A good, staple pie crust recipe is a must have for home bakers. It is great for pies, galettes, hand pies, tarts and other types of pastries.
A good pie crust is buttery and flakey. This pie crust recipe is inspired by Erin Jeanne McDowell’s rough puff. The discard version gives the same effect, but with some starter in it.
This crust uses similar techniques found in puff pastry making. Basically, we are creating pockets of butter that will melt and release steam once in the over. This creates the puffing action and gives us those flakey layers.
It is important that the butter is properly incorporated so we get a flakey dough. If the butter melts into the dough, there will be no pockets of butter. Because there are no other chemical leaveners, there will be no puffing and the crust will be dense and hard.
Flaky Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 225 grams Flour
- ½ tsp Salt
- 6 oz Butter Cold
- 95 grams Water Cold
Instructions
- Combine flour and salt in a large bowl.
- Cut butter into 1cm x 1cm cubes. Add the cubes into the flour and coat each one with flour.
- Using your fingers, squish each cube of butter into a flat peice.
- Add water to the mixture. Using a tossing motion, begin to distibute the water throughout flour and butter. Break up any large clumps to redistribute the liquid.
- Form the dough into a ball once the water is evenly tossed through and the dough is in uniformed sized clumps.
- On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a long sheet.
- Fold the top ⅓ of the way down and the bottom ⅓ of the way up (letter fold).
- Roll out along the seam into another long sheet.
- Repeat the letter fold.
- Wrap the dough and refridgerate for 30 minutes.
- Repeat two rounds of the rolling and folding for a total of four rounds. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Now the dough is ready to be used in pies, hand pies, etc.
Notes
Here are some tips for making a good pie crust:
- Use cold butter and water are cold (you can even refrigerate the flour and salt). This all helps to keep the butter from melting into the dough when you are handling it.
- Do not over knead the dough. Use a tossing motion to distribute the water throughout. This prevents over mixing and helps keep the butter intact.
- Do not add too much water. When incorporating the water, the dough may seem dry. Break up and large clumps because that is where the water hides. Only add water if your dough is too dry to come together. Remember, the dough may look a little dry but once it rests in the refrigerator, it will saturate through.
- Don’t be afraid to put the dough in the fridge, at whatever stage, to re-harden the butter. Remember, we always want the butter to be cold.
Finally, this dough can also be frozen if you are not using it right away. After you make the dough, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze up to 2 weeks.
I hope you give this recipe a try! It is super flakey and buttery. A good pie crust really elevates any pie recipe. This dough can be used in many different types of recipes. It can be used in a classic pie, hand pies, galettes, etc. This recipe makes enough for dough a top and bottom crusted, 9-inch pie.
Good luck and happy baking!