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How to make " Pasta Frolla " (sweet short crust pastry) - Come fare la Pasta Frolla


"Pasta Frolla" ( Short crust pastry) is one of the basics dougs in the Italian (and international) pastry making. It can be used in many different ways and filled with a wide range of ingredients, to make tarts, cookies etc..... Here I propose a quick and easy pasta frolla for traditional Italian pastry, it's suitable for almost everything, but
-  if you want it more crispy, for cookies for example, you can add more sugar, quantity of sugar should by the way never exeed the quantity of butter,
- if want a easy-to-cut soft pastry, for fruits tarts for example, you should use more butter.
I usually mix the dough with a food processor, all in once, also here there are different options :
- mix the sugar and butter first then add the flour, ths method is good for cookies, the dough may change shape during the cooking.
- mix butter and flour first. the result is more "sablé" good for crumbles.
If you don't have a food processor mix the ingredients in a bowl with your hands, or the old way: on a worktop giving the flour a volcano shape and placing the eggs and butter in the middle. Don't overwork the dough otherwise the butter will melt and the eggs will "burn". If you are vegetarian you can try to use coconut or vegetable oil instead....the result (and taste) will not be the same.
The dough must always rest in the fridge before to be used, this allow the dough to relax and butter to get cold making the pastry more workable.  

Makes one tart or 20 cookies or 12 bocconotti

Ingredients:
250 gr AP flour
125 gr Unsalted butter, chopped 
100gr White sugar
2 eggs
1 piece lemon peel or a teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt 

Instructions:
In a Food Processor add the lemon peel and the sugar, mix till the sugar is powdered. Add the other ingredients. Mix for 20 sec. at low speed, do not overwork the dough!!
Place the dough on a floured worktop and give it very quickly a ball shape. Cover with a plastic foil and place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes your dough is ready to be used and shaped the way you want.

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