Recipe: How to Make Pie Crust from Scratch

I was thinking the other day pie crust from scratch is much more versatile than I thought: it doesn’t even have to be for fruit-based pies, or pies in general. The pastry can be put in the base of muffin tins or folded into savoury pockets.

The key to making the crust, from what I’ve found, is making sure that everything is cold. The colder the better, in fact.  I also got myself a dough blender to break up the solids without overworking them. It might be an extra purchase, but I’ll be using it for other baking adventures like banana bread and crumbling toppings.

Note: this recipe requires a minimum of 2 hours of refrigeration time, so factor that in to your pie-making plan.

Recipe: Pie Crust from Scratch

Ingredients

2.5 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
1 tsp salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cube and chill
2/3 cup vegetable shortening, chilled
1/2 cup (ice cold) water  

Instructions

1. Start the dough in a large bowl and whisk the flour and salt together. Add the cold butter and the shortening. Using the dough blender/pastry cutter (or forks, if you don’t have one) break it down until it resembles coarse crumbs (some large chunks are okay).
   

   

2. Measure out ½ cup of ice water, making sure the ice cubes have melted, as it needs to be very cold. 
3. Slowly, about one tablespoon at a time, add the water to the mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon or a spatula after every addition. Keep adding until the dough begins to clump together—you don’t want to add more water than needed, but you also might need to add more if the dough is too loose.
   

   

4. Flour a clean surface and move the dough over to it. Work the dough until it comes together, adding a tiny bit of water if it is too dry or a sprinkle of flour if it’s too sticky. Form into a ball and cut evenly in half, then flatten the two parts into about 1-inch high disks, and wrap with plastic wrap.
   
5. Chill in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours or up to 2 or 3 days.
6. When you’re ready to roll it out, take one disk out at a time and place on a floured surface. Lightly flour the top of the dough as well as your rolling pin. Depending on what you’re using it for, you can roll it out to different shapes or sizes, but the following instructions will be for a pie crust.
7. Starting from the centre, roll the dough outwards, rotating and flipping the dough as you go. You will want the dough to be about 12 inches in diameter when you’ve finished rolling, so that the edges will go up the sides and cover the dish.
   

   

8. Transfer to the pie dish and press it into the edges. Trim off the excess from around the top and then pinch to crimp the edges if you are making a pie without a top crust.
9. Follow the same directions as above for the top of the pie (if using) and crimp the edges together. You can also cut pieces of the dough to make a lattice if you want to get fancy.
   

   

If you are only using half the dough, you can wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, put it in a freezer bag and freeze for up to about 3 months! (Thaw the day before you want to use it.)

Enjoy!