The basic bitch that is all-butter pie crust.

I have already shared this recipe in one pie, but I have decided to make this post so there will be a reference for it, when I do, in fact, want to use it for something.  

This has been my go-to for several years, but I am wishing to branch out this year, and learn new ones.  I made one yesterday, and had to take the photos myself, because my lovely assistant has the flu, and was not able to help me.  

I will add a couple of pictures to this as time goes on, because it was impossible to get all of the shots I needed with dirty hands.  And well?  You'll get your hands dirty if you make this, but the results are worth it.  Trust me.

You will need:

A smooth, clean, flat surface for rolling out your dough.

A rolling pin

A medium, to large sized mixing bowl

A pastry cutter, or fork, or two butter knives

A refrigerator

Cling wrap

A 9" pie plate

Ingredients:

340.2 g  (2 3/4 C)  all purpose flour, or 1/1 gluten free flour equivalent

227 g, or 2 sticks very cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1/2 c  or 125 ml Ice water.  (It is likely you will not need this much.  Go tablespoon by tablespoon with this.)

1/2 tsp salt

Method:

Add 12 ounces of flour to a bowl.  Add salt, and whisk to combine. 

Add butter chunks, and cut this into the mixture with your pastry blender or fork,

until the mixture resembles little white peas in sand.

Start adding cold water to this; one tablespoon at a time.  The reason for this has to do with humidity in your kitchen.  This always varies, and some days, you may need a lot of water.  Other days?  Not so much.  So go slow, and pay attention to the consistency of your dough.

Once you have something that holds together nicely, form it into a ball with your hands.  Make the ball fairly even in shape.

So, you've got a decent sized ball of dough now.  Take this ball flatten it slightly, and wrap in cling film to store in the refrigerator, at least 30 minutes.  An hour, is better.

Once you have everything chilled well, let it sit for about 10 minutes, so it's easier to work with.  Be sure to flour your work surface well, to avoid sticking.  In dough, pliability is a good thing, but again, you don't want your dough to be so soft all of the butter runs out when you go to bake it.

I take my disk, and then I bash it evenly with a rolling pin to start the flattening process.  This is a good trick to have up your sleeve, because it helps keep the dough from splitting or tearing on you, and the butter also remains very cold.  If the dough does split or tear, just stop and press it back together carefully.

Once you have it flattened out a bit, start rolling.  I do one roll per quarter-turn.  This will ensure the dough won't start sticking to the table.  Feel free to re-flour any surfaces that start sticking.   I also tend to flip it over once in a while to check for tearing on one side, or the other.  It can start doing that, and it's easy to fix if you catch it before you have something too thin.  You will want this disc to roll out to about a 12 inch circle.  Once you have that, bring your pie dish close enough to reach, place your rolling pin in the center of your dough, and bring it up over the sides to plop down onto the pie plate.

Trim slightly.  You will have a tiny bit of extra dough.  Use that bit of trimmed dough to work the crust into the sides of the pan.  I have never had a lick of trouble with just a clean pie plate here.  None. Don't worry about greasing first.

Dock with a fork, like so.  This will help keep it from puffing up or getting weird bubbles in it 

Fluting is also a thing that's not hard.  Just take your thumb and forefingers, form a triangle with them to get an idea.  Next, use that shape with your thumb on the inner part of the circle, with your fingers on the outside, and go around the circumference of the pie, until you meet your first impression.

Now, you should refrigerate again, for about 30 minutes before baking.   Follow the instructions on the various pie recipes I will bring this to, for temperatures, times, and further instructions.

-H