Vegan Recipes - Desserts

All-Purpose Vegan Pastry Dough

Submitted by Julie Hasson

This makes a great all-purpose flaky pastry, perfect for filling with luscious summer fruit. It's an old-school recipe, probably similar to the one that your grandmother made. The pastry dough is great for filled pies and prebaked crusts, especially if you want to eliminate dairy from the dessert. Makes enough dough for a single-crust 9-inch (23 cm) pie.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp confectioner's (icing) sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening
3 to 5 tbsp ice water

Directions:
In a food processor fitted with metal blade, pulse flour, sugar and salt until mixed. Add shortening, pulsing until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 3 tbsp (45 mL) ice water to flour mixture, pulsing until moist clumps form, stopping to test the dough with fingertips to see if it's moist enough to hold together. If dough is too dry, add 1 to 2 tbsp more ice water as needed. Remove blade and gather dough into a ball, flattening into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes. Tips I like to use a non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening, as it's a much healthier choice. Variations Savory Crust: Omit the sugar in this recipe and use it to make savory pies and tarts Savory Herbed Crust: Omit the sugar and add 2 to 3 tsp dried herbs, such as dried dill, or a combination of mixed dried herbs, such as parsley, dill and marjoram.

Recipes from The Complete Book of Pies: 200 Recipes from Sweet to Savory by Julie Hasson. (Robert Rose, Inc.; October 2008; $24.95/trade paperback). Though not entirely vegan, this book has some great pie and pastry recipes and tips that are totally vegan and is a great baker's resource. Grab your copy through our Amazon link and save. ;)

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