Flaky Homemade Quiche Crust with Butter (shortcrust pastry)

I could have quiche for every meal, no questions asked. And if it’s with homemade flaky quiche crust so much better. Ever since I learned how to properly make it, I enjoy my favourite meal even more. This recipe for easy quiche crust is made with butter, which makes it even more delicious. A few tips and notes on how to make the perfect homemade shortcrust pastry follow! You will find instructions on how to make this classic French quiche crust recipe both by hand and with a stand mixer. I can’t wait for you to try it out.

Material & Ingredient Notes

To make flaky homemade quiche crust, you will need:

• All-purpose flour: must be added into the dough sifted
• Butter: unsalted. Cold and cut into small cubes.
• Water: cold
• A quiche tin 20 cm in diameter (8 inch)
• Pie weights rice or beans for blind baking your quiche crust.

How to make this recipe

To make this flaky homemade quiche curst you simply have to:

• Prepare the crust
• Rub the butter and the flour together until you end up with a sandy/breadcrumb consistency.
• Let it chill in the refrigerator
• Line the tart tin
• Blind bake the crust
• Now it is ready to use and fill with your favorite quiche filling

Recipe notes

• Butter must be cold
• The water you use must be ice cold too to avoid the dough from becoming too soft and hard to work with.
• Do not overwork your dough. You do not want it to become super elastic or it will shrink in the oven.
• To make the quiche crust come together this recipe calls for smearing the dough using the palm of your hand. You can watch how to smear the dough in this video.
• If you want to make it use a stand mixer: mix the softened butter, 1/3 of the flour, the water and the egg yolk and mix using the paddle attachment. Add the remaining 2/3 of the flour and salt and mix until the dough starts to come together. Then proceed as instructed in the recipe!

Baking Notes

To obtain a super flaky quiche crust, that will not become soggy after filling it, here are some useful tips to bear in mind:

• After lining the tin with the quiche crust, transfer to the fridge covered in plastic wrap for 30 minutes and up to 24 hours. This will help the curst hold its shape when baking.
• You must Prebake/blind bake your curst before adding in the filling of your choice.
• To help the quiche crust not to shrink in the oven, line the interior of the crust with parchment paper. Fill with pie weights, beans or rice and blind bake for 12 minutes. Until the paper can be easily removed from the crust.
• After you remove the paper and the beans or pie wights bake until the quiche crust is cooked and is slightly coloured.
• To assure a flaky quiche crust, paint the bottom of the crush with a thin layer of egg whites and bake for an extra 5 minutes. You are looking for a light golden colored crust.
• If you want to go the extra mile, sprinkle the bottom of the crust with wheat semolina or breadcrumbs. They will absorb any extra liquid from the filling.
• Now the dough is ready to be filled with the filling of your choice and baked until golden.

Recipe notes on lining a quiche tin

• Work with cold dough. If after rolling it out you find it difficult to handle, put it back in the fridge for 15/20 minutes before continuing.
• Make sure your work surface is slightly floured always. It prevents the dough from sticking to your kitchen counter.
• After every time you pass the rolling pin over the dough, turn the dough 90 degrees. This will ensure that the dough will be evenly rolled out throughout the surface.
• Cut a round slightly bigger than your quiche tin.
• Try to work fast. Lots of butter in the dough make it trickier to work with.
• The fridge is your ally! Work with it as soon as you feel the dough has become difficult to work with.

You can watch how to line a quiche tin in this video: How to line a tart tin with shortcrust pastry.

Expert notes

• It is very important to refrigerate the dough before rolling it out. Because of the high butter content, working with this dough if its not properly chilled is difficult as it tends to break apart and stick to the counter.
• It is also very important to refrigerate the crust once you have lined the tin and before baking! This (and the pie weights) will ensure that it doesn’t shrink in the oven while baking!
• When blind baking the dough, I like to blind bake it until golden, to unsure a flaky and crunchy bottom (versus a soggy one).

Storage tips

• Quiche crust can be made and stored in the refrigerator properly wrapped for up to 48 hours.
• It can also be stored after it has been rolled out, on a parchment paper, covered in plastic wrap for up to 24 hours. Let it come sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before lining the quiche tin.
• It can be stored pre-baked, without the filling, in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.

Freezer Instructions

Freezing this dough is an excellent idea. As a matter of fact, I highly recommend tripling or quadrupling the recipe, dividing the dough in 4 parts, and freezing each one separately. This way you work once and have quiche crust for 4 different occasions.

To freeze the crust:

• Shape it as a rectangle of about 2 cm high.
• Cover in plastic wrap twice and then transfer to freezer bag.
• You can keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months.

To defrost:

• Transfer to the refrigerator overnight.
• Remove from fridge and let it sit on the counter for about 15 minutes.
• Roll out the dough.

Variations to this recipe

If you want to make this a gluten free quiche crust you can replace the all-purpose flour by a gluten free store-bought mix. You might need to add a little more water as the gluten free flour mix absorbs more liquid than regular flour does.

You can find a gluten free quiche crust recipe here if you prefer Gluten-Free Quiche Crust.

Some ideas for quiche fillings

Now that you have your crust ready, here are some ideas for quiche fillings:

• Brie & caramelized onions
• Spinach and bacon
• Tomato, mozzarella and oregano
• Zucchini and parmesan