Foolproof Pie Crust

I’m using 1:1 ratio of flour to butter which is favoured by pastry chefs. It takes all of the guess work out of this dough, allows room for error and eliminates the need to use highly processed, filled with trans fats, shortening.

Once you make this and see how easy it is – your will probably never buy more expensive, highly processed pie dough again!

This recipe is inspired by and loosely adapted from Chefsteps.com.

Hope you give this a try!

DifficultyBeginner

This recipe makes 1 pie crust. Feel free to double it if making 2 pies or one double-crusted pie.

Yields1 Serving

 1 stick of butter, cut 1/2" cubes
 ¾ cups plus 1 TBSP flour (113 g)
 1 tbsp sugar
 ½ tsp kosher salt
 ¼ cup cold water

1

Add the flour, salt, sugar and butter to the bowl of your stand mixer. Place the paddle attachment into the bowl and place everything into the fridge to chill. Every ingredient as well as everything that touches the dough should be very cold. Chill for at least half an hour.

2

When chilled, set up the paddle attachment and mix on low until the flour resembles coarse crumbs. You are not looking for small pea sized crumbs - you are looking for large fluffy crumbs. Basically all of those 1/2" cubes should be gently smashed by the mixer without turning into a mealy powder.

3

With the mixer running on low, add water in a steady stream. Mix for one minute. The dough should be really smooth. You may even mix it for up to two minutes. Contrary to what we are told about overmixing pie dough - you are safe here because everything is very cold and the flour granules are well coated with butter preventing excessive gluten development. Your dough should be quite smooth.

4

Next, you have two choices:

- Roll out your dough to the required shape on a well floured surface. Don't be afraid of flour and use it liberally, simply brush it off after you are done rolling. This is what I do with great results to save time - I roll it out immediately.

- Or, form into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. Then proceed to rolling your dough.

5

The important thing is to roll the dough to 3-4mm. It's 1/8 of an inch or just under to about 14 inches in diameter. Use this pie crust as directed in your recipe. (Be sure to chill the dough for at least an hour, ideally two, after you roll it out and shape it into your pie plate.)

What if I don't have a mixer - do it by hand.
6

We will need to loosely employ a French technique called Fraisage. Place all of your ingredients in a large bowl, ensure the butter cubes are coated with flour. Squish each butter cube with the heel of your hand, and move your hand forward smearing the butter cube by about an inch. As a result you will get large thin flakes of butter. Pour cold water over the flour and knead with your hands (or with a fork at first) until the mixture comes together into smooth dough. Proceed to step # 4.

Ingredients

 1 stick of butter, cut 1/2" cubes
 ¾ cups plus 1 TBSP flour (113 g)
 1 tbsp sugar
 ½ tsp kosher salt
 ¼ cup cold water

Directions

1

Add the flour, salt, sugar and butter to the bowl of your stand mixer. Place the paddle attachment into the bowl and place everything into the fridge to chill. Every ingredient as well as everything that touches the dough should be very cold. Chill for at least half an hour.

2

When chilled, set up the paddle attachment and mix on low until the flour resembles coarse crumbs. You are not looking for small pea sized crumbs - you are looking for large fluffy crumbs. Basically all of those 1/2" cubes should be gently smashed by the mixer without turning into a mealy powder.

3

With the mixer running on low, add water in a steady stream. Mix for one minute. The dough should be really smooth. You may even mix it for up to two minutes. Contrary to what we are told about overmixing pie dough - you are safe here because everything is very cold and the flour granules are well coated with butter preventing excessive gluten development. Your dough should be quite smooth.

4

Next, you have two choices:

- Roll out your dough to the required shape on a well floured surface. Don't be afraid of flour and use it liberally, simply brush it off after you are done rolling. This is what I do with great results to save time - I roll it out immediately.

- Or, form into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. Then proceed to rolling your dough.

5

The important thing is to roll the dough to 3-4mm. It's 1/8 of an inch or just under to about 14 inches in diameter. Use this pie crust as directed in your recipe. (Be sure to chill the dough for at least an hour, ideally two, after you roll it out and shape it into your pie plate.)

What if I don't have a mixer - do it by hand.
6

We will need to loosely employ a French technique called Fraisage. Place all of your ingredients in a large bowl, ensure the butter cubes are coated with flour. Squish each butter cube with the heel of your hand, and move your hand forward smearing the butter cube by about an inch. As a result you will get large thin flakes of butter. Pour cold water over the flour and knead with your hands (or with a fork at first) until the mixture comes together into smooth dough. Proceed to step # 4.

Foolproof Pie Crust

Here’s a quick tutorial on how to shape the crust. After you rolled it into 14″ circle, roll it over a rolling pin and transfer to your pie plate. Trim the edges off but allow 1-1 1/2 inches to overhand. Fold those edges together as in the second picture to make tall thick border. Then shape it and crimp the edges, by using thumb and index finger of one hand and the thumb of your other hand. After you shaped the crust – refrigerate it covered with plastic for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Rate the Recipe

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating / 5. Vote count:

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *