Perfecting Pie Crust
The first time I ever made a pie crust, I was 10 years old and had been experimenting with making applesauce. For some reason, I figured that the next step was making an apple pie, from scratch. I went through a couple of cookbooks, found what seemed like an easy recipe and forged ahead. Rookie mistake. Sure, it was easy, but it was by no means good. Made with vegetable oil and flour, that pie crust was almost inedible- greasy, heavy and tough.
That’s when I learned the fundamental rule of pie: it’s only easy when you know what you’re doing.
My loving family choked it down, but it was ages before they trusted my pie making ability again. I wasn’t so sure about it, either. But man, a good homemade pie is one of the life’s greatest pleasures. I wasn’t about to let one terrible crust ruin my pie prospects! I went back to the drawing board again and again, trying all kinds of recipes, and experimenting with technique. My family suffered valiantly. By the time I was 16, I had the recipe down pat.
Gadgets are the greatest
In the old days, before a Cuisinart became a standard kitchen accessory, cutting the fat into the flour was labor intensive and annoying, and I mostly felt that the effort wasn’t worth the result. The pies came fewer and further between, until the golden day when I bought my first food processor. Hallelujah! Cutting in the fat now took seconds, and I was able to crank out a beautiful homemade pie crust in under 10 minutes.
Here is my step by step process for turning out beautiful pie crusts!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 8 tbsp salted butter (1 stick), chilled
- 6 tbsp margarine*, chilled
- 5 to 6 tbsp ice water, as needed
- Add flour, sugar and salt to the bowl of a food processor, and pulse a few times to combine.
- Cut butter and margarine into pieces. Add butter to flour mixture, and pulse to combine. Repeat with the margarine. Mixture should resemble coarse meal.
- Turn food processor on and add ice water, one tablespoon at a time. As soon as the mixture starts coming together as a dough, turn off the food processor and remove the bowl.
- Turn mixture out onto a sheet of waxed paper set on a cutting board. You will likely need to press the dough together, as it will be very crumbly at this stage. Form into a rough ball.
- With the heel of your hand, smear the dough away from you, until it all comes together. Scrape into a ball and use your hands to flatten into a disk.
- Wrap in the wax paper, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. You can also freeze the dough for up to 6 weeks.
- Remove from fridge, and turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll dough out to 1/4″ thickness, and line a 9″ pie pan with half the dough. Use remaining dough for a double crust or an additional pie. I like to cut out small shapes to decorate the crust, so I usually only make one pie with this crust.
- Once you’ve rolled out the dough and lined the pie plate, let the crust rest for at least 30 minutes (this is a good time to prep your filling). This time allows the gluten to relax, so the crust doesn’t shrink during baking. I put the crust back in the fridge for this, and take it out about 20 minutes before filling and baking.
- For pre-baking, line the dough in the pie plate with foil and fill with beans or rice. Bake at 425° for 8 minutes, then remove the filling and liner. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork a few times, then return to the oven for 10-12 minutes. The crust should be a light golden brown.
*Notes- I use margarine instead of vegetable shortening, but feel free to swap that out. You can also use unsalted butter, I just prefer the salted.
I do have pics of this process, but I cannot get them to load here. Once I figure it out, I will update!!
