Pie Crust

WIP - stealing from here

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups (324 grams) all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces, or 227 grams) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

Instructions -

1. Mix flour, sugar, and salt Put flour, sugar, and salt into the bowl and mix a couple times to mix.
2. Add butter Add the butter half at a time, mixing several times after each addition. Add about half of the butter and mix several times. Then add the rest of the butter and mix 6 to 8 times until the largest pieces of butter are about the size of large peas.

Important: do not overmix, otherwise the mixture/dough will become too tough.

3. Slowly add ice water

Sprinkle the mixture with about 1/4 cup of ice water (make sure there are no ice cubes in the water!) and mix again. Then add more ice water, a tablespoon at a time, mixing once or twice after each addition until the dough just barely begins to hold together.

You know that the mixture is ready if when you pinch some of the crumbly dough together with your fingers, it holds together. Be cautious with the amount of water you add, too much and the crust will be tough.

4. Make two dough disks Carefully empty the crumbly dough mixture on to a clean, dry, flat surface. Gather the mixture in a mound.

Divide the dough mixture into two even-sized mounds. Use your hands and knead each mound just enough to form each one into a disk. Do not over-knead! Kneading develops gluten which will toughen the dough, not something you want in a pastry crust. You should just knead enough so that the dough holds together without cracks.

If you started with cold butter you should be able to see small chunks of butter speckling the dough. This is a good thing. These small bits of butter will spread out into layers as the crust cooks so you have a flaky crust!

Sprinkle each disk with a little flour, wrap each one in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

5. Remove dough from refrigerator and let sit for a few minutes Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier.
6. Roll the dough

Place the dough in pie a dish and roll it out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking.

Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate.

Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

7. Add filling to the pie.

Self-explanatory.

8. Roll out the second disk

The second disk is for placing on top of the pie. Roll out the second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie.

Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together.

Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork.

Score the top of the pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.

That’s it!