All Butter Pie Crust
Here’s my simple recipe for pie crust. Reflecting American food trends, sometime in the late 90s, I replaced the shortening in my mom’s recipe with unsalted butter. The lard she and her mother used for decades was regrettably replaced with shortening sometime in the mid 80s. You may easily replace the butter with good quality lard for a savory meat pie.
Ingredients
Instructions
Add the cubes of butter and work them into the flour with the tips of your fingers, pressing and smearing the butter into the flour mixture between your fingers and thumbs until most of the butter is incorporated. You should still have some larger pieces of smeared butter in the dough. These large pieces will create the layers in your flaky crust.
Add 6 Tablespoons cold water and immediately stir with the fork to bring the dough together. You will likely need to finish gathering the dough with your hands, adding additional water if needed to keep the dough together, taking care not to add too much water, and not to over-work the dough. You do not want to over-disperse the butter, which will result in a “mealy” crust. It bears repeating that the larger pieces of butter will create the layers in your flaky crust.
Divide the dough into two equal pieces, and gently and quickly flatten each piece into 4 to 5 inch discs. Place the pieces of dough back into the bowl to rest in the refrigerator while you prepare your filling, or wrap them individually with plastic wrap for longer storage.
To form your pie crust, place one disc of dough onto a flour-dusted counter. Dust the top side of the dough with flour as well. Using a rolling pin, and with steady, controlled movements, roll from the center of the dough outward, forming a larger and thinner disc, keeping it concentric and of even thinness.
Place the crust into a 9 or 10 inch pie pan. If making a double crust pie, repeat the above step to form the top crust. Fill the pie with the desired filling.
For a single crust pie: With a sharp knife, trim the pie crust along the outside edge of the pie pan. Then, with floured fingers, scallop the edge of the crust by gently placing two fingers on the outside of the dough and pressing the side of a finger from the opposite hand between the two fingers. Repeat the scallop all around the pie crust.
For a double crust pie: Place the top crust over your pie filling meeting the bottom crust along the edges. Take a clean fork, dip it into some flour, and press the two crusts together by lightly pressing the tongs of the fork down onto the edge of the crusts, sandwiching them between the fork and the ridge of the pie plate. With a sharp knife, trim both the top and bottom crusts together along the outer edge of the pie pan. With the sharp knife in hand, cut 3 or 4 slits into the top pie crust to create steam vents. Then, with floured fingers, scallop the edge of the crust by gently placing two fingers on the outside of the dough and pressing the side of a finger from the opposite hand between the two fingers. Repeat the scallop all around the pie crust.
Click here to see how to seal the edges together: IMG_2397
Click here to see how to crimp the pie crust: IMG_2410
