I had a few requests for my pie crust recipe - I posted it today on my other blog but figured I'd cross-post it here, since, you know, we talk about this kind of stuff here.
Up until recently, I used a pie crust recipe that called for both butter and shortening. And, I thought I was making some great crust. Then a couple months ago I tried this all butter recipe and my dear husband stated that he liked it even better than my usual crust. So, I've made the switch over to using this one. It saves me from having to worry about whether or not I have any shortening. It also saves my body from having to process shortening. I think we're all winning.
Also, I've traditionally been a hands-on crust maker - no food processor, no cutting in with a knife (does that even work?!?). But I've made a switch over to using the food processor, if for no other reason than that it keeps my hands much cleaner. And, I think it might be a tad faster.
Combine 2.5 cups flour, 1 Tbps sugar, and 3/4 tsp salt.
Add in 1 cup of chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
Pulse in the processor (or whatever method you like) until a coarse meal forms.
Then add in ice water, a few tablespoons at a time.
Here's where I go rogue. The recipe says 6 tbsp ice water. Here in this dry climate, I usually end up using 10-12 tbsp. Now, some pastry chefs would probably tell me that I make my dough too wet. I have never ever had a problem. The dough is easier to roll out if it's a tad moist. Basically you want enough water so that your dough is clumping and sticking together.
Then, turn it out onto a clean space, form a ball, divide in half, flatten into disks, wrap each in saran wrap, and let chill for at least 30 minutes - 2 hours. Or overnight.
If you are going to use this dough to make pasties (see below), then leave out the sugar.
Mmmm, pie crust. Any dough you don't use can be put onto a baking sheet, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, and baked for 15-ish minutes...and then enjoyed with a class of cold milk.
