Buttery Flakey Pie Crust
This recipe makes 1 single pie crust. I've never made my own crust, but I tried this recipe and it actually worked, AND tasted good!
This recipe makes 1 single pie crust. I've never made my own crust, but I tried this recipe and it actually worked, AND tasted good!
- Carbohydrate 116.036850147853 g
- Cholesterol 244.025000310935 mg
- Fat 93.5754751192331 g
- Fiber 4.2187500798813 g
- Protein 16.4178750209195 g
- Saturated Fat 58.5433050745954 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Crust (329g)
- Sodium 2646.37217002966 mg
- Sugar 111.818100067972 g
- Trans Fat 6.94453000884866 g
- Calories 1367 calories
Step-by-step
- In a large bowl, OR FOOD PROCESSOR, combine the flour and salt.
- Add the butter and cut (or pulse) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add the water, one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture forms a ball.
- Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
- Roll the dough out to fit a 9" pie plate.
- Place the crust in the pie plate, and press evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate.
Temperature control represents the single most critical variable when working with cold fat and all-purpose flour. Solid pieces of butter must remain trapped within the flour matrix before baking so that moisture inside the dairy evaporates in the oven, creating steam pockets that result in distinct layers. Keeping the butter diced at roughly one-half inch and returning the bowl to the refrigerator if the kitchen exceeds seventy degrees prevents premature melting.
Overworking the dough creates tough pastries because excessive gluten strands develop when flour encounters too much moisture and mechanical action. Pulse the food processor or cut the fat in quickly until the largest remaining pieces resemble small peas, stopping well before the mixture resembles fine sand. Adding ice water strictly tablespoon by tablespoon ensures the dry ingredients hydrate evenly without crossing the threshold into a sticky, dense mass.
Resting the wrapped disk in the refrigerator for at least four hours allows the gluten network to relax completely and lets the fat resolidify after handling. Skipping this crucial chilling window causes the dough to shrink dramatically away from the sides of the pie plate during baking.
Prepared pastry disks wrap tightly in plastic and store safely in the freezer for up to three months before rolling. Thaw frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator before attempting to shape it into the nine-inch plate.
