This cream cheese pastry dough recipe is soft and pliable and keeps for up to three days in the refrigerator. Use this homemade pie crust for tarts, quiches or to make mini tartlets to fill for bite sized hors d'oeuvres.
Pie Plate or Tart Pan with Removable Bottom (for making full size pies/tarts)
Ingredients
½cup cream cheese(Half of an 8 ounce block)
½cup unsalted butter(1 stick, 8 tablespoons)
1teaspoonsugar
¼teaspoonsalt
1 ¼cups all purpose flour
Instructions
Cut the butter and cream cheese into chunks and transfer to the bowl of a food processor. Add the sugar and salt and pulse to blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Add the flour to the butter mixture and pulse in short bursts until the dough starts to come together in a loose ball. (Don't over-process)
FOR FORMING AN INDIVIDUAL TART:
Bring the dough together with your hands and roll into a ball. Pat into a 1" thick round disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Note: you can make the dough to this point and keep it refrigerated for up to 3 days. If you chill the dough for longer than one hour, let it rest at room temperature before rolling it out (it will be easier to roll if you let it rest first.)
TO ROLL OUT PASTRY FOR A SINGLE TART/PIE CRUST:
Generously flour your work surface. Lightly flour the rolling pin and sprinkle a little flour on top of the cream cheese pastry.
Start with the rolling pin in the center of the dough and roll out towards the edge. Rotate the dough, clockwise and continue to roll from the center to the edge. Do not roll the rolling pin back and forth - it can confuse the dough.
Add more flour as needed, but try not to use too much.
To transfer the dough to a pie plate or large tart, fold the pastry in half, then fold it again into a quarter. Pick up the dough and place it in the plate or tart pan and unfold it. Gently press the dough to the bottom and sides of the pan.
Note: I've found that folks who live in a cool climate have no problem rolling out pastry, however those who live in the tropics (like me) don't have the luxury of cold counters and dry climates that make pastry dough more manageable. If you have that problem, or just have issues rolling out dough, try the plastic wrap method below.
Plastic wrap method for rolling dough:
If you don't want to add excess flour (and have had trouble with the dough sticking to the counter top) use the plastic wrap "sandwiching method". Simply sandwich the disc of dough between two sheets of plastic wrap. The dough won't stick to the counter or your rolling pin and you can easily lift and reset the plastic wrap on the pastry as you continue to roll it out. Here's how:Place the dough on a large sheet of plastic wrap and lay another sheet over it, so the cream cheese pastry is sandwiched between them.Roll out the dough from the center to the edge, rotating clockwise after each pass with the rolling pin and lifting the plastic wrap and resettling it each time.Continue in this method until the dough is the right thickness (about 1/4 to 3/8" thick)To transfer to a pie plate, remove the top layer of plastic wrap and invert it to the pie plate. Remove the second layer of plastic and gently press the crust bottom and sides into the pie plate or tart shell. Form or trim the edges of the crust, fill and bake for 20-25 minutes.
FOR FORMING MINI TARTLETS:
Divide the dough into 4 and form each into round discs about 1/2" thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
FOR MINI TARTLETS: (About 1 1/2" in diameter and 1/2" deep, holds about 2 tablespoons per tartlet)
Work with one disc of dough at a time. Roll each disc to about 1/8" thick, rolling from the center to the sides and turning 1/4 turn after each rolling.
Use a mini biscuit cutter (about 1 1/2 to 2" wide to cut out the tartlets). Transfer the pastry rounds to a mini tart pan and use a tamper to gently press the pastry to the bottom and sides of the tartlet pans. Bake empty tartlet shells for 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown.
To bake filled tartlet shells, add your filling (about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 teaspoonful) and bake for 10-12 minutes or until set.
You can use this for larger tartlet pans, but you'll need to adjust the timing depending on how large the tartlets are.
Notes
1 recipe makes 1 9" pie pastry for tart or pie or 48 mini tartlets. (The mini muffin tin I use is 1 1/2" wide and about 1/2" deep for each muffin/tart).If you use larger tartlet pans, you'll need larger biscuit cutters. Experiment with them to see which sizes work the best for your recipe.