Our Favorite Pie Crust Recipe
This makes enough for just the shell; While this crust takes a little bit longer to make than most, it is far and away the best pie crust I have ever had
This makes enough for just the shell; While this crust takes a little bit longer to make than most, it is far and away the best pie crust I have ever had
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups mellow pastry blend or king arthur unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon buttermilk powder (1/8 ounce), optional
- 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick, 2 ounces)
- 1/4 cup lard or vegetable shortening (1 1/2 ounces)
- 1 teaspoon white or cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons water (up to 5 tablespoons), cold
- Carbohydrate 164.03456 g
- Cholesterol 175.185 mg
- Fat 99.753705 g
- Fiber 6.04550009974092 g
- Protein 24.477305 g
- Saturated Fat 49.814015 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (353g)
- Sodium 456.8630625 mg
- Sugar 157.989059900259 g
- Trans Fat 6.22955999999999 g
- Calories 1661 calories
Step-by-step
- Whisk together all of the dry ingredients, reserving a few tablespoons of the flour. Cut in half of the fat, working the mixture until it?s mealy and crumbly.
- Place the reserved flour on your work surface, and coat the remaining fat with the flour. Use a rolling pin or the heel of your hand to flatten the fat till it?s about 1/2-inch thick. Break this flour-coated fat into 1-inch pieces, and mix it into the dough, just till it?s evenly distributed; some of the pieces of flour-coated fat should break into smaller pieces.
- Sprinkle the liquid(s) over the dough while tossing with a fork. Just as soon as the dough becomes cohesive (i.e., you can squeeze it into a ball easily), stop mixing; there should still be visible pieces of fat in the dough. Flatten the dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic wrap or waxed paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer; this resting period allows the flour to absorb the water, making the dough easier to roll out.
- Flour your work surface and roll the dough into a 12 x 9-inch (approximately) rectangle. If it isn?t holding together well, sprinkle it lightly with a couple of teaspoons of water. Fold the dough into thirds (like a letter), then fold it into thirds the opposite way, to form a rough square. Wrap it well and refrigerate again.
- When you?re "ready to roll," remove the dough from the fridge. If the dough is made with all lard and/or vegetable shortening, you?ll be able to work with it directly from the refrigerator. A dough made with all butter will need to warm slightly (10 to 15 minutes) before rolling, as butter becomes brittle when it?s refrigerated. Dough made with a combination of butter and shortening should rest for about 5 minutes at room temperature before rolling. Roll the dough to the size needed (about 13 inches for a 9-inch pie). Fill and bake as directed in your recipe
Why is the butter breaking into pieces rather than blending smoothly into the flour? That deliberate fragmentation is the exact mechanism that creates steam pockets during baking, which yields a flaky crumb instead of a dense, cookie-like texture.
Achieving this structure requires dividing the fat application. Cutting half of the butter or shortening directly into the dry ingredients creates a mealy base that absorbs moisture evenly, while coating the remaining fat in reserved flour prevents it from melting prematurely into a greasy paste. When incorporating these larger pieces, stop mixing the moment the dough forms a cohesive ball so those pockets remain intact.
Temperature control dictates the timeline. Chilling the dough for at least 30 minutes allows the gluten strands to relax and the flour to fully hydrate, preventing shrinkage in the oven. Butter solidifies firmly when cold, so allow a 10 to 15 minute rest at room temperature before rolling if your fat source contains no shortening. Lard-based versions can be rolled immediately from the refrigerator.
Unbaked laminated dough scraps can be rerolled once for simple cinnamon-sugar pastries the following morning, though subsequent passes will lose their distinct flakiness as the layers compress.
