FRASER ELISABETH TAN, PHD

All Butter Pie Dough

ATK's Classic Pie Dough uses both butter and shortening - for even more delicious flaky buttery goodness, try this all butter crust! You absolutely must freeze the butter as directed for this pie dough to work, but then you get to do the whole thing in the food processor - so easy! This recipe makes 2 rounds of dough for a double crust pie - I've noted the amounts to make a half recipe, and the directions are the same. This recipe works best with a food processor - CI has a separate recipe for hand-made pie dough, but I like the dough from the Extra-flaky Pie Crust, or the Peach Hand Pies.

Makes 2 dough rounds, enough for one 9-inch double crust pie VEG EF

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup ice water, plus extra as needed
  • 3 tablespoons sour cream
  • 2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces and frozen for 10- to 15 minutes

Halved:

  • 4 teaspoons sour cream
  • 3-4 tablespoons ice water
  • 1 1/4 cups (6 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces and frozen for 10- to 15 minutes

Equipment

  • food processor
  • rolling pin

Directions

  1. Mix together ice water and sour cream in a bowl. Process flour, sugar and salt in food processor until well combined, about 5 seconds. Scatter butter over top and pulse mixture until butter is size of large peas, about 10 pulses.
  2. Pour half of the sour cream mixture over flour mixture and pulse until incorporated, about 3 pulses. Repeat with remaining sour cream mixture. Ping dough with your fingers, if dough feels dry and does not hold together, sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons more ice water over mixture and pulse until dough forms large clumps and no dry flour remains, 3 to 5 pulses.
  3. Divide dough into two equal halves (skip if doing the halved recipe). Turn each piece of dough into a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a 4” disk. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for 1 hour (or up to 2 days). Let dough rest at room temperature for 10 minutes before rolling out.
  4. Baking the crust (if needed, usually for a single-crust pie):
  5. Adjust oven to middle position and heat oven to 375°.
  6. Roll dough into a 12-inch circle on lightly floured counter. Loosely roll dough around rolling pin and gently unroll onto a 9-inch pie plate, letting excess dough hang over the edge. Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with your hand while pressing into plate bottom with your other hand. Leave any dough that overhangs plate in place.
  7. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch beyond lip of pie plate. Tuck overhang underneath itself; folded edge should be flush with edge of pie plate. Crimp dough evenly around the edge of the pie plate using your fingers. Wrap dough-lined pie plate loosely with plastic wrap and place in freezer until dough is fully chilled and firm, about 30 minutes, before using.
  8. Line chilled pie shell with parchment paper or a double layer of aluminum foil, covering edges to prevent burning, and fill with pie weights.
  9. For a partially baked crust: Bake until the pie dough looks dry and is light in color, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer pie plate to wire rack and remove weights and parchment. (Crust must still be warm when filling is added.)
  10. For a fully baked crust: Bake until the pie dough looks dry and is light in color, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove weights and parchment and continue to bake crust until deep golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes longer. Transfer pie plate to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.

Notes

  • Dough can be frozen when wrapped in plastic wrap for up to 1 month. Allow to thaw completely before rolling.

Source: Extra-flaky Pie Crust