The Perfect Sweet Pie Dough Recipe

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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Jump to:

• Recipe steps
• Rolling the dough
• Baking the crust
• Storage
• Sweet Pie Dough Recipe

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.