This gluten-free pastry dough recipe makes 17 ounces of dough, enough for about 50 2½-inch tartlettes or two 8-inch or 9-inch pie/tart shells.
Gluten-free dough is very forgiving and doesn’t toughen if you overwork it. Should it soften too much, simply freeze for a few minutes on a baking sheet.
You will need this recipe to make our Mini Bakewell Tarts.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (5 ounces) white rice flour
- ½ cup (2 ounces) potato starch
- ½ cup (2½ ounces) tapioca starch, plus extra as needed
- Pinch of fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 tablespoon sugar, reduce to 1 teaspoon for savory tarts
- 1¼ sticks (5 ounces) unsalted butter, cold, cut in small cubes
- 1 large egg, cold
- Cold water, optional
Directions
Place the rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, salt, xanthan gum and sugar in a food processor and blend to mix. Add the butter and process to form a coarse meal. With the motor running, add the egg and pulse until a ball of dough starts to form. Add a few drops of water only if needed.
Turn out into a bowl, crumbs and all, and knead together with one hand. Pat into a small rectangle, rub with tapioca starch and enclose in plastic wrap. Chill for about 10 minutes.
Working with half at a time, roll out the dough between two large sheets of plastic wrap until it is a shade more than ⅛-inch thick. Peel off the top layer of plastic.
To line small barquette molds: Arrange the molds upside down on the pastry dough, almost touching. Press down with a rolling pin; the molds will act like cookie cutters. Pushing from underneath the plastic, pick them up one by one. Flatten the dough against the base with your thumb, stretching it slightly to make the base thinner and the sides thicker. If using 2-inch round molds, cut out the dough with a 2-inch cookie cutter. Re-roll the trimmings and repeat. Chill briefly before baking.
To part-bake tartlette shells: This gluten-free dough doesn’t slump or shrink when baked in small molds without a filling. Bake for 10 minutes at 350° F until firm but barely colored. Let cool before filling the little shells, which should remain in the molds.
Gluten-Free Living Food Editor Jackie Mallorca has over a dozen cookbooks to her credit. Her latest titles include The Wheat-Free Cook and Gluten-Free Italian.