10 December 2012 Fail Proof Pie Crust

Fail Proof Pie Crust

December 10, 2012 By

I have been using this pie crust recipe by Martha Stewart for several years and it never fails to produce flaky crusts with minimal efforts.

Throw all the ingredients in the food processor and voila, perfect pie crust everytime!

This pie crust recipe makes enough for two 9″ crusts and they freeze amazingly well for up to three months if wrapped in plastic wrap then placed in a zip top bag.

Ingredients:

  • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp. sugar
  • 1 1/4 tsp. coarse salt
  • 2 1/4 sticks (18 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 10 Tbsp. ice water, plus more if needed

Directions:

  1. Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube until dough just holds together (no longer than 30 seconds).
  2. Divide dough in half, and shape into disks. Wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days).

Makes two 9″ pie crusts.

Filed Under: American, Desserts Tagged With: ,
2 March 2011 Simple Tart Crust

Simple Tart Crust

March 2, 2011 By

Tart Crust

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 sticks, 12 tbsp, butter, frozen and cut into small cubes
  • 1 egg, slightly beaten

Directions

  1. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the sugar, flour and salt. Add the butter cubes to the flour mixture and pulse until the butter is incorporated and looks like coarse oatmeal, about 30 seconds.  Add the egg and pulse for about 15 seconds to fully incorporate.
  2. Turn the dough out onto a large piece of shrink wrap and lightly knead the dough until all dry ingredients are incorporate – do not overwork the dough! Flatten the dough into a disk using the shrink wrap as a guide and chill in the refrigerator for an hour.
  3. Lightly coat a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom with cooking spray (could also butter).
  4. Place a large sheet of shrink wrap on a work surface, top with the chilled dough disk then cover the disk with a second piece of shrink wrap.  Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a 12-inch round (fear not if you get cracks at this stage).  Remove the top piece of shrink wrap and turn dough into the tart pan using the bottom piece of shrink wrap as an aid.  Remove the shrink wrap and press dough into the pan lightly with fingertips, repairing any cracks in dough. Trim overhanging dough with a sharp knife creating a clean edge.  Using a fork, dock the crust all over, including the edge.
  5. Freeze the crust for 30 – 60 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  6. Place the frozen tart pan on a cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes, until lightly golden.  Using the back of a spoon, flatten any part of the crust that might have puffed out during baking.
  7. Fill the crust with your favorite topping.
Filed Under: Desserts, French Tagged With: , , ,

Press-In Shortbread Pie Crust (Martha Stewart Living November 2009)

October 24, 2009 By

Saw this simple recipe in the November 2009 issue of Living and thought it’d be perfect for Thanksgiving and holiday pies, like my maple syrup pie.

Ingredients:

  • 2 ounces (4 tbs) butter, softened
  • 3 tbs sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt

Directions:

  1. Stir together butter and sugar in a medium bowl.  Stir in yolk.  Add flour and salt, and stir until mixture is dry and crumbly.  Press dough into bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie dish.  Freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Bake, rotating halfway through, just until crust turns golden, 20-22 minutes.  Let cool in dish on a wire rack.
  3. Fill with chosen filling.
Filed Under: Desserts Tagged With: , , , , ,

Easy, Sure-to-Roll Pie Crust

October 22, 2009 By

This recipe is ‘simple-as-pie’.  While it’s tender and flaky, it’s not difficult to roll out.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter (2 sticks), chilled & cut into tablespoon-size pieces
  • 1/3 cup water, chilled
  • 3 tbs sugar
  • 3 cups flour

Directions:


  1. Combine the sugar and the flour in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Add the chilled butter pieces, a few pieces at a time, to the flour and sugar.

    Pie Crust Butter

    Pie Crust Butter

  2. With the mixer on low speed , add the cold water.  When the dough starts to clump, stop the mixer.  Do not wait for the dough to form a ball.

    Pie Crust Desired Consistency

    Pie Crust Desired Consistency

  3. Lightly gather and knead the dough in the bowl until it forms a ball. Divide dough into two parts (if using this recipe for a double-crust pie, make one part slightly larger than the other to allow for the top crust).  Flatten each part into a disk, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  Remove dough from refrigerator about 5 minutes before rolling.

    Pie Crust Form in a Disk

    Pie Crust Form in a Disk

Filed Under: Desserts Tagged With: ,