Name: All-butter Pie Crust Recipe
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: American

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How to make an old fashioned all butter pie crust from scratch. Instructions for chilling dough, rolling out crust, fluting, and scalloping. 

How to make All-butter Pie Crust Recipe

Tori Avey

Crawler

American

<p>How to make an old fashioned all butter pie crust from scratch. Instructions for chilling dough, rolling out crust, fluting, and scalloping. </p>

Vegetarian

Cold water

Ice cubes

All purpose flour

Salt

Very Cold Unsalted Butter

Pour cold water into a small dish with a few pieces of ice to chill.

step 1

There are two ways to integrate the butter into the dry ingredients by hand mixing or with a food processor. In my experience, both methods work equally well as long as you mix the water in by hand. Don't process the water into the dough, or you'll end up with a tough crust.

step 2

Break up butter by hand:add flour and salt to a large mixing bowl, stir with a fork to blend. Take cold butter out of the refrigerator and add it to the bowl. Use a pastry cutter to cut the cold butter into the flour, using firm pressure and pushing down repeatedly to break the butter into small pieces.

step 3

Work as quickly as you comfortably can. Stop when the flour and butter mixture looks like large-curd cottage cheese. There should be a variety of sizes in the butter pieces the largest should be about the size of a pea. Place flour and butter mixture in the freezer for 2 minutes before proceeding.

step 4

Mixing dough with food processor:fit your processor with a blade attachment. Add flour and salt to the food processor.

step 5

Take cold butter out of the refrigerator and add it to the processor.

step 6

Pulse the processor in 3-second bursts to break up the butter. Stop when the flour and butter mixture looks like large-curd cottage cheese.

step 7

There should be a variety of sizes in the butter pieces the largest should be about the size of a pea. It should only take 10-12 pulses to get the right consistency; start checking consistency after 8 pulses. Make sure you dont over-process having a variety of sizes in the butter chunks will make a flakier dough. Mixture should hold together when squeezed in your hand. Pour mixture into a mixing bowl. Place flour and butter mixture in the freezer for 2 minutes before proceeding.

step 8

Take ice water out of the refrigerator. Add water to the flour mixture one tablespoonful at a time, using a fork to lightly toss the liquid into the dough. Try not to touch the dough as you mix; you want the mixture to stay as cool as possible. You may not need all the liquid to bring the dough together, so add slowly the dough can easily turn wet and sticky if youre not careful. By the same token, you may need a bit more liquid. Pie dough is not an exact science; every batch of dough will be different.

step 9

When the dough begins to look stringy and larger lumps begin to form, take a fistful of the dough and squeeze it in your palm. Open your palm. If the dough holds together well and is just slightly tacky, its ready to pull into a dough ball. If the dough easily crumbles in your hand or falls apart, it is still too dry add a little more liquid.

step 10

When dough is ready, pull it together with your hands into two balls, one slightly larger than the other. Flatten the balls into disks that are 7-8 inches across.

step 11

Cover the disks tightly in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator immediately.

step 12

The dough should be refrigerated for at least 1 hour, and up to 48 hours. I prefer to make the dough a day ahead and refrigerate it overnight. You can also freeze the dough for up to 3 months. If you freeze the dough, allow it to thaw and soften a bit before rolling out.

step 13

To roll out crusts:any large, smooth surface will work, as long as it is in a cool dry area. Marble is ideal. You will need to work quickly to roll out the dough--again, you want it to stay cool, so have any tools you need nearby and ready to go:rolling pin, flour, pastry scraper, 9 pie plate or dish, a sharp knife, and a baking sheet (as needed).

step 14

Lightly flour your rolling surface. Take the larger of the two dough disks out of the refrigerator and discard the plastic wrap. Place it in the center of your rolling surface and sprinkle the top of the disk lightly with flour.

step 15

Use your rolling pin to roll out the dough. I like to roll it from the center outward, a roll in each direction, as though im rolling around the face of a clock (12, 3, 6, 9, 12). You want the dough to expand evenly in all directions, so that it forms a large circular shape. Use more pressure in the center of the dough, and less as you near the edges. Dont roll past the edge of the dough.

step 16

As you roll, you may notice cracks forming on the outer edges. If any large cracks develop, pause and pinch the dough together to mend them before rolling again.

step 17

If the dough becomes sticky as you roll, lightly re-flour the surface of the dough before proceeding. When the dough is about halfway rolled out, use a pastry scraper to loosen the dough from the board and flip it over.

step 18

Re-flour the board before positioning the dough in the center again. Continue to roll out the dough in the same way as before.

step 19

You want the dough to end up about 1/8 thick, and as round as possible. As you roll it out, you should see a marbled effect to the dough where patches of butter have formed. This is a good thingthose pockets of butter are what make the crust flaky.

step 20

Rolling out pie dough swiftly and efficiently takes practice. You may find that your dough is getting too soft, or the butter pieces are melting, as you roll. A little stickiness can be remedied by a sprinkle of flour, but if the dough is getting warm or the fat is melting youll need to re-chill the dough before proceeding.

step 21

Use the pastry scraper to loosen the dough from the board and place it on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 1-2 minutes to re-chill the dough. Continue rolling out.

step 22

When the dough is about 1/8 thick all the way around, take your pie dish or plate and center it in the middle of the dough. The dough will need to extend about 2 inches past the edge of the dish. Use a sharp knife to cut any rough edges off to form a smooth 2-inch circle around the outer edge of the pie dish.

step 23

Use the pastry scraper to loosen the dough from the rolling surface. Gently fold the dough in quarters. Pick it up and place it in the pie dish, centering the point of the fold in the middle of the dish.

step 24

Unfold the dough and let it gently settle into the pie dish, lifting the edges of the dough and letting gravity pull it down into the corners. Do not stretch the dough to fit the plate; let it settle naturally, or youll end up with a leaky bottom crust. Adjust the dough as needed to keep it as centered as possible in the dish.

step 25

Alternatively, you can transfer the crust to the dish by rolling it around the rolling pin and unrolling it over the pie dish. I prefer folding it, since its easier for me to center in the dish that way, but either method works.

step 26

When the pie dish has been lined with dough, place it in the refrigerator to chill.

step 27

Take the smaller of the two dough disks out of the refrigerator and roll it out the same way as you did the first. When trimming the edges, the dough only needs to extend about 1 inch beyond the edge of the pie dish. Re-chill on the baking sheet after rolling out, if necessary. This will be your top crust.

step 28

Assemble your pie by filling the lower crust with your filling.

step 29

. Dot the filling with butter, if the recipe requires it.

step 30

. Then lay the top crust gently over the top of the pie. Center the top crust as much as possible over the top of the dish.

step 31

Trim the edges of both crusts so that they are a little less than 1/2 inch beyond the rim of the pie dish.

step 32

Roll the lower crust over the top of the upper crust and pinch gently to form a lip or edge to the crust.

step 33

Work your way around the pie, rolling and pinching, until the circle is completed.

step 34

Finish your edges by scalloping or crimping them with a fork. I like to scallop the crust by using the forefinger of one hand to make a crease, then pinching around the crease with the thumb and forefinger of the other hand.

step 35

I work my way around the inner edge of the pie first making creases, then i finish it by working around the outer edge, scalloping in the opposite direction.

step 36

Chill the fully assembled pie for at least 10 minutes before baking. Make an egg or milk wash and brush on the upper crust for a nicely browned finish (optional). Milk washes can be a bit uneven, so i prefer an egg wash--use an egg yolk whisked together with 1 tsp of water. This will give it a nice golden sheen.

step 37

Cut slits in the upper crust to vent (after the wash, not before), and sprinkle the top of the pie with sugar, if desired. I sometimes like to sprinkle it with turbinado sugar to add a light candy-like crunch and a little sparkle.

step 38

Bake pie according to recipe directions. During the baking process, i usually turn the pie 180 degrees about halfway through the cooking time to make sure the crust browns evenly (ovens can be hotter in the back than in the front--this allows for more even heat distribution).

step 39

If these instructions are followed carefully, you should end up with a flavorful, flaky pie crust! happy baking.

All-Butter Pie Crust Recipe

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Ingredients for All-Butter Pie Crust Recipe

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