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Have this basic Shortcrust Pastry up your sleeve for homemade pies and tarts – it’s easy to follow, even if you’re a complete beginner. The step-by-step videos and simple tips get you a perfect pie crust, every time.
There’s nothing quite like homemade Shortcrust Pastry (known as pie crust in the US) when making both sweet and savoury bakes.
Full disclosure – most of my midweek pies involve shop-bought puff pastry, which I stand by as being the most sensible sanity-saving cheat, however, when I have the time, I love to do it properly, using this tried and tested method.
The best way I found is to make a batch of pastry crusts by ‘blind baking’ and then freezing them for another day for recipes like Cherry Pie and when I want to add pastry to my Crustless Quiche.
Blind baking means to bake the pastry into a shell, so it can be filled later. This is great for making sure the base is solid, crisp and cooked through (no soggy bottoms!) and can be used for lots of different kinds of pies, tarts or quiches, including liquid or wet ingredients (such as custard, fruity or egg mixtures.)
Making homemade Shortcrust Pastry isn’t difficult to do, but it does have a fair amount of variables and steps, so we’ve broken these down into tips and a handy step-by-step video guide to make it easier to follow (see these below).
Why you’ll love this Easy Shortcrust Pastry recipe
⭐️ Simple pastry dough for sweet or savoury
⭐️ Ideal for making ahead to save time later
⭐️ Delicious and impressive homemade crusts
Sarah’s Tips
Tools for the job
✅ For this recipe, we’re using a 23cm fluted flan dish like this one, which is perfect for round pies and quiches.
✅ You can also use baking beans, also known as pie weights. These make sure the dough is held down and doesn’t rise or puff up whilst having the first bake. You can use dry rice like we have in these videos instead if you don’t own any.
✅ A sturdy rolling pin will help you get an even pie crust of about 3mm.
✅ Line some parchment or baking paper on top of your pastry before popping the beans on top.
Chill the dough
The prep for the pastry should take about 15 minutes and the bake only takes 30 minutes BUT we do need time in between to chill it in the fridge.
Make sure you leave time for this as we chill it twice – once for an hour after we’ve formed it, and another 30 minutes once it’s rolled out and into the dish.
This process allows the gluten to relax, which means it’s less likely to shrink and be tough. It also allows the butter to firm up again, which is what we want. This leads me onto…
Cold is good!
When I was young, if my hands were ever cold, my grandma would tell me “you’ve got good hands for making pastry.”
The big trick to good pastry is keeping everything as cold as possible – the butter, your hands, the room, the water. You name it, if it’s cold it will make making your pastry easier!
For sweet shortcrust pastry
If you’re making this for a dessert, simply sift some icing sugar in at the first stage of the recipe, along with the flour and salt.
Cool completely before using
Make sure your pastry shells have cooled down completely before you fill and bake them again! If not, they could turn out soggy, greasy and break easily. This is another reason I like to make mine ahead of time.
Quick note: If I’m cooking something with a filling that takes a long time, like a classic Apple Pie with a lid, I don’t blind bake the pastry first as it would be overdone.
Good ingredients
When a recipe has only a few ingredients, it really does make a big difference if you use the best quality you can for each of them.
Also, using proper butter for this recipe is the only way to make sure your pastry works. Margarine is just too soft.
Shortcrust Pastry Ingredients
- Plain flour – Or all-purpose flour if you’re in the US.
- COLD unsalted butter – These will need slicing into 1 centimetre cubes before adding them into the bowl.
- Fine salt – Just a pinch.
- Egg – 1 for the pastry, 1 for egg wash at the end.
- COLD water – Between 1-2 tablespoons. Start off with 1.
- For sweet shortcrust: Add 4 teaspoons of icing sugar in with the flour.
- For the tart case: Extra flour for dusting and a beaten egg.
How to make Shortcrust Pastry
1. Sift the flour into a bowl, add salt then the cubed cold butter. Use your fingertips to rub them together (as per the full recipe below).
2. Stir in the beaten egg. Add cold water and bring everything together to make a dough. Shape into a disk, wrap and refrigerate.
3. Roll your pastry out to a large circle, then lift it onto your dish. Use your hands to gently push the pastry into the sides. Roll off the excess, prick and refrigerate again.
4. Line the dish, fill with baking beans or dry rice, then do the first bake. Lift off the paper and weights, then bake again. Brush with egg wash and bake for a final time. Cool.
Storing
Store the baked pastry case in an airtight container at room temperature.
You can freeze the unbaked shell in the flan dish. When fully frozen, wrap it in cling film. You can then continue the baking as per the recipe below when you’re ready, adding a few minutes to the first cooking time.
You can also freeze the unrolled pastry dough in cling film to save space. Make sure it’s fully defrosted before trying to roll it out.
Baking time
If you are going to use the tart case for a dish that needs baking for 30 minutes or more, reduce the second cook time to 5-10 mins OR don’t blind bake it at all.
Great to use for…
Family Dinner Ideas
Really Easy Steak Pie {with Puff Pastry & Rich Gravy}
Desserts
Banoffee Pie
Comfort Food
Easy Chicken Pie {with Bacon & Puff Pastry}
Desserts
Apple and Blackberry Crumble
FAQs
Plain flour (all purpose flour) is the best to use for these pie crust cases and that’s what we’ve tested this recipe with, but you could experiment with using plain wholemeal flour if you prefer.
The blind bake usually takes about 20 – 30 minutes in total in my oven, although it could be a little less or more in yours, depending on your own oven temperature.
If you are going to use the tart case for a filling that needs baking for 30 minutes or more, reduce the second cook time to 5-10 mins.
If this happens, try to salvage it by baking it for a little longer after removing your weights.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Shortcrust Pastry
Ingredients
- 200 g (1.5 cups) Plain flour
- 100 g (3.5 oz) Cold unsalted butter, Cut into 1cm cubes
- Pinch of fine salt
- 1 Egg, Beaten
- 1-2 tbsp Cold water
For sweet shortcrust:
- 4 tsp Icing sugar
For the tart case:
- 2 tbsp Plain flour, For dusting
- 1 Egg, Beaten
Instructions
- Dry ingredients in: Sift the plain flour into a large bowl and add the salt (and icing sugar if you’re making sweet shortcrust pastry.)
- Rubbing in method: Add the cubed cold butter, toss through the flour then use your finger tips to rub the butter in the flour. You want your butter and flour to look like breadcrumbs or ground almonds.
- Wet ingredients in: Use a fork to stir the beaten egg in.
- Add 1 tbsp of cold water and use the knife to bring everything together to make a dough, only adding more water if needed. You want the pastry to just hold together when you pinch it between your thumb and finger.
- Shape: Tip the mix onto the worktop and use your hands to bring it together and shape into a disk.
- Time to chill: Wrap in cling film and pop in the fridge for 1 hour.
To make a 23cm tart case:
- Out of the fridge: Bring the pastry out of the fridge for 10 minutes to warm up a little.
- Roll with it: Lightly flour your worktop and rolling pin, then roll your pastry out to a large circle about 3mm thick.
- Into the dish: Carefully lift the rolled pastry onto your 23cm tart dish and use your hands to gently push the pastry in the sides of the pan. Try not to stretch the pastry while you’re doing this. Use your rolling pin to roll the excess pastry from the top of your tart case.
- Docking: Use a fork to prick the base of the tart case all over, then place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven: Heat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.
- Weigh it down: Line the tart case with scrunched up baking paper then fill with baking beans or dry rice.
- First bake: Bake for 12-15 minutes until the edges are turning golden, then carefully lift the parchment paper and baking beans from the case.
- Second bake: Place the tart case back in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden all over. (If you are going to use the tart case for something that needs baking for 30 minutes or more, reduce the second cook time to 5-10 mins.
- Third bake: Gently brush the beaten egg all over the inside of the tart case then place back in the oven for 2 minutes. (This helps make sure any gaps are filled in so your filling won’t leak out.)
- Cool it: Leave the tart case on a cooling rack to cool completely before using.
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Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutritional values are per portion unless otherwise stated.
This post was originally published on March 12, 2026 and updated later to make improvements.
