Cream Cheese Pastry Dough

By norsegal8

This dough is very pliable, keeps well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, and nestles nicely into a tartlet pan, or mini-muffin tin, to make tiny, hors d'oevre-sized tarts.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Preparation

Step 1

Using your favorite tool - a fork, food processor, or an electric mixer - cream together the cream cheese, butter, sugar and salt until smooth. Add the flour and mix (on low speed if you're using a mixer, or very briefly in a food processor) until the dough has formed a loose ball. Shape the dough into a flat 1-inch thick circle, wrap it in plastic wrap or waxed paper, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Note: If you're in a hurry, you can roll it out without any refrigeration time at all, but we find the dough rolls more easily and makes a more tender tart if it's allowed to cool for a bit.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. If its been chilled for longer than an hour, allow it to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes; this will make it easier to roll.

If you're using the dough to make mini tarts, roll it into a circle 1/8-inch thick, rolling from the center out to the sides and turning the dough around as you go; that's the easiest way to get a round, evenly thick circle. Use a 3-inch biscuit cutter of 3-inch round cookie cutter to cut the dough into as many rounds as you can squeeze from the rolled-out dough. Gather the remaining dough scraps into a ball, flatten the ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until you want to cut the next batch of rounds.

Cut a line from the center to one edge of the small rounds of dough, then place each circle into a mini muffin cup, gently pressing into the bottom and overlapping the edges of the cut; press together toward the sides. Remove the remaining dough from the refrigerator, roll, cut and fit it into the pan.

Fill the tarts with 1 to 2 teaspoons filling of your choice (the make wonder hors d'oevres with savory fillings) and bake them in a preheated 400°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Remove the tarts from the oven, and use a spoon or butter knife to gently transfer the tarts to a rack to cool.

For a larger tart, roll out the dough to 3/8-inch thick, and place it into a pie or tart shell. Trim the edges, fill and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.