Our Favorite Pie Crust Recipe
We figure we can’t repeat too often our formula for the flakiest, most tender pie crust - so here it is. The instructions are thorough, and the method can apply to your own favorite crust recipe.
The method you use to put pie pastry together will, to some degree, determine the type of crust you end up with.
Our latest favorite pie crust recipe uses a combination of butter (for flavor) and lard or vegetable shortening (for flakiness); an unbleached flour of about 10.5% protein (such as our Mellow Pastry Blend); buttermilk powder (for tenderness) and baking powder (for extra flakiness); salt; and vinegar (again, for tenderness) and water. Here’s the formula for a single-crust pie; just follow the directions above.
1 1/2 cups (6 1/2 ounces) Mellow Pastry Blend or King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon (1/8 ounce) buttermilk powder (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) butter
1/4 cup (1 1/2 ounces) lard or vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon white or cider vinegar
3 to 5 tablespoons (1 1/2 to 2 1/2 ounces) cold water
For a flaky, tender crust (as opposed to one that’s harder, mealy, and more cookie-like), the following works well.
Whisk together all of the dry ingredients, reserving a few tablespoons of the flour. Cut in half of the fat, working the mixture until it’s mealy and crumbly.
Place the reserved flour on your work surface, and coat the remaining fat with the flour. Use a rolling pin or the heel of your hand to flatten the fat till it’s about 1/2-inch thick. Break this flour-coated fat into 1-inch pieces, and mix it into the dough, just till it’s evenly distributed; some of the pieces of flour-coated fat should break into smaller pieces.
Sprinkle the liquid(s) over the dough while tossing with a fork. Just as soon as the dough becomes cohesive (i.e., you can squeeze it into a ball easily), stop mixing; there should still be visible pieces of fat in the dough. Flatten the dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic wrap or waxed paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer; this resting period allows the flour to absorb the water, making the dough easier to roll out.
Flour your work surface and roll the dough into a 12 x 9-inch (approximately) rectangle. If it isn’t holding together well, sprinkle it lightly with a couple of teaspoons of water. Fold the dough into thirds (like a letter), then fold it into thirds the opposite way, to form a rough square. Wrap it well and refrigerate again.
When you’re "ready to roll," remove the dough from the fridge. If the dough is made with all lard and/or vegetable shortening, you’ll be able to work with it directly from the refrigerator. A dough made with all butter will need to warm slightly (10 to 15 minutes) before rolling, as butter becomes brittle when it’s refrigerated. Dough made with a combination of butter and shortening should rest for about 5 minutes at room temperature before rolling. Roll the dough to the size needed (about 13 inches for a 9-inch pie). Fill and bake as directed in your recipe.
Note: in this particular recipe, cut all of the lard or vegetable shortening into the flour, then coat the butter with flour before adding it to the dough.
This recipe reprinted from The Baking Sheet Newsletter, Vol. XII, No. 6, Autumn 2001 issue.
Reviews
03/16/2010
I've been using this pie crust for several years now and it has been perfect every time. I get consistent results because I always put the pie crust into a zip lock bag and let it sit for a minimum of 2 hours so the ingredients will come together because I use 3 1/2 tbs of water. I then roll the crust in the plastic bag, a tip I picked up somewhere, which reduces overhandling. The final thing I do, is freeze whatever I am going to bake for at least 1 hour.
12/26/2009
I've always been terrified of making pie crust, but this recipe is wonderful! However, I made some changes in how I did it. I used the higher amount of water. I cut the butter into small pieces, then cut it into the flour with a pastry cutter; I used the buttermilk powder; and I mixed the liquid in until it just started to come together. I didn't fold it but a time or two with the help of a pastry scraper, just to help amalgamate the rough dough. I then shaped up the corners and pressed it into a disc, then wrapped it in plastic and let it rest about six hours or so. By then it was evenly hydrated. Oh, my! What a dream to roll out! I'd tripled the recipe because I wanted to make one double crust mince pie and one single crust apple crumb pie. Once I'd gathered up the scraps, I realized I had enough for a top crust on the apple pie, so I left that rest overnight and made the apple pie in the morning. I baked both at 450°F for fifteen minutes before turning it down, then covered the edges with a pie shield. Even the crust made with scraps was tender! Lovely! For the first time, pie success! Tender, flaky, buttery -- all I could wish for! It even looked beautiful! I think it might have benefitted from just a touch more salt, but that is truly just a quibble. Don't overwork the dough. Don't fold it but once or twice, and even the scraps ought to remain tender. I heartily recommend this recipe to anyone!
11/28/2009
While I had great success with this recipe bypassing the intermediate roll, fold, and chill again part, I did not have a great result when I included that intermediate step. After the folding you end up with a square of dough. I gently patted it into a rounder shape but still got a squarish crust upon rolling it out. I used KAF AP flour but wish I had the mellow pastry blend instead. It was so elastic, almost like rolling out a pizza dough. As predicted, my crusts were tough. Wonder if I should have been more conservative with the water. (?)
11/09/2009
CAUTION: I made this recipe to the letter and used it with the KAF Mr. Washington's Cherry Pie recipe. After being in the oven at 425 degrees for 30 minutes all the butter spots in the pie crust burnt and destroyed the pie. Either the oven temp directions in the cherry pie recipe are incorrect and the oven temp should have been decreased or this pie crust is fragile and needs to only be used for low temp pies.
09/28/2009
I rated this crust recipe 5 stars because I think it looks and tastes great, the buttermilk and vinegar really do something for it. King Arthur Flour is the only flour I use. I used half butter, half shortning. However, I'd rate my technique a 1 star. I liked the instructions with pictures, but even with that, I've had trouble getting this dough rolled out right. The chunks of butter made it softer and more difficult to handle and fold into the pie pan. I made the chunks smaller, and still had that problem. But it didn't seem to affect the taste or flaky-ness. I tried to use it as a pre-baked crust and the sides collapsed and folded over. Can you give some additional advice on how to handle and pre-bake this recipe for the pie crust-challenged. thanks!
The collapsing sides used to happen to me until I discovered using a throw away aluminum pie plate as the liner the weights are put it. It works like a charm! Molly @ KAF
08/21/2009
That's: I flattened the butter to about 1/8 inch as 1/2 inch seemed TOO thick to me.
08/18/2009
I used this recipe for a streusel topped fresh peach pie. I think this is the best pie crust I've ever made. I measured ingredients by weight using unbleached all-purpose flour. I worked the shortening in first, then flattened the butter by gently pounding it with my rolling pin. I deviated from the recipe in that I flattened the butter to about 1/8 inch as 1/2 inch seemed to thick to me. Perhaps someone can comment on this. Also, as I was in a bit of a hurry, I did not roll the dough into the big rectangle to be folded and chilled a second time. I just rolled it out the usual way. Next time I'll plan ahead and try the fold and re-roll part of the recipe, although it's hard to believe it could be any better than it already was! So tender and flakey... Thanks again, KAF!
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