Monday, November 29, 2010

All Butter Pie Crust

I made two cherry pies and one pumpkin pie for our Thanksgiving gathering. My sister-in-law requested that I make a piecrust pie next time; she loved this crust so much! My father-in-law ate pie for breakfast the following day, with a sad remark about there being no more for the afternoon. Head to Simply Recipes for the full version of the recipe. I'm sure it's even better than the way I did it! Here's the shortcut method I adapted:

All Butter Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into chunks
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
6 to 8 Tbsp ice water

Cut the sticks of butter into chunks and place in the freezer for 15 minutes to an hour.

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in the Bosch bowl with whisks. Change to cookie paddles. Add butter and blend until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, mixing until mixture just begins to clump together.

Remove dough from bowl and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a butter knife or kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

Add filling to the pie.

Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork. Score the top of the pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.

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