The eggless shortcrust pastry is a basic recipe that will astonish you with its goodness. With this recipe, you’ll be able to achieve fragrant and crumbly butter cookies, just like those you buy at the bakery. If you’re looking for the perfect recipe for your Christmas cookies, try this one, and you’ll impress everyone.
Before trying it, I was very skeptical, especially because I always used the classic butter shortcrust pastry or the oil-based shortcrust pastry. In fact, I have several butter shortcrust recipes in my personal recipe book, like the easy shortcrust pastry, the white Knam shortcrust pastry, and Montersino’s Cocoa. However, I had never tried an eggless shortcrust pastry. The result of the butter cookies made with this pastry amazed me. They are uniquely crumbly with a delicate flavor that will make you fall in love. If worked and baked very cold, the cookies prepared with this pastry perfectly maintain their shape.
This eggless butter shortcrust pastry is very crumbly and delicate during the preparation. For this reason, it is not suitable for tarts. For the latter, the pastries I mentioned earlier are more suitable.
Moreover, it’s very important to work this shortcrust pastry very cold from the refrigerator. All the tips for working this shortcrust pastry in the best way and obtaining perfect butter cookies can be found at the bottom of the recipe, scrolling down the page.
The cookies with this shortcrust pastry, being eggless, will always remain paler compared to classic butter cookies. Whatever shape you give your eggless butter cookies, you should bake them at 320°F (static oven) for 10 minutes.
Well, now I’ll leave you with the recipe. Let’s prepare this delicious eggless shortcrust pastry together. I made it with the Bimby, but it can be prepared with any other mixer or planetary mixer, or by hand. I’ll also leave you some links to delicious recipes that might interest you.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 6 People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 479.96 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 54.43 (g) of which sugars 15.33 (g)
- Proteins 4.85 (g)
- Fat 28.08 (g) of which saturated 18.07 (g)of which unsaturated 9.80 (g)
- Fibers 0.88 (g)
- Sodium 68.40 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for preparing eggless shortcrust pastry
- 2 cups cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup cup potato starch
- 1 cup cup butter
- 2/3 cup cup powdered sugar
- 1 packet vanillin
- 1 pinch salt
Tools for preparing eggless shortcrust pastry
- Bowl
- Mixer
Steps to prepare eggless butter shortcrust pastry
Let’s see how to prepare eggless butter shortcrust pastry, perfect for your Christmas cookies, horseshoes, bull’s eye cookies, and many other delicious pastries.
In the bowl (or any bowl), place the sifted flour and starch. Also, add the vanillin (or the flavor you prefer) and a pinch of salt.
Add the chopped butter and blend for 20-30 seconds until you get a “sandy” mixture. If you prepare the shortcrust pastry by hand, work with your fingertips to avoid warming the dough too much.
The resulting mixture should have a consistency similar to grated cheese.
Add the powdered sugar.
Work for a few more seconds, just enough time to combine the ingredients.
Transfer the mixture to a work surface. Don’t worry if it seems not very compact.
Knead it with your hands until you get a smooth and compact dough.
Flatten it to a thickness of about 0.6 inches, wrap it in plastic wrap, and let it rest in the fridge for at least 30-60 minutes. You can also prepare it in advance and leave it in the fridge for a few hours.
Storage and Tips
– The eggless shortcrust pastry can be perfectly stored in the fridge for a few days, so you can prepare it in advance.
– It must always be worked very cold from the fridge. I suggest dividing the dough into 3-4 parts and working one piece at a time while the others remain in the fridge. Put the scraps back in the fridge and work them later after they have cooled again.
– To make it easier to work with, roll out the eggless pastry between two sheets of parchment paper. Also, always flour the cookie cutters: this will make it easier to extract the shortcrust pastry and have a perfect cookie shape.
– If you want your cookies to keep their shape perfectly, place them on the baking tray and let them rest in the fridge for 30-40 minutes. Take them out immediately before baking.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
If I don’t have potato starch, what can I use?
You can replace it with an equal amount of all-purpose flour, but the result won’t be exactly the same. Starch gives the cookies made with eggless shortcrust pastry their crumbly texture.
Does the eggless shortcrust pastry have the same consistency as the classic one?
No, it is crumblier and more delicate because it lacks the eggs that act as a binder. You’ll have very melt-in-your-mouth cookies, but the dough will be very fragile to work with.
Can I use eggless shortcrust pastry for tarts?
No, it is not suitable: it tends to break easily and cannot support the weight of the filling.
Can other flours be used?
No, because the flour+starch mix ensures the crumbly texture and structure. Other flours would not give the same result.
Can granulated sugar be used instead of powdered sugar?
It’s better not to. Powdered sugar is essential for a smooth texture. Granulated sugar would make the cookies rougher.
Can a cocoa version of this eggless shortcrust pastry be made?
Yes, you can replace 20-25 g of flour with unsweetened cocoa.
