The tastiest pies are built from the crust up.
We'll show you how to hand make a delicious homemade pie crust with ease.
There are just 4 ingredients in a pie crust:
flour, water, salt and fat, like butter, shortening or lard
Keep these ingredients in your pantry and you'll always be
just minutes away from a perfect pie crust.
Before you get started, make sure the fat, water, and mixing bowl are well chilled.
Step One: Combine dry ingredients
Combine the flour and salt in the proportions called for by
your pie crust recipe, in a mixing bowl.
Step Two: Cut in the fat.
Some of the best pie crusts are made with the combination of fats.
Half butter, for rich flavor, and half shortening or lard
for a satisfying flakiness.
You can experiment to see which fat or combination you like the best.
Slice the cold fat into small pieces before you add it to the flour
and salt mixture to make it easier to work into the dry ingredients.
Use a pastry cutter to work the fat into the flour, turning the bowl and scraping
the flour into the center as you go.
Work the fat into the flour until the clumps are the size of small peas.
These little bits of fat will form air pockets as the crust bakes,
making the crust beautifully flaky.
Step Three: Add liquid.
Sprinkle the mixture with a little ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
After each tablespoon, mix in the water gently with a fork.
Don't add into much liquid, or you'll get sticky dough.
Start for the minimum amount called for in the recipe you're using.
The mixture might look dry and crumbly after you add the liquid,
but don't add more.
Instead, test the dough by picking up a handful and squeezing.
If it sticks together, its perfect.
If it's still too crumbly, add another half tablespoon of liquid.
Lightly toss the mixture, and test again.
Avoid over working the dough so you don't end up with a tough crust.
Step Four: Refrigerate dough.
The dough needs to rest in the cold fridge so the flour will absorb
the liquid, and the dough will relax, and become easier to work with.
Transfer the dough to a resealable gallon sized plastic bag.
working from the outside of the bag, squeeze the dough together into a
flat disks shape.
If you've made enough dough for a double crust pie,
divide the dough in half and put into separate bags, flattening the dough into disks.
Squeeze the air out of each bag, and refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.
Step Five: Roll out dough.
You'll need a rolling pin, a simple wooden one will do the trick.
Lightly flour a work surface. Remove a disk of dough from
the fridge and unwrap it. Place it on the floured work surface.
Flatten the dough slightly with your hands and dust the top lightly with flour.
Dust your rolling pin with flour to help keep the dough from sticking to the
rolling pin; and roll outwards from the middle,
rotating a quarter turn after every roll.
Continue rolling and rotating until the dough is no thicker
than one fourth of an inch
Place the pie plate upside-down on the dough to see if it's big enough.
The dough should be at least 2 inches wider in diameter than your plate,
and 4 inches if your dish is very deep.
Step Six: Place the dough in the pan.
Gently fold the dough in half. If it's very pliable, you can fold
it into quarters. This makes an easy to transfer packet of dough.
Carefully transfer the folded dough to the pie dish and position the point of
the folded circle right at the center of the dish.
unfold the dough, and gently press it into the pan,
making sure you press it into the bottom edges.
If the dough crack or tears, don't worry, that's easy to fix.
Just wet your fingers with a little water, and press the dough back together.
Step Seven: Trim the edges
Use a paring knife, or kitchen shears, to trim the dough that hangs over
the outer edge of the pie dish.
Leave about and inch over hanging.
Crimp the edges if you're making a one crust pie.
If you're doing a double crust pie, roll out the other half so it's about
an inch wider in diameter than the pie dish. Transfer it carefully to a baking sheet
that's lined with parchment paper. Cover it all with plastic wrap,
and place into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
This prevents the dough from shrinking during baking.
Now that you've prepared your pie crust, fill it up according to your recipe, and bake.
Use the extra bits of pie crust to decorate the top if you like.
Once you master pie crust basics, experiment with the ingredients to
change the flavor and get creative.
A homemade pie crust can't be beat!
