Best Pie Crust
Our Favorite Pie Crust with Pre-Baking Instructions
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated
Makes enough do for two 8-inch crusts, or enough for 1 double crusted 8 inch pie
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups (315 grams) flour
1 tablespoon (15 grams) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams) table salt
2 sticks (8 ounces, 225 grams or 1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold,
1/2 cups to 3/4 cups (plus or minus a few tablespoons) ice cold water
Combine flour, sugar and table salt. Cut the butter into 1/2 inch cubes and add to flour mixture. Work butter into flour mixture, either with hands or a pastry cutter, until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Don't worry about having completely uniform butter chucks, as the chucks contribute to a flaky texture. Add water slowly, a few tablespoons at a time, until it just comes together as a dough. Note that the amount of water needed varies a lot by climate, so all of it may not be needed. Form dough into two equal disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
After refrigeration, roll each disk of dough out into a well floured surface into a 1/4 to 1/8th inch thick circle. If dough gets too sticky and difficult, put in freezer for 5min, then continue until you reach the desired size. Transfer to a pie pan (my favorite way is to fold the dough into quarters and then unfold in the pan).
For Pre-Baking the Crust:
Put dough in pie pan in the freezer for 5min. Poke holes in every 1/2 inch or so, including the sides and cover with foil. Poke an additional 12 holes into the foil. Refrigerate the dough this way for 30min to allow it to rest (this helps prevent shrinkage). Bake crust at 400 degrees for 15min with the foil. Push down gently to deflate any bubbles and remove foil. Bake an additional 5-8 min until bottom of crust just begins to color.
Add HOT pie filling to the crust and bake according to filling instructions. Adding the filling hot helps to prevent the crust from becoming soggy on the bottom.
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated
Makes enough do for two 8-inch crusts, or enough for 1 double crusted 8 inch pie
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups (315 grams) flour
1 tablespoon (15 grams) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams) table salt
2 sticks (8 ounces, 225 grams or 1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold,
1/2 cups to 3/4 cups (plus or minus a few tablespoons) ice cold water
Combine flour, sugar and table salt. Cut the butter into 1/2 inch cubes and add to flour mixture. Work butter into flour mixture, either with hands or a pastry cutter, until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Don't worry about having completely uniform butter chucks, as the chucks contribute to a flaky texture. Add water slowly, a few tablespoons at a time, until it just comes together as a dough. Note that the amount of water needed varies a lot by climate, so all of it may not be needed. Form dough into two equal disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
After refrigeration, roll each disk of dough out into a well floured surface into a 1/4 to 1/8th inch thick circle. If dough gets too sticky and difficult, put in freezer for 5min, then continue until you reach the desired size. Transfer to a pie pan (my favorite way is to fold the dough into quarters and then unfold in the pan).
For Pre-Baking the Crust:
Put dough in pie pan in the freezer for 5min. Poke holes in every 1/2 inch or so, including the sides and cover with foil. Poke an additional 12 holes into the foil. Refrigerate the dough this way for 30min to allow it to rest (this helps prevent shrinkage). Bake crust at 400 degrees for 15min with the foil. Push down gently to deflate any bubbles and remove foil. Bake an additional 5-8 min until bottom of crust just begins to color.
Add HOT pie filling to the crust and bake according to filling instructions. Adding the filling hot helps to prevent the crust from becoming soggy on the bottom.
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