In my quest to learn to bake with unrefined ingredients, I learned that it’s often best to start with a really good “normal” dessert recipe, and then adapt the ingredients. And when it comes to really good desserts, there is no better expert than my dear friend David Lebovitz.
David’s blog has a French Tart Dough recipe that makes the perfect crispy, flaky crust. The crust recipe is the brilliant creation of Paule Caillat, a woman who teaches cooking classes in Paris, and the story of how he learned her recipe gives a great taste (no pun intended) of his personality and why I love him so!
This dough uses a unique technique of boiling your ingredients in the oven before you mix in the flour, a technique I would never have tried if it hadn’t come so highly recommended! Now, in this recipe, a coarser sucanat is okay because it gets melted in the butter. But if you want to use a finer sugar, I like to grind a couple cups of sucanat in my blender to have on hand for using in pastries.
The recipe is for one nine inch tart pan, but I used it for three little four inch pans. The smaller size makes cute dainty tarts that are perfect for sharing.
I, unfortunately, won’t be eating this exact recipe right now, since I can’t eat dairy. But I may try making it with all coconut oil since finally sharing this recipe has me craving a tart now!
I also have a lovely, healthy cherry tart recipe coming up using this dough. What’s your favorite tart filling?
Whole Wheat Tart Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 oz (90 g) salted butter
- 1 TBS coconut oil
- 3 TBS water
- 1 TBS sucanat
- 1 rounded cup (150 g) soft white whole wheat flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 410 degrees (F).
- Add the butter, oil, water and sucanat to an oven proof bowl. Place bowl in the hot oven for 15 minutes until bubbling and just starting to brown.
- Remove the bowl, and keep potholders handy so you don’t forget it is deathly hot to the touch! Carefully add the flour and stir it in quickly.
- Once the dough becomes a ball that pulls away from the bowl, transfer it to your tart pan (or mini pans) and spread it out with a spatula.
- When cool enough to handle, use your fingers to press the dough up the sides of the pan.
- Prick the dough several times with a fork, then bake for about 15 minutes, until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool before filling.
Notes
Approximate cost/serving: Buying my butter, coconut oil, sucanat and wheat (which I grind myself) in bulk makes this very affordable. It costs me less than $1 to make this recipe!
Vegetarian: While this is meat free, it does contain dairy.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 139Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 46mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 2gSugar: 0gProtein: 3g
Nutrition information is an estimate only.
