This all Butter Pie Crust is simple to make, with a delicious flavor and a flaky texture.
Ingredients
12.5ozall purpose flour, by weight(2.5 cups, if measuring)
1/2tspkosher salt
20tbspunsalted butter, diced into cubes, cold(2.5 sticks)
ice cold water(I usually need at least 1/2 cup, plus a few tbsp more)
Instructions
Combine the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple times to aerate and mix together.
Add the butter and pulse about 10-15 times, until the butter is broken down into pieces somewhere between the size of a chickpea and a sweet pea. If you have some bigger and some smaller pieces, that's great. Just be careful not to overpulse and break down the butter too much.
Add 1/2 cup of ice water through the feed tube, pulsing occasionally to mix, to distribute the liquid and moisten the dough. You're looking for the dough to form into moist crumbles that build up on the sides of the food processor (see photo in blog post), and combine into a smooth clump when gently squeezed with your hand. If the dough is too dry, add an additional tablespoon of ice water, and pulse, until the dough is sufficiently moistened. Repeat as needed, but you shouldn't need to add more than a few tablespoons of extra water at most.
Remove the dough from the food processor to a piece of plastic wrap, and shape the dough into a flat disk or rectangle using your hands. If the dough is a bit crumbly, you may knead it gently a few times to make it smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for at least one hour, preferably two.
After the dough is thoroughly chilled (it should be firm to the touch), it is ready to be rolled and used for whatever recipe you'd like. Enjoy!
Notes
Freezing: Pie dough freezes beautifully. Wrap it so it doesn't dry out or get freezer burned, and store for up to 2 months.Storing: Do not store pie crust in the fridge for more than one day in the fridge, or it will get moldy. You will notice black specks all over the dough, and in that case, you should throw it out. If you want to keep pie crust longer than a day, it’s best to store it in the freezer.Make-ahead: There's no reason you can't make this ahead, as it stores wonderfully. Keep in the fridge up to 1 day ahead, or freeze it.Sweet Crust: For a sweet dough, add 1 tablespoon of sugar per cup of flour, pulsing it in with the flour and salt.Nut or Cheese Dough: Add one tablespoon of hard cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano per cup of flour, or one tablespoon of finely ground nuts per cup of flour, pulsing it in with the flour and salt.Brands matter: See discussion in the blog post about different protein contents across brands of all-purpose flour, and also varying quality and flavor for butters.