First things first. Every pie maker needs a standby pie dough recipe. Here’s ours:
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons cane sugar
2 sticks (16T) cold butter, cut into cubes
a pinch of salt
8-10 Tablespoons ice water
Instructions
- Combine flour, sugar, butter, and salt in a mixing bowl. Using a pastry cutter, a fork, or your hands, thoroughly mash up the butter and mix it into the flour. Stop when the butter has reached the size of peas. Add in 8 Tablespoons of ice water, and use a wooden spoon to fully combine. If the dough looks too dry, add the remaining 2 Tablespoons of water. The dough should hold together in a rough ball, but shouldn’t be wet or sticky.
- Dump dough onto a floured surface and use your hands to form it into a ball. Slightly flatten the ball, and fold in half, pressing down to seal the dough to itself. Repeat this two more times. This helps create flaky layers in the dough.
- Divide the dough in half, flatten into a disc, and wrap both pieces in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes before using, or up to 5 days in advance.
Yields enough dough for one double-crust pie, or two single crust pies.
Recipe by Chelsea Colbath of Baked Greens.