The Best All Butter Pie Crust Recipe
Here is a recipe I've been working on for a while now, The Best All Butter Pie Crust Recipe - This is the best tasting pie crust I've ever had, it's delicious. I wanted to really master pie making for the holidays and find a recipe I really loved and was excited about. Here it is! Along with lots of great pie making tips and lots more photos. At The Alchemist.
The Best All Butter Pie Crust Recipe
This recipe is my own. It is loosely adapted from Ann Burrell's Pie Dough Recipe as well as a few ideas from America's Test Kitchen
This recipe makes enough for 2 crusts, for an 8 or 9 inch pie, or one double crust pie. If you only need one crust, for a pumpkin pie, or a cream pie, freeze the other half, or simply halve the recipe. The dough will last for months frozen if double wrapped and then placed in a zip top bag and sealed. Simply thaw it in the fridge and continue with the directions from there.
This recipe contains vodka. Americas test kitchen is famous for using it in their pie crust. Their recipe uses more than mine, and their recipe is different. I've taken the idea from them. The reason it is a great element for a pie crust, is because gluten forms in water but not in alcohol. In a pie crust recipe you want to use the least amount of water as possible, but sometimes this makes it hard to roll out. By using a little alcohol it makes it easier to work with, without adding water, since the alcohol cooks out and leaves no taste. If you absolutely do not consume alcohol go ahead and leave it out, you may need to use a tablespoon or 2 more ice water.
Vinegar is used in the recipe because it helps prevent the formation of gluten, which will ultimately make for a flakier crust, you can't taste it since it is just a teaspoon.
Using the best quality butter you can get your hands on is a good idea here, since the butter is the star ingredient.
Ingredients
2 1/2 sticks (20 Tablespoons) or (285 g.) of very cold good quality butter, cut into small pieces then held in the fridge to get it cold again, plus extra for greasing the pie plate
2 cups (268 g.) all purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough OR use rice flour for rolling
rice flour for rolling out dough, optional
2 Tablespoons sugar - omit if you are making a savory pie, like a pot pie
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons cold vodka
5-7 Tablespoons ice cold water
Directions
Get your ingredients ready. Get your food processor out. Have the butter cut into small pieces, then placed in the fridge until needed. Have a cup of water with a few ice cubes in it next to your food processor to use as your ice water. Make sure your vodka is cold.
In the bowl of the food processor add the flour, sugar and salt and blend together. Take the butter pieces out of the fridge and add about half of it to the food processor. Pulse it a few times to get the butter mixed in, then add the other half of the butter. Pulse the butter into the flour until it resembles little pieces of grated cheese. Now remove the lid of the food processor and sprinkle on the vodka, and the apple cider vinegar, plus 2 Tablespoons of ice water. Pulse it again a few times to get it mixed in. Then add 2 more tablespoons of ice water and pulse until it's blended in. The goal is to work the dough as little as possible, so just pulse it as few times as needed to get it to be mixed together. Only add enough water to get the dough to stick together. Add as little as possible. Remove the lid of the food processor and pinch it together to see if it sticks together. If it needs more water, if it's not sticking together, add a tablespoon at a time, pulse, then check it again.
When it's ready, dump out the contents onto a work surface such as a big cutting board. Form it into a flat disc with your hands, then cut it in half and flatten each disc, this will make it easier to roll out later. I weigh each one with a scale to make sure I've divided them in two equal portions. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap then refrigerate for at least an hour, or up to days in advance.
When ready to use the dough, remove it from the fridge for about 20 minutes, to let it get soft enough to roll. Dust the work surface and the dough with flour (or rice flour, as mentioned above.) Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough, evenly in all directions. Turn the dough a 1/4 of a turn after each roll to get it as even in all directions as possible. If it gets tacky, use a little more flour, don't let it stick to your work surface. Roll out the dough until it's about 1/8 of an inch thick.
Grease your glass pie plate (an 8 or 9 inch) with butter and place the rolled out dough in the plate. It should hang over at least a 1/2 inch, if it hangs out more than that, cut it to 1/2 inch overhang. Fill the pie and bake as directed in your recipe.
*This is an important step* After you've filled your pie, you need to tuck the top crust under the bottom crust, then crimp together. Make sure the crust is not hanging over the edge. Make sure after you have crimped it together that it is inside the pie plate. When the crust bakes, if it's hanging over the edge, it will fall down over the edge of the pie plate and hang over. If making a fruit pie, make sure the edges are sealed, so the juices don't go running out of the edge. Make sure you cut vent holes on the top.
If you are making a single crust pie, just make sure when you crimp the edges so that they stay inside the pie plate, not hanging over the edge.
To blind bake for a single crust pie: Line the dough with parchment paper and fill with pie weights, raw rice, or dried beans. Bake in a preheated 425 degrees F oven for 10 to 12 minutes, remove the parchment and beans and bake for 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove the pie shell from the oven and cool. The dough should be golden and crisp. Continue with desired filling.