THE PERFECT PIE CRUST

Cut the dough recipe in half and top with a crum topping, this cuts the amount of work if dough work intimidates you.

This dough is great for sweet or savory pies.

Tips for a flaky and golden pie crust:

·      Measure ingredients weight or volume.

·      Use cold water, cold butter, cold shortening.

·      Let the finished dough rest at least 30 minutes before use.

·      Check the oven temperature and bake at 375 F.

·      Do not over work or mixed the dough.

• If you have a hard time rolling your dough, you can use the tip I gave in the video above, which is use a silicon pad to roll the pie dough.

• Other items to consider in pie or tart dough flakiness and flavor, is water content due to weather conditions. For example, a hot day may cause the dough to be drier or crumbly. Then, add just a bit more cold water to prevent the crumbling effect of under hydration.

Recipe:

4 cups (16 oz.) All-purpose flour

¾ tsp. (4.5g) salt

2/3 cup (5.3 oz.) cold butter

3/4 cup + 3 tbsp. (5.3 oz.) cold vegetable shortening (non-hydrogenated)

5.5 Fl oz. cold water (add ice several minutes before use)

Method:

Mix flour and salt.

Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend the butter and shortening into the flour. It will resemble small peas size crumbs.

Add cold water and mix just until incorporated.  Do not over mix or dough will be hard.  Let dough rest for 30 minutes before rolling in it to make the pie.

Please note: if you are looking for gluten free or dairy free version, I have tested the recipe only with Bob Red Mill 1:1 recipe. This GF flour mixture requires a bit more water to hydrate the dough. I have replaced the butter with Earth Balance vegan butter. Also, you don’t need to refrigerate the dough as long to relax the gluten, because there is no gluten. Now for those that can eat real dairy butter, I have tested Kerry Gold, Irish butter and this works well too. I have tested half real butter and half the buttery taste Earth Balance; this combination works great in the GF version too.