Basic Pie Crust Recipe

November 29, 2008

As I mentioned Thursday, I made an apple pie to take to my girlfriend’s house for Thanksgiving.  This is the recipe for the pie crust, which can be used for any sort of pie.  It makes enough for both a bottom and top crust.  This is the hand mixing method.

You need 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, two tablespoons of sugar, one teaspoon of salt, eight tablespoons of vegetable shortening, 12 tablespoons of butter (1 1/2 sticks), and 6-8 tablespoons of ice water.

The first step is to chill both the butter and vegetable shortening in the freezer.

While those were getting cold, I whisked together the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.

Once the shortening was cold, I added it to the dough in small pieces and mashed it in with a fork.  The key to a flaky pie dough, whether you use this recipe or an even more basic one with just butter, is not over-working the dough. The larger the chunks of butter and shortening, the flakier your final crust will be.  If you work the dough to a fine crumb, you’ll have a mealy crust.

I ran into this problem when I made an apple pie for the first time back in June.  I used a different recipe (one consisting of just flour, butter, and water), but worked the butter in too much.  The crust was not flaky at all.

Anyway, I mashed the shortening pieces in with a fork.  Then, I grated the butter into the bowl on the large holes of a box grater.  This got a bit messy.

Finally, I mixed the butter in by cutting it with two dinner knives, crosswise.  I assume the cookbook recommended this method to prevent me from over-working the dough.  You want to end up with coarse crumbs.

The next step is adding the water.  The recipe recommends adding six tablespoons, working the water in with a spatula, and then adding more one by one until you get the right consistency.  I ended up adding nine tablespoons, and probably could have used one or two more.  You want the dough just moist enough to stick together and not crumble away.  And use a spatula, pressing the dough against the sides of the bowl, to work the water in.

At this point, all that remains is chilling your dough for an hour before using it.  The recipe recommends dividing the dough in half, shaping each half into a disk, and wrapping the disks in plastic wrap before putting them in the refrigerator.  I found this method quite useful, as all that remained when I was ready to use it was to roll it out – it was already shaped nicely.

Tips

• I needed a little more than the eight tablespoons of water suggested.
• The crust in the final pie was quite delicious – it’s a good recipe.
• Don’t over-work the dough!  The less you handle it, the flakier it will be.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 8 Tbsp. vegetable shortening, chilled, cut into small pieces
• 12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled whole in the freezer
• 6-9 Tbsp. ice water

Recipe:

1. While your shortening and butter are chilling, whisk together your flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.
2. Once chilled, add your vegetable shortening to the flour mixture and press it in with a fork.
3. Grate you near-frozen butter into the mixture on the large holes of a box grater.  Cut the butter into the mixture using two dinner knives crosswise.  You should have course crumbs.
4. Add six tablespoons of water and use a spatula to press it into the dough.  Continue adding water until the dough is just moist enough to stick together.
5. Divide the dough into two halves and form them into small disks.  Wrap them in plastic wrap and chill them in the refrigerator for an hour before using.

Recipe courtesy of America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.

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