Old Fashioned Homemade Pie Crust
We all need a foolproof recipe for flaky pie crust that can be used during the holiday season and for fruit pies. This basic recipe can be made in the food processor or by hand. It uses few ingredients with shortening for flakiness and butter for flavor and can be frozen.
Servings 1 9-inch pie
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- pinch salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter cold
- 4 tablespoons shortening cold
- ice water tap water with ice cubes
Instructions
- Put ice 4 or 5 ice cubes in a measuring cup and fill with cold water.
- In a food processor, put 2 cups all-purpose flour, 6 tablespoons unsalted butter and pinch salt. If making it by hand, use a large bowl and a dough cutter or your hands to integrate the butter and shortening.
- Add 6 tablespoons unsalted butter and 4 tablespoons shortening, cold and in pieces and pulse using on/off turns until the butter and shortening are the size of peas or beans. It will be irregular.
- Add about ½ cup ice water and pulse a few times.
- Check the bottom of the bowl with a spatula so that you don't have a lump of flour that the blades didn't pick up.
- Check if the mixture is too dry and floury. If you take some and squeeze it in your hand it should hold its shape and not crumble apart.
- Add more water (a teaspoon at a time if needed) and pulse until it barely comes together. Check the dough again. If you take some and squeeze it in your hand, it should hold together and not crumble.
- Transfer dough to a barely floured surface and gather it together into a ball.
- Don't overwork it or the dough will be tough.
- Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour or up to 3 days. Or freeze for up to a month.
Notes
Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
Sugar: it's a small amount but good if you're using it for a sweet pie recipe.
Water: it's mandatory that the water be very cold, that's why we use iced water. The colder the ingredients, the better the result.
Baking time: keep in mind that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look the same or very similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you need to adjust.
Cold ingredients: I can't stress enough how important this is. Temperature is a deal-breaker when it comes to making flaky yet tender doughs. I dice the butter and shortening and put them in the freezer for 5-10 minutes before making this recipe. And make sure you have ice water (if you don't have ice cubes put the water in the freezer before starting).
Don't overwork it: this is another crucial tip. When you touch the mixture too much, the butter and shortening start to melt and mix into the flour, which is not what we want. We want to coat the butter with flour. A food processor is good for mixing those ingredients because you don't touch them much. So is a pastry cutter if making it in a bowl. Some people have colder hands, but some don't (like myself), so mix the whole thing until it comes together, but don't knead it, as you would bread for example.
Resting time: when the flour is mixed with other wet (water) or fatty (butter) ingredients the gluten starts to develop. That is good for bread but not at all for a pie crust. That's why we must let it rest after the dough comes together. That time relaxes it and accomplishes two things: it allows the pie dough to roll easily without forcing it, and it hardens the butter again, ensuring flakiness.
