Pie Crust

In trying to imitate my grandmother’s pie crusts, I started by aiming for flakiness. Experiments over the years usually resulted in something too tough. Over time, my goals shifted toward a tender crust: something easily cut with a fork. This can be achieved by simply integrating the flour and butter more finely, coating the flour in fat before adding water.

Cut butter into ¼‑inch cubes. Place about 10 tablespoons of cubed butter in the refrigerator, and place the rest in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Add ice to a half cup of water, and stir in the vinegar.

Measure flour, sugar, and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to mix. Add the refrigerated butter to the flour. Pulse into coarse meal. Add the frozen butter chunks and vanilla. Continue to pulse into a fine meal, and then until the dough is just starting to hold together a bit.

Empty crumbles into a mixing bowl, and add about ¼ cup of the ice water. Start mixing by hand until the dough starts to hold together. Add more water a teaspoon at a time as necessary until a cohesive dough is formed. Divide dough into two equal portions, shape each into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill several hours or overnight.

Take dough from refrigerator and let rest a few minutes until pliable enough for rolling. Unwrap a disk, flour a surface and the top of the disk. Start rolling the dough into a circle a few inches larger than the pie plate, turning frequently to prevent sticking. Drape the dough into the pie plate. Trim excess dough, and roll the rest under to form the edge, and crimp. Prick the bottom several times with a fork.

Blind Baking

Some pies need a pre-baked crust. Preheat oven to 375° F. The crust will tend to shrink down the sides when baking. To minimize this, use foil or crumple a large square of parchment paper, unfold it, and set it in the pie plate on top of the crust. Press the foil or parchment up the sides. Fill completely with pie weights or dry beans. Bake about 15 minutes until crust-edge is starting to brown.

Lift out the parchment and pie weights. If the pie will be going back in the oven after filling, you can stop here. If making a crust for a chilled pie, you probably need a fully-baked crust: let it bake for another 12 to 15 minutes.