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Easy Pie Crust

Author: Jess Smith via Inquiring Chef

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup cake flour
  • 1 tbsp. sugar
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 8 tbsp. chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 pieces
  • 3 tablespoons (or more) ice water

Instructions

  • Mix both flours, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add butter and, working quickly, break butter up with your fingers, blending it with the flour. Do this until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. If your butter starts to feel warm during this process, put the bowl in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to get the butter cold again and resume.
  • Add the water to the mixture 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing it in completely with your hands to moisten and bind the dough. Continue adding water until moist clumps form.
  • Gather dough into a ball and flatten into a round disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour (or up to 1 day).
  • Soften dough slightly at room temperature and roll out on a lightly floured surface. Transfer to pie dish and fold crust edge under evenly. Chill pie dish with crust in refrigerator for 30 minutes before adding filling.
  • Fill with any contents you can dream up!

Notes

If you prefer to use the food processor rather than your hands to mix this dough, you can easily do that as well. Just pulse the first four ingredients in the processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse corn meal. Slowly add the water and pulse until moist clumps form. Continue with step 3 above.
Adapted from Bon Appetit, November 2000