Pie Crust: Always Best Homemade

When it comes to pie crust, why is everyone so afraid of it? It’s just a simple mix of flour, butter, salt and water. When you ask people about eating it, their eyes glaze over and their tongue hangs out of their mouth, but when people are asked about making it, their faces scrunch up in fear as if they are picturing beets mixed with Brussels sprouts and chopped liver! Here’s the deal: I’ve got a recipe for killer pie crust that’s tried and true. So this Thanksgiving, get out the ingredients and let’s make a serious pie crust!

You need two special pieces of equipment to get the flaky, tender pie crust you and your taste buds crave: a food processor and a rolling pin (or a wine bottle if you’re really cheap). If you don’t have either and don’t want to buy them, go buy an amazing pie from a great local restaurant or bakery. Then you’ll get the homemade taste you crave. But that’s not nearly as satisfying as all the "oohs" and "aahs" you’ll get after you make it yourself.

Here’s the recipe courtesy Bon Appétit magazine with my additional instructions—that’s why it’s so long. But leaving out those extra instructions would only leave you without the information you need to be successful. The whole process should not take longer than 10 minutes, including gathering your ingredients. Remember to read the recipe thoroughly BEFORE starting and follow it EXACTLY. Do not make adjustments or substitutions when baking. Speed is the key when making pie dough. You want to work quickly so it stays cold and remains easy to work with. Don’t worry; I’ll walk you through it.

Flaky, Tender Pie Crust
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour (make sure it is all purpose and NOT self rising!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled or frozen unsalted butter (it MUST be unsalted)
4 tablespoons ice water

1. No need to sift, just loosely scoop the flour to measure, and then blend it and salt in a food processor for 10 seconds.
2. “Cut in” butter by adding one small section (about a tablespoon at a time) to the food processor, then pulse each section until barely incorporated. It should start to look like coarse meal or sand.
3. Add 4 tablespoons of ice water one tablespoon at a time until moist clumps form. Add more only if the mixture will not hold together when pinched between two fingers.
4. If you used chilled butter, remove it from the food processor, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. If you used frozen butter, roll it out on a floured surface right now!
5. When you roll use long, even strokes. Allow the pin to roll continuously as you lift it off the surface of the dough. Turn the dough as you roll it to get a circle shape. Roll it out bigger than your pie pan. Add more flour if the dough sticks to either the work surface or the rolling pin. Remember, it does not have to look perfect. If the edges are cracking and pulling apart crimp them together but do not overwork it. You can easily patch the dough once you get it into the pie pan.
6. Move it to the pie pan. But wait! Read this first: Use your rolling pin (or wine bottle if you’re cheap) to help you. Place the pin at the edge of the dough farthest away from you and use your hands to gently roll the dough over the top of the pin as you roll the pin towards you. Do not allow the two ends to touch. You want the dough in an upside down “U” shape over the rolling pin. Then gently unroll the dough into the pie pan.
7. Press the dough into place, make sure it’s in full contact with the pan, and patch any tears with dough that hangs over the edge. Don’t worry about a fancy rim. Just take your rolling pin and roll over the top of the pie pan. This will “cut” any extra dough off. No one will care what it looks like because it will taste so good.
8. Put the pie crust in the freezer for 20 minutes, and then add whatever filling you want, following those instructions for cooking time. Freezing the dough keeps it from burning and it also keeps the dough from absorbing the filling during baking and becoming soggy.

Again, I know this looks like a long recipe, but once you start you’ll realize it’s actually quite easy. Maybe even as easy as homemade pie!

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