Learn to make pie crust with this simple pie dough recipe! It yields a flaky, buttery crust that is excellent for utilizing in your favourite do-it-yourself pies.
If the prospect of creating do-it-yourself pie dough intimidates you, it’s a must to do that simple pie crust recipe. As a lover of principally each form of pie, I’ve experimented with a wide range of methods for making pie dough through the years. I’ve had my justifiable share of successes, close to successes, and all-out failures. However since I’ve began making this pie crust recipe, it’s labored like a appeal each time. Made in a meals processor utilizing a method that J. Kenji López-Alt pioneered for Prepare dinner’s Illustrated in 2007, it’s much more pliable than a conventional pie dough, which makes it a lot simpler to roll out. It’s additionally made with 100% butter, which provides it an AMAZING taste and great flaky texture. What extra might you need in a do-it-yourself pie crust?
Pie Crust Recipe Elements
Right here’s what you’ll must make this simple pie crust recipe:
- All-purpose flour – I exploit 2 2/3 cups to make two crusts, sufficient for one 9- or 9.5-inch double crust pie or two single crust pies. Spoon and level your flour to keep away from packing an excessive amount of into your measuring cup!
- Chilly butter – Pie crust recipes usually name for a mixture of butter and shortening (and even lard), however I desire to make an all-butter pie crust. The flavour is much richer, and the crust has a stunning flaky texture.
- Ice water – It helps the dough come collectively, and it aids important gluten growth in a number of the flour.
- Apple cider vinegar – It makes the dough somewhat extra flavorful, and in the event you occur to overwork the dough, the vinegar will stop it from getting too robust.
- And sea salt – To convey out the crust’s wealthy, buttery taste.
Discover the entire recipe with measurements under.
The best way to Make Pie Crust
In a conventional pie dough recipe, you’d minimize the fats into the flour by hand or with a pastry cutter after which regularly add water till the dough comes collectively. Although you may make nice pie crusts with this technique, it’s much less foolproof than the one we use right here. It’s simple so as to add an excessive amount of or too little water or to overwork the dough in order that it turns into robust.
On this technique, which J. Kenji López-Alt developed at Prepare dinner’s Illustrated, you’ll use a meals processor to totally mix the butter with a number of the flour. Then, you’ll pulse in the remainder of the flour till the dough turns into crumbly. At that time, you’ll switch the dough to a bowl and add the liquid. The massive advantages of this technique are that, as a result of the butter is totally blended with a part of the flour, the dough is pliable and simple to roll out. It additionally stays tender, because the gluten develops in solely the second addition of flour.
Right here’s the way it goes:
First, pulse the butter into a part of the flour. Place 1 2/3 cups of the flour and the salt in a meals processor and pulse to mix. Unfold the butter on prime.
Pulse till the butter is totally integrated with the flour and the dough begins to kind clumps.
The combination pictured above is sort of at that time, however not fairly. It wants a number of extra pulses within the meals processor. Earlier than you progress on to the subsequent step, there needs to be no dry flour remaining.
Then, add the remaining flour. Unfold the flour/butter combination evenly within the meals processor and sprinkle the remaining flour on prime.
Briefly pulse till the dough turns into crumbly.
Subsequent, add the liquid. Switch the dough to a big bowl and sprinkle within the water and vinegar. Use a spatula to fold and press the dough till it comes collectively right into a ball.
Lastly, chill the dough. Divide it in half and flatten every half right into a disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at the very least 2 hours or as much as 2 days.
Rolling Out The Dough
As soon as the dough has chilled, you’ll be able to roll it out and assemble your pie!
Place one of many disks of dough on a calmly floured floor. Mud the highest with flour to forestall your rolling pin from sticking to the dough, and roll out the dough into a big circle about 1/8-inch thick.
As you’re employed, rotate the dough 1 / 4 flip each few rolls. Until you’re rolling out the dough on parchment paper, rotating it as you roll is crucial. It helps you create a extra even circle, however, extra importantly, it prevents the dough from sticking irretrievably to your work floor. I additionally prefer to mud the highest of the dough with flour and flip it over a number of occasions as I roll it out.
Roll out the dough till it’s about 1/8-inch thick. In case you invert your pie plate over the dough, the dough needs to be 1 inch bigger than pie plate on all sides.
Lastly, switch the dough to your pie plate. Gently roll it over your rolling pin. Then, unroll it over the pie dish and press it firmly into the underside and up the perimeters.
In case you’re making a double crust pie, roll out the second disk of pie dough utilizing the identical technique. Assemble and bake in keeping with your required pie recipe!
Simple Pie Crust Recipe Suggestions
- Maintain all the things chilly. Making pie crust with butter has big advantages, particularly when it comes to taste. However the draw back of working with butter is that it melts simply. So as to make a lightweight and flaky crust, you need the butter to soften in the oven, not whilst you’re making the dough or assembling the pie. My greatest tip for guaranteeing this occurs is simply protecting your elements chilly. I prefer to take butter straight from the fridge, minimize it into pats, and stick it again within the fridge whereas I collect the remainder of the elements. I additionally use chilly vinegar and ice water within the dough. As well as, it’s vital that you simply don’t minimize the chilling time brief. Be sure that to refrigerate the pie dough for at the very least 2 hours earlier than you roll it out!
- Fold within the water utilizing a spatula. I discover that once I add it within the meals processor it will get caught beneath the blade, so it doesn’t evenly hydrate the dough. Folding the dough with the spatula helps create good layers, too.
- Don’t let it scare you. With this simple pie crust recipe, you’ll have the ability to make nice do-it-yourself pie crust in your first strive. It removes quite a lot of the guesswork that you simply’d discover in a conventional pie crust recipe, and it yields a dough that’s pliable and simple to work with. Don’t be afraid to strive it! I hope you’re keen on the outcomes, and like the rest, the extra you observe making excellent pie crust, the better it will get.
On the lookout for a pie recipe? Use this do-it-yourself pie dough to make my Sour Cherry Pie or this Crumble Apple Pie.
Simple Pie Crust
Serves 8
Learn to make excellent flaky pie crust! This simple recipe works effectively with virtually any kind of pie. A couple of ideas: Be sure that to maintain your elements chilly, including chilly water and butter to the dough to forestall the butter from melting. Additionally, do not be tempted to chop the chilling time brief. Totally chilling the dough is crucial for making excellent pie crust. Discover extra ideas within the put up above! This recipe makes one 9- or 9½-inch double-crust pie or two single-crust pies.
- 2⅔ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 20 tablespoons chilly unsalted butter, 2½ sticks, minimize into ¼-inch pats
- 6 tablespoons ice water
- 1 teaspoon chilly apple cider vinegar
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In a meals processor, place 1⅔ cups of the flour and the salt. Pulse to mix. Unfold the butter pats evenly on prime of the flour combination. Pulse till the butter is effectively mixed with the flour and the dough begins to kind clumps. There needs to be no dry flour remaining.
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Unfold the combination evenly within the bowl of the meals processor and sprinkle the remaining 1 cup flour on prime. Briefly pulse till the dough turns into crumbly.
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Switch the dough to a big bowl and sprinkle the water and vinegar on prime. Use a spatula to fold and press the dough till it comes collectively right into a ball. Divide the ball in half and kind every half right into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap every disk tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at the very least 2 hours or as much as 2 days.
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To roll out the dough: Place 1 disk of the chilled dough on a calmly floured floor. Mud the highest with flour and use a rolling pin to roll it out into a big circle about ⅛-inch thick. In case you invert your pie plate over the dough, the circle needs to be 1 inch bigger than the sting of the pie plate on all sides. As you’re employed, rotate the dough 1 / 4 flip each few rolls to forestall it from sticking to your work floor. I additionally prefer to mud the highest of the dough with flour and flip it over a number of occasions in the course of the rolling course of.
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To switch the rolled-out dough to your pie plate, roll the dough over the rolling pin and unroll it over the pie plate. Use your fingers to press it firmly into the underside and up the perimeters of the plate. Trim the sides of the dough so that there’s a ½-inch overhang on all sides of the pie plate. Loosely cowl the dough with plastic wrap and chill whilst you roll out the highest crust.
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Repeat the rolling course of with the remaining dough disk, rolling it out into a big, ⅛-inch-thick circle.
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Assemble and bake in keeping with your required pie recipe.
