Pâte Brisée

Oct 9

Written By Erin McDowell

Two whole pies sit on a marble surface. One of them has stars cut out from the top crust, and laid on the surface of the pie, the other has snowflake cutouts covering the surface. — *Photo by Mark Weinberg*

MAKES

One 9 inch / 23 cm pie crust

TAKES

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: n/a
Total: 15 minutes

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✻ ABOUT THIS RECIPE

You can file this under my easiest pie crust recipe, thanks to the help of the food processor, which makes quick work of incorporating the butter into the flour. Unlike my typical All Buttah Pie Dough, this recipe incorporates the butter almost entirely into the flour - which makes it easy, but it’s always reliably flaky. I prefer to add the water in a bowl by hand because it’s easiest to control and get the hydration “just right.” If you don’t have a food processor, you can mix this dough with a pastry cutter or by hand - it’s still less finicky than some of my other doughs, and great for beginners or folks who struggle with crusts. If you are making a double crust pie or multiple pies, this recipe doubles (or even triples!) well.

INGREDIENTS

150 g / 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 g / ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

113 g / 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch / 13 mm cubes

45 g / 3 tablespoons ice water, plus more as needed (you will need more than the base amount!)

More Pie Tips This Way:

METHOD

1. In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt to combine. Add the cubed butter, breaking up the cubes when you add them to the food processor bowl.

2. Pulse the mixture to combine, continuing to pulse until the mixture forms a coarse meal and the butter is almost completely incorporated, and no longer visible as individual pieces.

3. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the amount of ice water listed in the recipe to the well, but have more on hand. Use a tossing motion with your hands to start to mix the two together (this begins to combine them without creating too much gluten). As it begins to become hydrated, you can start to use more of a kneading motion – but don’t overdo it: this will make the dough tough. Add more water about 15 g / 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is properly hydrated: it should be uniformly combined and hold together easily, but it won’t look totally smooth. Dough that is too dry may have sort of a “dusty” appearance, or pockets of un-hydrated flour. It will not hold together and will appear crumbly. Dough that is too wet will feel sticky or tacky to the touch, and is often smoother and/or lighter in color.

4. Form the dough into an even disk (or into another shape if directed by the recipe – or if you are multiplying the recipe to make multiple crusts, divide the dough appropriately). Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days before using.

NOTES

To Roll Out the Dough: Lightly dust a work surface with flour, and lightly dust a rolling pin, if desired. Roll out the dough to about ¼ inch / 6 mm thick, rotating it as you work to help prevent it from sticking. To transfer the dough to the pan, gently roll it up, wrapping it around the pin, then unfurl it into the pie plate.
To Prepare the Edge for Crimping: On a single crust pie, use scissors to trim away the excess dough, leaving about ½ inch excess all the way around the outside edge of the pie plate. Tuck this excess dough under, pressing gently to make it flush with the edge of the pie plate. On a double crust pie, gently press the top and bottom crust together to flatten the dough slightly, then trim the excess and tuck under ss directed for a single crust pie.
To Par-Bake the Dough: (To partially bake the crust , before filling and baking again - best for single crust pies.) Dock the crimped single crust pie dough with a fork and chill well (at least 30 minutes). Cut a square of parchment paper slightly larger than the diameter of a pie plate, and press it into the base of the pie plate. Fill with pie weights to the top inner rim of the pie plate. Bake in a 425°F oven until the edges begin to lightly brown, 15-17 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and pie weights, and return to the oven until the lower portion of the crust appears dry and set, 2-3 minutes more. Cool completely before filling.
To Blind-Bake the Dough:(To fully bake the crust, prior to filling with a filling that doesn’t require baking - best for cream and cold-set pies.) Follow the instructions for par-baking, but bake until it is fully golden brown. After removing the pie weights, bake for 5-7 minutes. Cool completely before filling.