There are as many pie crust recipes as people in the world – and they look mostly the same. So is there really a difference?
After spending years making SO MANY pies and trying different recipes and techniques, I feel that there is absolutely a difference AND many of them are good recipes. This is my recipe, distilled from many pies and obscene amounts of flour and butter.
This is a flaky pie crust. It has a higher level of hydration than some so it’s easier to handle – but because of the hydration it’s not as great for decorative crusts. If you want crispy edges to stay intact, I’d recommend upping the flour a bit and using slightly less water.
But if your goal is gloriously flaky crust, that puffs into visible layers and shatters in your mouth into crisp and buttery bits, I’ve got you covered.
Ultimate Flaky Pie Crust
2
9" crusts15
minutes1
hourIf you’ve been holding out on buying a scale for your kitchen, now’s the time to bite the bullet and get one. Pie crust is very precise when it comes to flour volume – a little variance makes a big difference.
It’s very easy to make crust by hand, and yields much better results than using a food processor. Give it a try and you’ll be sold by the difference it makes.
Ingredients
300 grams of all purpose flour (about 2 cups)
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 teas. sea salt
1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup very cold water
Directions
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt.
- Add butter cubes, tossing to coat in flour. Working quickly, squish the butter cubes into large, pecan sized chunks. Forget everything you’ve ever read about make them pea sized – bigger is better. You want large, flattened chunks.
- Using a spatula, add the water a little at a time, tossing the flour mixture with the water, to incorporate. Gently combine, folding the loose dough with your spatula, until a shaggy dough comes together.
- Dump out dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a long rectangle, about 12 inches by 4 inches. Pat it so it holds together then fold over the sides on top of each other, like a letter, making a tall square. These folds are a lazy lamination technique and are important for our flakiness.
- Gently roll out the dough, starting from the middle, into a rectangle about 6×12. Cut in half to make two 6×6 squares and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for AT LEAST and hour. This will hydrate the dough and chill the butter, making it easier to roll out and resulting in flakier crust.
- Use according to recipe directions for your pie.
