When making a pie, one must always start with the crust. I used to HATE making pie because making crust by hand was always such a nightmare for me. It would either turn into a crumbly dry mess or a sticky mass, that stuck to my rolling pin and cooked up leaden….the very opposite of flaky. When I learned how to make pie crust with the food processor, it was like a revelation. I now LOVE to make pie, and, with this tried and true recipe, my pie crusts come out perfect, every time. YAY, PIE!
PASTRY RECIPE HELP / HOW TO ROLL, FLUTE (CRIMP) AND BLIND BAKE PIE CRUSTS
A few of the many recipes using this pie dough:
Fruit Pie Minis – Apple, Blueberry and Pear
Classic Double Crust Peach Pie!
INGREDIENTS FOR A DOUBLE CRUST DOUGH
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour; spoon into measuring cup and level to rim
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional, use if pie filling goes well with cinnamon)
1/4- 1/2 cup ice water; make with water and ice cubes
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Cut butter into cubes and place in a bowl and place in the refrigerator to chill.
2. A. Place the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon into the bowl of your food processor, fitted with the steel blade. Process for a few seconds to mix.
KELLY SAYS: Before placing the dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor, I like to sift together the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon (if using). I always do this to make sure there are no lumps in the flour and I find it also helps to mix the ingredients together.
B. Add the well-chilled butter cubes on top of the dry ingredients, in the food processor.
C. PULSE the butter and flour mixture together till the butter is no longer in large chunks. You should be able to still see small chunks of butter in the mixture. This helps form the flaky texture you are looking for in your pie crust.
3. Add the water to the dry ingredients.
KELLY SAYS: You must proceed slowly!
A. START with 1/4 cup of water, adding it to the flour mixture, through the feed tube in the food processor, while pulsing the machine until the dough starts clumping together. DO NOT just turn the processor on – use the PULSE button.
B. Open the processor to check the condition of the dough. It should still be a bit crumbly, but it should start to clump together. To test the dough, squeeze it between your fingertips and it should just stick together. If it does, the dough is done – do NOT add any more water.
KELLY SAYS: If the dough is too dry, add more water, a few drops at a time, up to a teaspoon, and hit the pulse button for a second. Open the food processor and check the dough after each addition. Most of the time, I find that 1/4 cup water total is plenty. Of course, the moisture content of flour can vary, and you MAY have to add more than 1/4 cup, but do so, about 1 teaspoon at a time.
If the dough is too wet, add a teaspoon of flour at a time, and pulse the food processor to combine.
4. A. Empty the food processor contents out onto your work surface and gather the dough into two evenly-sized mounds. Flatten the disks, and make them as round as possible, so it is easier to roll them out, when the time comes.
B. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator, to chill.
KELLY SAYS: It is important that your pie dough is well chilled for an hour or more, preferably overnight, before you go to roll it out.
STORAGE
The pie dough can be made 2 to 3 days in advance and refrigerated or frozen for up to a month. Thaw in refrigerator before use.
VARIATIONS
SINGLE CRUST DOUGH RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour; spoon into measuring cup and level to rim
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8- 1/4 cup ice water; make with water and ice cubes
Single crust used:
Sour Cream Apple Walnut Pie
Double crust used:
Two Savory Galettes!
Potato and Caramelized Onion Galette
Tomato and Cheese Galette
Or, delicious and savory Chicken Pot Pie!
