This easy vegan shortcrust pastry recipe uses the food processor method and makes delicious buttery sweet tart pastry in seconds. Made with just 5 simple ingredients, use it for tarts, tartlets, and pastries.
Preheat oven and prepare pan: Preheat your oven to 175°C (350°F). Lightly grease the base and sides of a round 9" tart tin with some oil or vegan butter and lightly dust with flour, if desired you can also line the base with parchment paper.
Mix and chill the dough: Add the flour, vegan butter, sugar, salt, non-dairy milk, and vanilla to a food processor. Blitz for a few seconds until the ingredients are mixed and form a loose dough. Press the dough into a ball and flatten it into a disc. Wrap in clingfilm or place in an airtight container and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough: Roll out the chilled dough so that it is an inch or so larger than the circumference of the tart tin. Use the rolling pin to carefully lift the pastry over the tin and use your fingers to gently ease the pastry into the side of the tin. Use a knife or pastry scissors to cut around the edges, allowing it to rise slightly higher than the sides of the pan. Pierce the dough several times using a fork.
To Parbake (partially baked - fillings cooked in the oven): Take a sheet of parchment paper and cut it into a circle slightly larger than the tart. Rest it on top of the pastry and fill the base with dried beans, rice, lentils, or baking beads. Parbake in the oven for 15 minutes. Then carefully remove the beans/baking beads from the tart. If using a baked filling such as apple tart or apricot tart, follow the directions in that specific recipe for the remaining bake time, otherwise move on to the next step to fully blind-bake the tart shell.
To Blind-bake (fully baked - fillings set in the fridge):Follow the steps to par-bake the crust above.Return the tart shell to the oven and bake at 175°C (350°F) for another 12-15 minutes until light golden brown. Place the tin on a cooling rack and cool it to room temperature before adding any fillings such as pastry cream or lemon curd. Allow the tart to cool completely before removing it from the tin.
Storage: Store the uncooked pastry in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Wrap the pastry disc tightly with clingfilm, or roll it into the tart tin and wrap it in plastic wrap so it's ready to bake when you need it.You can also freeze it for up to 2 months. Simply defrost it in the fridge overnight before use.
Notes
Chill your dough. This gives the dough a chance to relax and helps prevent shrinking during baking. It also helps it firm up, making it easier to roll out!
Snip your pastry slightly higher than the rim of the tart tin. This ensures that there will be plenty of dough in case there is some shrinkage in the oven.
Dock the pastry to prevent steam from building up between the pastry and tart tin, which can cause the pastry to puff up and bake unevenly.
Scrunch your parchment. Crinkled-up paper can be eased into every corner, nook, and cranny of your pastry!