DG&Q Pie Crust Recipe & Tips
3-2-1 Pie Crust
Makes enough dough for one double-crust deep dish pie or two single-crust pies.
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 Tbsp. sugar 1/2 tsp. salt 8 oz. (16 Tbsp.) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch chunks
1/2 cup ice water
Mixing by hand: Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in, using a pastry blender, or using your hands, work in butter chunks until the size of small peas and the mixture looks mostly uniform. Gradually add water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until dough comes together. Divide the dough in half, handling it as little as possible, and shape each half into a disk. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days
Using Food Processor: In a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar; pulse to combine. Add butter; pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal, with just a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed with fingers (if necessary, add remaining 1/4 cup more water, 1 tablespoon at a time). Do not over-process. Transfer dough (still crumbly) onto a piece of plastic wrap. Form dough into 2 disks; wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or up to 3 days. The dough can also be tightly wrapped and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using
Pie Baking Tips
Make and freeze pie crust ahead of time (Baked Crusts – 4 months, Unbaked Crusts - 3 months)
Always remember to vent the top of a two-crust pie
Fruit pies are best when eaten within 1-2 days but can be kept up to four days
Cold ingredients produce the flakiest crust. Be sure to use very cold fat.
In warm weather, it helps to chill the flour ahead. Cut the fat in until your mixture resembles small peas or gravel.
The more you incorporate the fat past that point, the less flaky your crust will be.
Cook pies on foil foil-lined baking sheet.
When the pie begins to over-brown, pull up the foil and wrap edges If you are making a double-crust pie, it helps to have a little extra dough for the bottom crust.
Divide the dough in two, making one part slightly larger than the other. Roll your pastry on a sheet of lightly floured wax paper.
Invert the pastry right over the pan, or filling, and peel the paper off. You can patch tears in pastry by pinching or pressing it back together.
Large gaps can be patched with trimmings cut from the overhanging dough.
Don’t stretch the pastry when you are lining a pie pan with the bottom crust. Rather, ease the pastry into the pan, gently tucking it into the bottom crease.
Chill crust before baking also reduces the risk of crust “shrinking” while baking
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