Pie Dough

This is the recipe I use all the time, for any kind of pie, and it’s the crust I used when my Butternut Squash pie won Best In Show.  From set-up to clean-up this morning, including taking pictures along the way, this only took me 10 minutes.  I never timed it before, so I was surprised how fast it was!

This recipe will make dough for a one-crusted pie, since that’s what I usually make.  I like to make crumb toppings for fruit pies, but if you want a two-crusted pie, just double it.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 stick of butter
• 1/8-1/4 cup ice water

Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor to combine. 

Dice the cold butter.

Add the butter to the food processor.  I use the processor because it goes so much faster than doing it by hand, plus if you use your fingers it will melt the butter and the crust won’t be as flaky.  But in a pinch, you certainly could use your fingers.

Pulse until the butter is blended into the flour but you can still see small pieces.

With the machine on, slowly stream in the water until the dough just comes together.  The amount of water needed will depend on the humidity and other factors, so you have to pay attention to the dough.

The dough should look like this when there’s enough water.  It’s not one big lump of dough, but rather just sticky enough to hold together.  If you add too much water until it’s one mass, your dough can become tough.

Dump the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap.  See how it’s crumbly? That’s what it should look like.  I know we’re trying to get away from the plastic, but this is an important part.  I guess you could use a piece of wax paper or cloth if you wanted.

Form the dough into a flattened ball.  See how it all sticks together now? Aren’t you glad you didn’t add all that water before?  Now wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes or until you’re ready to roll it out.

And don’t worry, pie crust is tough.  I wanted to make sure I really got it right before posting, which is why I’ve been posting pie recipes without the crust recipe for about a year now! If you’ve never made it before, this one is easy and with the food processor it’s very fast.  No excuse to use a store bought one!

Right now it’s sitting in my fridge with plans for a pie later on today…