Pie Dough
It’s almost turkey day and pie is a very important part of the day…the most important part some would say. This year I’m making pumpkin, cherry and pecan so I made 4 batches of dough ahead of time, divided it into 4 balls, wrapped each ball of dough in plastic and put it in the freezer. I’ll pull them out of the freezer on Tuesday night and put them in the refrigerator so they will be softened by Wednesday when I’m ready to bake. I’ve been using this pie dough recipe forever and it’s perfectly flakey and buttery every time.
Ingredients:
1 9-inch pie shell
- 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons cold all-vegetable shortening
- 4 to 7 tablespoons ice water
Directions:
Cut butter and shortening into small pieces and place in freezer for 15 minutes. Mix flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add frozen butter and shortening pieces. Pulse about 8 times (1-second pulses) or until the dough appears pebbly in texture.
Add 4 tablespoons of ice water into the food processor while pulsing until just combined. Add more water if needed. turn dough out on the counter and add more water if needed until the dough if completely formed into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling.
If dough has spent more than an hour in the refrigerator, let warm up a few minutes on the counter before you’re ready to roll it. Roll out dough and place into a 9-inch pie pan. Push down gently down the sides of the pan. Trim dough around edge of pan, leaving a 1/2inch border. Fold excess dough underneath the edge of the dough and shape edge using fingers or press with the tines of a fork. Place in refrigerator for at least 40 minutes before you bake it.
From here, follow the directions of the type of pie you’re making. You’ll either need to blind bake the crust (for pumpkin pie) or fill it, add lattice or cutouts on top and bake it (for fruit pies.)
Happy pie baking!
