Whipped shortcrust pastry.
For a long time I wanted to make whipped shortcrust pastry; in the pastry shop windows those little cookies dipped in chocolate or topped with candied cherries always caught my eye. I had kept the right recipe carefully in my recipe book for years, together with the tips and tricks for a perfect result — a gift from a dear friend — but I never decided to try it…
Yesterday I took the opportunity for a project I’m following: making butter cookies, and among many here are the ones I prefer — these whipped shortcrust pastry cookies 🙂
Whipped shortcrust pastry cookies are among the simplest, quickest and most indulgent butter cookies in the world, perfect to enjoy with a coffee or a steaming cup of tea. They have a unique texture: crumbly and they literally melt in your mouth 🙂
P.S. In this recipe I make cookies, but whipped shortcrust pastry is also excellent as a base for tart shells 😉
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: About 40 pieces
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 3 1/4 cups All-purpose flour (Farina 00)
- 7/8 cup Potato starch
- 1 1/2 cups Powdered sugar
- 1 1/3 cups Butter at room temperature
- 2 Eggs at room temperature
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 3 g Baking powder (you can omit it)
- 1 pinch Salt
- 9 oz Dark chocolate
- to taste Candied cherries
- to taste Dried coconut
- to taste Pistachio pieces
- to taste Powdered sugar
Tools
- 1 Electric hand mixer
- 1 Piping bag
- 1 Set
- 1 Bowl
Preparation
Put the butter in a large bowl (the butter must be at room temperature, so take it out of the fridge a few hours beforehand) and beat it with the electric whisk until you get a creamy texture (1-2-3-4).
Add the powdered sugar, a pinch of salt and the vanilla, and continue beating until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous mixture (5-6-7).
Beat the eggs lightly and add them to the butter cream, then continue whipping everything together (8-9-10).
Mix the flour with the potato starch and the sifted baking powder.
As soon as the eggs are well incorporated, add the flour mixture little by little, mixing at the lowest speed until all the flour is incorporated and you obtain a smooth and homogeneous dough. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment (11-12-13).
Place the dough in a cookie press or in a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and form the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can make U-shaped horseshoes, balls, doughnuts, sticks, etc… Decorate the balls with candied cherries before baking (14-15-16-17-18-19). You will need 2 baking sheets.
Chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour in the fridge (this step is essential; the cookies must rest in the fridge so they don’t lose their shape during baking).
Preheat the oven to 356°F about 15 minutes after placing the trays in the fridge (it is important that the oven is very hot).
Bake one tray at a time in the hot oven at 356°F for 13-15 minutes until they are lightly golden. Remove from the oven and let cool completely at room temperature.
You can leave your whipped shortcrust cookies plain, dust them with a little powdered sugar, or — as I did — decorate them with chocolate, nuts, or, if you prefer, with colored sprinkles or whatever your imagination suggests.
To decorate the whipped shortcrust cookies, melt the chocolate in a bain-marie and dip one half of the horseshoe-shaped cookies, or the half or end of sticks and doughnuts, one at a time. Place to dry on parchment paper. Decorate some of the cookies by sprinkling coconut flakes and pistachio pieces onto the chocolate while it is still wet and resting on the parchment. You can decorate others with thin drizzles of melted chocolate by letting it fall from a teaspoon or the blade of a knife (20-21). Cookies topped with candied cherries only need a light dusting of powdered sugar.
Let the chocolate set and serve.
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