There are a few keys to making THE BEST pie crust every time. ICE COLD butter, ICE COLD vegetable shortening and ICE COLD water. And, handling the dough as little as possible. My Mom never measures a thing and would always tell me, “Kim, you just have to feel the dough. If it’s too sticky, you need more flour and if it’s too dry, you didn’t add enough water.” Uhmmm, Ohhh kayy. But, she was right. Although I’ve figured out measurements, it’s still very much a ‘feel’ involved in making pie crust. Okay. Ready? I have faith in you!
1 1/2 sticks of VERY COLD (like stick it in the freezer cold) unsalted butter
1/3 cup of VERY COLD vegetable shortening (you can use all butter instead of adding shortening, which is what I’ve started doing lately)
3 cups of flour
1 t of kosher salt
1 T of sugar (this was my addition to my Mom’s recipe … you can omit, if you like, for savory dishes)
8 T of ICE COLD water (start with this and add more if you need it)
Dice the butter and place on a saucer and put into the refrigerator while you prepare the other ingredients. Place all of the dry ingredients into a food processor (with a steel blade) and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening and pulse until the flour and butter look like pea size crumbles. With the machine running, slowly add the water down the feed tube until the dough begins to form into a ball. Dump it onto a floured surface and roll into ball; wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Do not skip this step.
After 30 minutes, remove the dough, cut it in half and roll out each half on a well floured surface into a circle. Roll from the center to the edge, turning and flouring to make sure it doesn’t stick to your surface. Roll it to fit your desired pie pan and repeat the process for the top crust.
I use this recipe for sweet and savory dishes … peach cobbler, chicken pot pie, empanadas, apple pie, etc. Those recipes will be coming soon 😊
*** Note: If you don’t have a food processor, you can mix in a mixing bowl and use two knives or a pastry knife to cut the butter/shortening into the flour. ***