You might remember my post back in March regarding Pi Day. At the time, I focused on a banana cream pie, but I wanted to share the recipe for an awesome flaky all-purpose pie crust too. I used a recipe found on allrecipes.com. The recipe is very easy, but you want to prep an hour or so ahead of time so that you are working with cold ingredients. The actual work takes about 10-15 minutes, which isn’t too bad. Also, I recommend making the dough a day beforehand.
Here’s what you need for 1 crust (top or bottom):
- 1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 c butter (put in freezer and then dice up once hardened)
- 1/4 c ice water (after ice is removed)
The key to flaky pastry is cold. After combining the flour and salt, you cut int he butter. Because the butter is cold, you’ll want to use a mixer that can handle the stress, or use your hands. If you use your hands, try cooling in a bowl of water every so often so that you don’t soften the butter. Add the ice water gradually in small increments. Form the dough into a ball and warp in plastic wrap. Stick in the fridge for 4-12 hours. When you’re read to use the dough, roll out to desired thickness (and size).
I’ll be the first too admit – I usually opt for the frozen pie crust to save myself some time. I was actually surprised at how painless it was to make homemade crust. The final result was absolutely compliment-worthy.