- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar, optional
- 2 sticks very cold (put in freezer 15-20 min) unsalted butter, cut into half inch cubes
- 4 to 8 tablespoons ice water (allow the ice to sit in the water and then measure out the ½ cup) - Could also use alcohol. See notes below.
Add 1 ½ cups flour, salt, and sugar (optional) to a food processor. Pulse 2 to 3 times until combined. The remaining cup of flour will be added later.
Scatter butter cubes over flour and process until a dough or paste begins to form, about 15 seconds. There should be no uncoated flour.
Scrape bowl, redistribute the flour-butter mixture then add remaining 1 cup of flour. Pulse 4 to 5 times until flour is evenly distributed. Dough should look broken up and a little crumbly.
Transfer to a medium bowl, then sprinkle ice water over mixture — start with 4 tablespoons and add from there. Using a rubber spatula, press the dough into itself. The crumbs should begin to form larger clusters.
If you pinch some of the dough and it holds together, it’s ready. If the dough falls apart, add 2 to 4 more tablespoons of water and continue to press until dough comes together.
Remove dough from bowl and place in a mound on a clean surface. Work the dough just enough to form a ball.
Cut the ball in half then form each half into discs. Wrap each disc with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
You can also freeze it for up to 3 months (just thaw it overnight in the fridge before using it).
★ Too Much Gluten is an Enemy to a Pie Crust!
Some gluten is okay and actually needed for structure, but too much can really mess things up.
So, remember this: less gluten formation = flakier and more tender pie crusts. Too much gluten makes pie dough tough, like parchment.
Cook’s Illustrated found that if you thoroughly mix part of the flour with the fat (butter) and make a flour-butter paste first, every particle of that flour becomes coated in fat. Think of each particle of flour with butter raincoats. These raincoats make it very difficult for the flour to absorb water. In other words, it helps to prevent the development of too much gluten. Then, you can add the remaining flour so the perfect amount of gluten develops. This means perfect pie crust, every time.
★ What Appliance is Best? A Food Processor!!!
You *could* use a bread machine on the pasta dough course, but it’s not the best appliance. A bread machine is like a food processor on low gear. It is strong and has more torque but moves at a much lower speed. Instead of chopping the fat quickly into the flour; flour, water, salt and yeast are mixed together and pushed around for a long time, which allows more gluten to form. That's not good.
Pie dough takes a few seconds to a minute, tops. If you don't have access to a food processor, you'd be much better using a pastry blender, a couple of butter knives or even your cool fingers to quickly press the fat into the flour.
★ Alcohol in Place of Water is an Option
Cook's Illustrated considers vodka a key ingredient in pie crusts. "Unlike water, alcohol does not contribute to the formation of gluten, the network of proteins that can cause a crust to turn leathery. Because the alcohol burns off quickly in the oven, drying out the crust, we could add enough vodka to keep the dough wet and extremely supple." Vodka is their favorite but they tested rum, whiskey and gin as well and found they were fine.
When making an apple pie, may cooks recommend using Apple Jack, which has the same alcoholic content as vodka.
★ Pie Decor Inspiration
Lauren Ko @lokokitchen on Instagram has taken pie art to a whole new level. WOW! You really need to check out her page to see her pies up close. She has a book out, too! I am smitten. I wish pies were health foods.
