Before I found this recipe, pie crust – and really pies in general, had been my nemesis. Jon prefers pie over cake. So I tried, God I tried. But I always had issues with the dough splitting and cracking, or not rolling out evenly. Not to mention my rolling skills weren’t the best to begin with. But I knew that pie crust was something that I had to get the hang of, so I soldiered on and finally came across this recipe from Annie.
Couldn’t be simpler! There’s no funny techniques or weird ingredients (I’m looking at you, vodka) to worry about. It’s made in the stand mixer, which is always a plus – the paddle attachment breaks up the butter pieces as a pastry cutter would do. A little chilling period in the refrigerator to firm it up before rolling out, and then voila – a pie crust that rolls out beautifully, and it still sturdy enough to work with to get in the pan and get your crimping done. Not to mention it’s always perfectly tender and flaky as well…everything that a pie crust should be!
I’ve used this recipe for pies that require a blind bake (for something like this Cherry Cheese Pie, where you need a baked pie shell, but the pie-filling doesn’t need to be cooked) or for something like Ricotta-Pineapple Pie, where the whole pie needs to go in the oven to bake. In either even, it always turns out beautifully. If you too have struggled with pie crusts in the past, give this recipe a try. It really was a lifesaver for me, and now I’m so proud of my many pie accomplishments in the kitchen!
Perfect Pie Crust
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
8 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into cubes
3 Tbsp. ice water
Combine the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix briefly to blend. Add in the butter pieces and mix on medium-low speed to cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse sand and the largest butter pieces are not much bigger than peas. Mix in the cold water on low speed just until the dough comes together.
Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Remove from the refrigerator and let sit for 10 minutes . Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Use as directed in your desired pie recipe.
Source: adapted from William’s Sonoma via Annie’s Eats
