough recipe. It makes a great flaky sweet crust for 6 small tartlets (mini tart shells), which are 3 inches diameter each. Great recipe for making individual fruit desserts or small savory appetizers. This recipe will also work for one 9.5 inch diameter tart pan.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Servings 6 people

Calories per serving 323 kcal

Author: Julia

Ingredients

Instructions

Prepare tart dough:

  • Using food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, salt to combine thoroughly.

  • Cut cold butter into small cubes. Add the butter into the food processor and pulse butter, flour, sugar and salt until the consistency becomes that of a coarse meal.

  • In a small cup, combine the egg yolk, ice water and vanilla and stir well together. Add the egg mixture to the food processor and pulse to combine. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

How to cook tart dough after it’s been refrigerated for 2 hours:

  • Preheat an oven to 350 F.

  • Divide the dough into 6 parts and roll each into a ball.

  • Grease each tartlet well. Flour the working surface, and roll each ball into a disk larger in a diameter than a well of your tart pan, then place the round into a greased well. Because rolling each ball into a disk and placing it into a well usually takes time, I keep the rest of the balls in the refrigerator and take each one out to work on one ball at a time. This way, the dough is kept cold, which will help the crust be soft and flaky. Also, after I shape 2 disks and place them into a tart pan, I put a tart pan in the freezer and shape the other 2 disks. Then, I take the tart pan out of the freezer, place the 2 disks in and repeat. Once you filled all of the tart pans (or all wells in a tart pan), place the tart pan(s) in the freezer for 5 minutes before baking.

  • Prick the bottom of each tart with a fork 2 or 3 times. Bake the shells for 25 minutes until golden brown, not dark. Rotate the tart pan 180 degrees halfway through the baking time.

  • Remove the tartlets from the oven and let them cool completely.

Notes

Refer to step-by-step photos above the recipe box.

The recipe is adapted from the cover for the tartlet molds I purchased at Williams-Sonoma.

Nutrition

Nutrition Information

Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets (mini tart shells) or 9.5 inch tart pan

Amount per Serving

Calories

323

% Daily Value*

Saturated Fat

12

g

75

%

Cholesterol

82

mg

27

%

Sodium

217

mg

9

%

Potassium

33

mg

1

%

Carbohydrates

32

g

11

%

Sugar

8

g

9

%

Protein

3

g

6

%

Calcium

14

mg

1

%

Iron

1.5

mg

8

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition Disclaimer:

The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (8)Mea

    No u can't skip the egg and the recipe is perfect

    Reply

  2. Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (9)Karina

    this completely failed for me. Did everything is the exact same proportion you've indicated, the dough was falling apart when I was rolling it. Quite a bad recipe

    Reply

    • Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (10)Meagan Carney

      If your dough was falling apart you could have needed more water. Water and liquids can sometimes vary depending on how humid or dry the place you live is.

      Reply

  3. Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (11)Mousumi Biswas

    Can I skip the egg in the recipe

    Reply

  4. Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (12)Nan W.

    I was going to try lemon curd. Could I put this in the crust before banking and bake together?
    Thanks

    Reply

  5. Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (13)Marianne Rossant

    Hi. I have a question. I made the dough tonight and will make tarts tomorrow. Must I blind bake or can I put filling in and bake?

    Reply

    • Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (14)Julia

      I would bake the tart shells first, and then put the filling in, and finish baking with the filling in the tart shells. It actually depends on the type of filling. What kind of filling are you making?

      Reply

  6. Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (15)pam

    I'm trying to find this pan and the only one Williams Sonoma has is 4 in.

    Reply

  7. Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (16)Christie

    How long will the crust keep? And how do you store them if you want to make them for later usage?

    Reply

    • Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (17)Julia

      Cooked crust still tastes great after a week, if kept refrigerated. I wouldn't keep cooked crust refrigerated for more than a week. If you freeze cooked crust, you can keep it for a month.

      Reply

  8. Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (18)Kayley

    Would you adjust the recipe for 6 4 inch tartlets or do you think this would suffice? So hard to find recipes for the smaller pans!

    Reply

    • Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (19)Julia

      Kayley, because this recipe is for 6 3-inch tartlets, it will probably not suffice for the same number of 4-inch tartlets, so you will probably have to make 4 or 5 4-inch tartlets with this recipe.

      Reply

  9. Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (20)anna

    cool! i am embarking on a plum tart this weekend!

    Reply

    • Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (21)Julia

      I actually made some plum tarts recently - will be posting a recipe with photos soon.

      Reply

    • Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (22)Gary White

      Can i keep the dough refrigerated for a few days

      Reply

  10. Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (23)Russell at Chasing Delicious

    Yum! Now I'm craving tartlets!

    Reply

  11. Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (24)Eva @ 1 big bite

    I agree with Suzanne, this is very helpful and a great step-by-step tutorial.

    Reply

    • Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (25)Julia

      Thank you, Eva.

      Reply

  12. Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (26)Suzanne perazzini

    This a great tutorial. I usually use store-bought pastry to save time when cooking in the evenings and I love making small tarts and have similar tartlet molds to yours.

    Reply

    • Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (27)Julia

      Thank you! I have quite a few tart molds, too. Can't wait to use them on all sorts of recipes.

      Reply

      • Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (28)P

        I recently made a filling with rhubarb, raspberry and Bosc pear. Your pastry was perfect! I thought they would make a nice summer dessert but there was only one problem, the tartlets seem to have vanished before supper 😉 (The boys are going to help solve the mystery )

        Reply

        • Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (29)Julia

          Ha-ha! That's a good sign when the food disappears faster than you expect it. 🙂 Tartlets with the rhubarb, raspberry and pear filling sound so delicious! No wonder they disappeared before dinner.

          Reply

Leave a Reply

Tart crust recipe for 6 tartlets or large 9.5 inch tart (2024)

FAQs

Is a tart shell the same as a pie crust? ›

The main difference is that tarts only have a bottom crust, and the crust is much thicker than a pie crust. Galettes – This is basically a pie made without using a pie dish, but because that would be too simple galettes can be made with any type of pastry dough.

What are the different types of tart crust? ›

How to Match Your Pie With the Right Crust
  • Flaky Pie Crust. Flaky pie crust is your most basic crust, made of fat, flour, water and salt. ...
  • Hot Water Crust. ...
  • Paté Sucrée or Sweet Crust. ...
  • Crostata Crust. ...
  • Cream Cheese Crust. ...
  • Cornmeal Crust. ...
  • Puff Pastry or Rough Puff.
Sep 16, 2019

What is a substitute for a tart crust? ›

Here are some of the easiest and most flavorful crust substitutions to elevate your pie recipe.
  • Cookie dough. Nicholasbphotography/Getty Images. ...
  • Butter crackers. Touchr/Shutterstock. ...
  • Granola. Lauripatterson/Getty Images. ...
  • Puff pastry. Pinkybird/Getty Images. ...
  • Phyllo dough. ...
  • Rice cereal. ...
  • Brownie batter. ...
  • Shredded coconut.
Aug 20, 2023

Why is my tart crust so hard? ›

If your pastry is hard and tough, this may because too much liquid was added or the pastry was over-handled, resulting in the development of gluten. If your pastry is too crumbly and hard to handle, this may be because too much fat was added, it was over-mixed or not enough liquid was added to bind the fat and flour.

What is the difference between a tart and a tartlet? ›

Size: The most obvious difference between tarts and tartlets is their size. Tarts are larger, typically around 9-11 inches in diameter, while tartlets are smaller, usually around 2-3 inches in diameter. Crust-to-filling ratio: Because of their size, tarts usually have a higher crust-to-filling ratio than tartlets.

What kind of pastry is the simplest and most common and used mainly in tarts? ›

Shortcrust pastry is the simplest and most common pastry. It is made with flour, fat, butter, salt, and water to bind the dough. This is used mainly in tarts. It is also the pastry that is used most often in making a quiche.

What are the three 3 basic rules for pastry making? ›

General rules

Mix together the flour and salt by sieving. Keep everything as cool as possible otherwise the fat may melt which would spoil the finished dish. Introduce as much air as possible during making.

Why is my tart crust soggy? ›

If the bottom crust doesn't set before the filling soaks in, it's going to be gummy. A metal pie pan placed on a preheated surface will set the bottom crust quickest; once cooked, the liquids from the filling above won't soak in, and as a result: no soggy bottom.

What are the two types of dough used to make tarts? ›

The fillings used for tarts complement the crust. That said, there are two types of dough in the tart family. The sable dough, which is cookie crust-ish, uses egg, includes sweetener, but not in a way that overpowers the filling. The puff dough, which isn't sweetened, leans on the filling for flavor.

Why are baked tart shells without a filling docked before baking? ›

With docking, the holes allow steam to escape, so the crust should stay flat against the baking dish when it isn't held down by pie weights or a filling.

How do you keep tart pastry crisp? ›

Par bake the shells, then egg wash with a mixture of 100 grams yolks & 10 grams heavy cream. The tart shells will keep for 48 hours easily.

What is tart crust made of? ›

Cream together sugar, salt, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Add yolk and vanilla and beat to incorporate. Add flour and mix until a dough forms. Press dough squarely and evenly into the tart pan and trim off the edges.

What's the difference between pie crust and tart crust? ›

While pies have a thin and smooth crust, tarts have a rather thick and crumbly crust which crumbles down when pieces are cut from the tart. Pies are served in the same dish they are made in, while tarts are often taken out and molded, if needed.

Can you use a pie crust in a tart pan? ›

Can You Make a Tart with Pie Crust? The short answer is yes. There are a few things to consider: sable has more flavor than pie crust, so if you want the crust to add its own flavor to the dish, you may want to stick with tart dough.

What is the difference between a pie dish and a tart pan? ›

In French cooking we make a difference between a tart pan (for quiches or fruit tarts with no filling) and a pie pan (for American style pies and cakes such as the NY cheesecake). You will find both sizes here: the tart pan is wider and shallow. The pie dish is smaller but deeper.

What is a tart shell? ›

: a small pie or pastry shell containing jelly, custard, or fruit.

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