EASIEST PIE CRUST EVER!
Pie crust has plagued me for years! Years I tell you! I would make the most wonderful pie fillings, like salted caramel apple, sweet tart cherry, and yummy pecan. But my pie crusts were terrible, tough or flakey and tasteless. Every holiday season I dreaded making pie crust.
There are a million different recipes all claiming to be the best, the flakiest, the tenderest. Should I use an all butter or all shortening recipe? Or the recipe using both? Maybe I should use the recipe with vodka? Wait, there's a recipe that uses eggs!
Then there are the do's and don'ts. Do make sure the fats are cold. Do use a food process. Don't use a food processor. Don't over mix the dough. Don't use too much flour.
The options were endless. And to the novice pie crust maker, it was frustrating. That is until I found the best AND easiest pie crust ever! Not only does it produce the flakiest pie crust, it also produces a beautifully flavored and buttery crust. It checked all the boxes, not just delicious and flaky, but easy and dummy proof...easy to handle and impossible to add to much flour.
I found this recipe on America's Test Kitchen (ATK) of course! My favorite cooking show. It's ATK's Foolproof All-Butter Dough for Single-Crust Pie *or* Foolproof All-Butter Dough for Double-Crust Pie . The first year I used it, I got ton's of compliments for "delicious crust" and I was so proud of my pies.
This recipe makes enough for a two crust pie like a fruit pie. If you need a single crust, find recipe here!
Turn's out that this recipe produces an extra special pie crust when it's made by someone with loving hands. So when David helped me out by making all the crusts for the 2020 holiday season, his magical hands made the most delightful pie crusts. He is now the official pie crust maker of our house!
Yields 2 Pie Crusts
AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN’S
Foolproof All-Butter Dough for Single-Crust Pie
INGREDIENTS
· 20 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
· 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (divided 1 ¼ cup and 1 cup)
· 2 tablespoon sugar
· 1 teaspoon salt
· ¼ cup ice water
INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1. Grate 4 tablespoons butter on large holes of box grater and place in freezer. Cut remaining 16 tablespoons butter into ½-inch cubes.
Step 2. Pulse 1 ¼ cup flour, sugar, and salt in food processor until combined, 2 pulses. Add cubed butter and process until homogeneous paste forms, about 30 seconds. Using your hands, carefully break paste into 2-inch chunks and redistribute evenly around processor blade. Add remaining 1 cup flour and pulse until mixture is broken into pieces no larger than 1 inch (most pieces will be much smaller), 4 to 5 pulses. Transfer mixture to medium bowl. Add grated butter and toss until butter pieces are separated and coated with flour.
Step 3. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons ice water over mixture. Toss with rubber spatula until mixture is evenly moistened. Sprinkle remaining 4 tablespoons ice water over mixture and toss to combine. Press dough with spatula until dough sticks together. Transfer dough to sheet of plastic wrap. Draw edges of plastic over dough and press firmly on sides and top to form compact, fissure-free mass. Wrap in plastic and flatten to form 5-inch disk. Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. Let chilled dough sit on counter to soften slightly about 10 minutes, before rolling. (Wrapped dough can be frozen for up to 1 month. If frozen, let dough thaw completely on counter before rolling.)
Step 4. Roll dough into 12-inch circle on well-floured counter. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll it onto 9-inch pie plate, leaving at least 1-inch overhang around edge. Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with your hand while pressing into plate bottom with your other hand.
Step 5. Trim overhang to ½ inch beyond lip of plate. Tuck overhang under itself; folded edge should be flush with edge of plate. Crimp dough evenly around edge of plate using your fingers. Refrigerate dough-lined plate until firm, about 30 minutes. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 6. Line chilled pie shell with aluminum foil, covering edges to prevent burning, and fill with pie weights. Bake until edges are set and just beginning to turn golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove foil and weights, rotate plate, and continue to bake until golden brown and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes longer. If crust begins to puss, pierce gently with tip of paring knife. Let crust cool completely in plate on wire rack about 30 minutes.
Find the original recipe here:
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