Pie season is upon us, so here's a simple recipe for a deep dish pie crust. It turns out flaky and crisp, baking perfectly for those recipes where you need a pre-baked bottom crust. If you are making a double crust pie, just double everything and you'll have plenty of dough, and enough left over for a few sugary cinnamon roll treats.
Since the amount of water in butter varies from brand to brand, sometimes lessening the amount of actual fat you are adding to the recipe, you may end up with a crust that has too much water and is therefor tough. I like to use whole milk instead of water for the liquid in my crusts. The fat content in whole milk replaces the fat that may be missing from some butters (because some butters have more water than others), making a richer flakier crust, which I like a lot! And because milk is a bit sweet naturally, it helps brown the crust beautifully. Also, some recipes add a bit of vinegar to the mix which relaxes the gluten and makes for a more tender crust. I like to add a bit of plain yogurt or sour cream to the milk before mixing it into the flour, which produces the same result, the acidity of yogurt/sour cream doing the trick. If you don't have yogurt or sour cream in the house, just add 1/2 tsp vinegar to the whole milk. The idea is to add back some fat content and a bit of acid at the same time...so much better than plain water!
Okay, now for a real confession. I never refrigerate my pie dough. Never. There, I said it! I just find it so easy to work with, much easier than a cold hard lump of dough. I know, I know, it flies against conventional wisdom, but it works for me. I invite you to try my pie crust, the simplicity of it all, and let me know what you think!
Oh yea, one more thing. Those pie weights...I didn't have any. I threw away the jar of dried beans I had used for the purpose; they had served their time. And I forgot to get some more, ughhhh! I needed something now! And there it was, a beautiful jar of popcorn...carry on...
Okay, now for a real confession. I never refrigerate my pie dough. Never. There, I said it! I just find it so easy to work with, much easier than a cold hard lump of dough. I know, I know, it flies against conventional wisdom, but it works for me. I invite you to try my pie crust, the simplicity of it all, and let me know what you think!
Oh yea, one more thing. Those pie weights...I didn't have any. I threw away the jar of dried beans I had used for the purpose; they had served their time. And I forgot to get some more, ughhhh! I needed something now! And there it was, a beautiful jar of popcorn...carry on...
Perfect Pie Crust
Yields 1 deep dish shell
Oven set at 400, then 350 degrees
Total bake time is 30 minutes
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) of unsalted butter, cold
3 Tb whole milk
2 Tb plain yogurt or sour cream
Measure the flour and salt into a medium size work bowl, stirring to combine. Cut the stick of butter into the flour and using your hands, a pastry cutter or your food processor, work in the butter until it looks similar to the image above, pea size flakes of butter in a crumbly flour mix. (I used my hands here) In a separate small bowl, mix the yogurt and milk together. Pout it over the flour mix and gently work it all into a ball that shows a beautiful marbling of butter in the dough. Form it into a ball, then a disc ready to roll out.
Now if you are the type who needs to refrigerate your dough, go ahead. I'm moving on and going for the floured rolling board. So when you're ready, roll out the dough into a size appropriate for your pie plate. Place in plate and crimp the edges into your most impressive design. Place the raw crust in your freezer for 15 minutes. While your oven pre-heats to 400 degrees, get your pie weights (small ball bearings from the hardware store, dried beans from the grocery store, expensive pie weights from the over priced culinary specialty store, or popcorn from your cupboard...take your pick!) and parchment paper.
When the oven is ready, line the very cold raw pie crust with parchment paper and fill with weights. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate pan and bake for another 10 minutes. Lower oven to 350 degrees and remove pie shell from oven; remove the weights. Prick bottom of shell with a fork and return to 350 degree oven for another 10 minutes or until golden. Cool completely.
Yields 1 deep dish shell
Oven set at 400, then 350 degrees
Total bake time is 30 minutes
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) of unsalted butter, cold
3 Tb whole milk
2 Tb plain yogurt or sour cream
Measure the flour and salt into a medium size work bowl, stirring to combine. Cut the stick of butter into the flour and using your hands, a pastry cutter or your food processor, work in the butter until it looks similar to the image above, pea size flakes of butter in a crumbly flour mix. (I used my hands here) In a separate small bowl, mix the yogurt and milk together. Pout it over the flour mix and gently work it all into a ball that shows a beautiful marbling of butter in the dough. Form it into a ball, then a disc ready to roll out.
Now if you are the type who needs to refrigerate your dough, go ahead. I'm moving on and going for the floured rolling board. So when you're ready, roll out the dough into a size appropriate for your pie plate. Place in plate and crimp the edges into your most impressive design. Place the raw crust in your freezer for 15 minutes. While your oven pre-heats to 400 degrees, get your pie weights (small ball bearings from the hardware store, dried beans from the grocery store, expensive pie weights from the over priced culinary specialty store, or popcorn from your cupboard...take your pick!) and parchment paper.
When the oven is ready, line the very cold raw pie crust with parchment paper and fill with weights. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate pan and bake for another 10 minutes. Lower oven to 350 degrees and remove pie shell from oven; remove the weights. Prick bottom of shell with a fork and return to 350 degree oven for another 10 minutes or until golden. Cool completely.
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