A sweet pie dough recipe, also known as pate sucree, is a rich and sweet pastry with a crisp cookie-like texture. I use this recipe daily in the bakery as it is ideal for making both large and small sized tarts.
Additionally, it works beautifully for decorative crust work as it maintains its shape well while baking. I hope this sweet pie dough recipe will become your 'go-to' recipe as it is mine.

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Recipe steps
- Bring your butter to room temperature (65° - 70 °) before starting on the dough.
- A stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment works well for making this recipe but a hand mixer may also be used.
- The first step is to cream the butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally.
- Next, add flour and mix on low speed for 10 seconds. Scrape the side of the bowl and mix for an additional 10 seconds. The dough will look crumbly at this point. Do not overmix as this will produce a less tender crust.
- Add the egg yolks and mix on low speed for 10 seconds. Scrape the side of the bowl and mix for an additional 10 seconds. The dough should hold together when squeezed in your hand, if not, mix a few more seconds.
- Place the dough on plastic wrap. Gently knead if there are any dry pieces remaining. Wrap well and let rest in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes. Allowing the dough to rest in the refrigerator will relax the flour's gluten and help prevent a tough crust.
Rolling the dough
- If the dough was left in the refrigerator for more than 20 minutes it may be too cold to roll out. If so, let it rest at room temperature for 10 - 20 minutes until it has softened enough to roll out (note: it should still be cold).
- Generously sprinkle flour on your work surface and rolling pin before rolling the dough. Form the dough into a disc and begin rolling from the middle of the dough outward, turning the dough 90 degrees after each roll until your reach your desired thickness (my preference for thickness is about ⅛ inch).
- I prefer to use a plastic rolling pin for pie doughs as I find the dough sticks less to the pin.
Baking the crust
Gluten strands are formed while rolling out the dough which can lead to a tougher crust. For this reason I will always place my rolled pie crust in the freezer or refrigerator for at least 15 minutes to allow the gluten to relax. This ensures minimal shrinkage while baking.
Storage
This dough will last up to a week in the refrigerator if wrapped in plastic wrap. Alternatively, wrap the dough and freeze for up to 2 months.
Sweet Pie Dough Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 100 Grams Granulated Sugar (½ Cup)
- 226 Grams Unsalted Butter (room temperature) (8 ounces or 2 sticks)
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 280 Grams All-Purpose Flour (2 ¼ Cups)
- 2 Large Egg Yolks
Instructions
- Place sugar, butter and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- Mix on medium speed until butter is light and fluffy scraping sides of bowl as needed.
- Add flour to mixing bowl and mix on low speed for 10 seconds.
- Scrape down side of bowl.
- Mix an additional 10 seconds.
- Add egg yolks to the mixing bowl and mix on low speed for 10 seconds.
- Scrape down side of bowl.
- Mix an additional 10 seconds.
- Remove dough from mixer and place on plastic wrap. Gently knead dough to work in any dry ingredients. Wrap dough well with plastic wrap.
- Place dough in refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- Roll dough on generously floured surface.
beth says
Its a very is a rich and sweet pastry with a crisp cookie-like texture. We all loved it!
Ntensibe Edgar says
Nnnniiiiccceeeeee...I love the shape of this crust, Chef! I love the fact that the ingredients here are easily accessible to me. I will definitely make use of it.
Quinny says
Yumba! Like a cookie but a pie dough.
Lara T says
Just made this for the second time! Next time I am making a double batch!
Jack says
Great recipe.
Amanda says
Just made this crust for the first time and it was so easy to make and SO DELICIOUS! This is the first pie crust I have ever made that actually turned out good.
I had a little that I baked by itself and it was like eating a sugar cookie. I'm definitely using this recipe again!!
kushigalu says
Homemade crust is always the best. Thanks for the detailed instructions.
tiannaskitchen says
Thanks for the post, great recipe for pie crust and so versatile.