Super Flakey Pie Crust
While store bought crusts make life easy, they just taste kind of m’eh. I used to get intimidated in making pie crusts from scratch, worried that I would overwork them, they are too hard to roll out, blah blah blah. What a wimp.
Yes, they can be a little fickle, but with a food processor, cold fat and a little time, pie crusts are both stress free and super tasty. I like to double the recipe – remember to cut the dough into four pieces instead of two in #5 below. Wrap two of them tightly in plastic wrap, into a freezer bad and into the freezer for future use. They can be unthawed over night.
Flaky Pie Crust
Lots of cold fat make this super yummy. The only thing that takes some time is letting it chill in the fridge after mixing. I usually fill the time by making the rest of my dish – I love using this crust for chicken pot pie, but works well for both sweet and savory dishes.
Equipment
- Food processor is your friend on this one, but can be done with pie cutter or even a couple of forks.
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp butter cubed and very cold
- 6 tbsp lard or shortening, cubed and very cold
- 1/2 cup water ice cold
Instructions
- Cube your butter and lard/shortening and toss in the freezer to get cold while you get set up. At the same time, take 1/2 cup of water and have in join the fat in the freezer. Try to let them stay in there for at least 10 minutes.
- Mix the flour and salt into either your food processor bowl or a mixing bowl.
- Take the cold fat and spread it out in the bowl. If using the food processor, pulse into it starts looking a little course. Same with a pie cutter or forks, but try to work quickly.
- Time to add the ice water. For the food processor, turn on and pour into the mix. If mixing by hand, add about half, mix, then add the other half, then mix again. Lots of recipes say add 1 tbsp at at time, but I find that takes too long when you are trying to move quickly so the fats stay cool.
- Transfer the pie dough to a lightly floured surface. With floured hands, fold the dough quickly several times, just enough to come together. Form into a disk. Divide in half and make discs from the two equal pieces. I like disks a little shorter than an inch.
- Wrap each in your favorite plastic wrap, and back into the fridge to rest for a few hours. Since there is nothing that will spoil you can leave them there for a several days if so desired.
- Before you start rolling out your dough, turn the oven on to 425°
- When ready, take one disk out and place disk on a slightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, rollout until thin and large enough to cover your pie pan. Using my bench scraper or a knife to lift the surface tension, roll the dough off the surface and onto the rolling pin. Lay the dough back down into the pie pan. Carefully and quickly, press down to the get the down evenly across the bottom and sides of the pan.
- Trim any extra dough. For many dishes and pies that have a good amount of liquid, I like to partially bake my bottom crust to help it combat squishiness. I prefer ceramic pie weights for this process so I lay some foil down and pour the pie weights on top. If you don't have pie weights, poke the bottom and sides with a fork to try to avoid air bubbles.
- Into the over for 8-10 minutes. Back onto the counter to cool and rest until cool enough to move.
- Mix whatever is going into your pie before starting on the top dough.
- Using the same process as above, roll out the dough, and then roll over your filled pie. Pince the sides to connect the top and bottom crusts. Cut several thin slices into the top dough to allow steam to escape during baking.
Nutrition
Calories: 153kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 5gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 306mgPotassium: 81mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 575IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 45mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
