Pie Dough Recipe

You don't need to give up on flaky pie crust when you are eliminating dairy from your diet. If butter is off the table, you can make pie dough with soy margarine and dairy-free cream cheese. This dough is great for making dairy-free recipes for classics like pumpkin pie. The advantage of using soy margarine (or another type of vegan margarine) is that it gives a flaky texture to the dough much like butter. Shortening or coconut oil could be used, but they result in a less-flaky crust. You will also discover that most people find it tastes just like a butter crust. Be sure to disclose it has soy if you are serving anyone who is sensitive to it. Although this dough can be made by hand with a pastry blender, it is best to use a food processor if you want to achieve the flakiest pie dough. When making pie and tart doughs, it is important to keep all of your ingredients as cold as possible and to handle the dough as little as possible. This recipe makes enough dough for one double-crust 9-inch pie or two single crust 9-inch pies.