A delicious, all-butter pie crust that will complement almost all pie fillings. This makes enough crust for one 9-inch standard pie plate or one 9.5-inch deep dish pie plate.
Combine flour and salt in the bowl of your food processor; pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse (short bursts) until the mixture resembles small crumbs.
With the food processor running, drizzle in the water. Add just enough water to make a ball of clumpy dough form. Add a little extra if necessary.
In a mixing bowl, combine flour and salt. Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut in the butter, until the mixture resembles small crumbs. Some will be larger; some will be smaller. The largest should be about the size of peas.
Drizzle in the lesser amount of water. Using a fork (not a spoon!), toss the crumbs with the water. Stir in just enough water to make clumps of dough form. Add a little extra as necessary. The clumps of dough should cling to each other.
Use your hands to shape the dough into a ball. Place on plastic wrap and flatten it into a disc. Wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to let the butter in the crust chill.
After a 30 minute chill, remove the crust from the refrigerator. Let rest at room temperature for 15 minutes to make the crust easier to roll out.
Turn the disc of pie dough out onto a floured surface. Dust the surface of the dough with flour on both sides.
Place a sheet of waxed or parchment paper on top of the dough. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough from the center to the edge in all directions. It's tough going at first, but will get easier.
Once the dough is more pliable, roll the dough evenly from one end to the other, in all directions. Pull the crust from the work surface and from the waxed paper to be sure it's not sticking.
If you develop cracks or uneven places, cut extra dough from the sides and use it to patch your crust. Gently roll over it with your rolling pin to seal the patches into the crust.
Roll out the dough into a circle about 2 inches larger than your pie pan (3 if using a deep dish). It's easy to measure this by placing your pie plate upside down over the crust, and seeing if there's 1 inch of dough on either side of it.
Carefully fold the crust in half, and then into a quarter. (You can also drape it over your rolling pin to move it.) Transfer it it to the pie plate, then center and unfold it.
Settle the crust into the bottom edges of the dish without smashing or stretching the dough. Trim off any ragged pieces of dough, but leave a ½-to-1-inch circumference around the edge.
Tuck the edge of the dough underneath itself (so the seam is against the rim of the pie pan). Gently pinch the edges of the crust between your fingertips to seal the edge and form the edge crust into a wavy shape.
To make a pre-baked shell, prick the sides and bottom of the crust all over with a fork. (This will release steam.) Bake at 475F for 8-10 minutes, or until the pastry reaches your desired color. Keep an eye on it to be sure that the edges do not sink into the bottom.
For a filled pie, you optionally can prick the crust as above and parbake the crust at 425F for 8-10 minutes if desired. I usually do not. If not parbaking, fill pie and bake as specified in your recipe.
This all-butter crust recipes makes for a crisp, flaky crust. Substitute in 2 tablespoons of shortening for the same amount of butter to make a more tender, but still flavorful, crust. See blog post above for additional information regarding butter, shortening, margarine, vegan butter sticks, and oil.
For the best texture, have a mix of tiny butter crumbs and larger pieces of butter in the dough.
I don't recommend flour substitutions.
Add just as much water as necessary to make the dough easy to handle and roll, but not so much that it becomes sticky. I use less water with the food processor, but more when mixing by hand.
Refrigerating the dough allows the flour to hydrate thoroughly. Don't skip that step. Bringing it back to room temperature a little afterward makes the crust easier to roll.
Rolling the dough between layers of waxed or parchment paper keeps your work surface cleaner, and keeps the dough from sticking to your rolling pin.
I recommend glass or ceramic pans for even baking.
You may have extra scraps of pie crust dough after you even out the edges. Sprinkle these with cinnamon sugar and bake at whatever temperature your recipe calls for, for 5-8 minutes while you preheat your oven, just until they reach your preferred level of doneness. Yum!
Double the recipe to make enough dough for a double-crusted pie.
This standard pie crust is adapted from the Betty Crocker Cookbook.
Calorie count was calculated in MyNetDiary, and will vary.