Pie Dough
This pie dough is my go to for fruit pies, pot pies, homemade toaster strudels and more! It's versatile and always is a show stopper!
Prep Time: 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes
Course: Appetizer, brunch, Dessert, Hand held, Main Course
Cuisine: American, French
Keyword: Butter, Crust, Dough, Flaky, Pie
Servings: 0
Kitchen Scale
Pastry Cutter
Large Mixing Bowl
Measuring Cups
- 2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour 315g
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter (85g) Cubed, Cold
- 2/3 Cup Vegetable Shortening (130g) Cubed, Cold
- 1/2 Cup Cold Water 120 ml
PIE DOUGH
Mix the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Add the cold butter and shortening to the flour, and begin to toss the fat with the flour, making sure each piece is coated in flour. As you're tossing the fat into the flour, begin to flatten some of the piece of butter between your index finger and thumb. Continue until everything is coated in flour and broken up.
Use a pastry cutter to break up the fat even more. Press the pastry cutter down and turn. Repeat. When there is a build up, clean it off and toss the ingredients together to redistribute everything in the bowl. Continue until you start to see small pea - walnut sized pieces forming.
Create a well in the center of the bowl and add in 1/2 cup of cold water. Using your fingers toss the flour and fat mixture with the water. As you notice some larger clumps forming, break them up and keep tossing until it seems like everything is evenly hydrated.
Inspect the dough, if you notice some areas that look dry or like coarse sand add 1 tablespoon of cold water at a time.
Once the dough will easily come together by pinching it between your fingers, dump it out on a clean work surface. Do not knead. Using both hand bring it together to form it into a ball.
Cut it in half then form each half into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
FOLD THE DOUGH - FOR EXTRA FLAKY PIE DOUGH
Prepare your work surface: Place a dough disk on a lightly floured work surface and dust the top with flour.
Roll out the dough: Starting with the rolling pin in the center of the dough, roll up. Re-center and then roll down. Pick up the dough and do a quarter turn. If the dough sticks at all, dust lightly with flour. Continue until it forms a long oval/rectangle with two short sides and two longer sides.
Fold the dough: Starting at a short end fold it 2/3rds of the way across. Dust off any excess flour. Take the other short end and fold it on top. Again, dust off any excess. Fold that letter in half. You just made 6 layers!
Re-wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes or preferable over night. If you are making a pie, tuck the edges under themselves to form a disk. This will help it to roll into a circle.
Repeat with the other dough disk.
MAKE THE PIE
Prepare your work surface to roll out the dough. Place the dough disk on a lightly floured work surface and dust the top with flour.
Roll out the dough until it is 1/4 inch thick using the instructions listed above. Transfer it to a pie dish and coax it into the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you roll out the top crust.
Roll out the top crust and repeat the instructions above.
Put the room temperature filling into the pie dish and place the top crust over it. Crimp the edges, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Optional: Re-crimp the crust to secure the design.
BAKE THE PIE
Pre-Heat the oven to 425°
Freeze the whole pie for 30 minutes while you wait for the oven to heat up.
Bake for 30 min at 425°, lower the temperature to 375° and bake for an additional 30 min. If the crust is begins to brown too much during the baking process cover the crust loosely with tin foil.