I turned a few apples into filling and wanted to make hand pies. But I didn’t want to “deal with” making pie dough. Oh my…it almost happened to me! A seasoned baker becoming intimidated by what should be the easiest thing to make. No! This can’t happen.
So I got out the food processor, pulsed the butter and flour until things were a crumbly, uniform texture and then started adding the ice water a tablespoon at a time, pulsing until a nice ball of dough began to form around the blade. No pile of dry crumbs to frissage. No fear that the next tablespoon of water would make for a tough crust. It was a dream. Pie dough making became easy and fun again! And the little hand pies had the flakiest, most delicious pastry I’ve made in a long time.
Amy's Perfect Pie Dough (the easy way)
makes enough for a 9-inch double crust pie or about a dozen 6-inch hand pies
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 12 tbsp unsalted butter If using regular butter like Land of Lakes which is salted, cut back additional salt to none or just a pinch
- 4 tbsp Crisco or other non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tall glass of ice water, you will use 6-8 tablespoons, as needed for the dough to come together
Instructions
-
Measure flour and salt into work bowl of your food processor. Add the butter and shortening chunks and pulse until mixture is uniformly crumbly.
-
From glass of ice water, measure out 4 tablespoons and sprinkle over the crumbly dough. Pulse a few times to incorporate. If mixture seems dry, add the remaining 2 tablespoons ice water and pulse just until the mixture begins to form a ball.
-
Turn out onto lightly floured work surface and pat into a rough disc a couple inches thick. Cut in half, one side a bit larger than the other, and flatten and round each into discs about an inch thick. Wrap each in plastic or parchment and refrigerate for at least 1 hour then it is ready for rolling.
Recipe Notes / Tips
-
Make ahead note: you can store the dough rounds in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Any longer and the flour will start to discolor. You can freeze the dough rounds, well wrapped in a freezer bag, for up to 2 months. When you want to use it, set the frozen round in the refrigerator overnight or until it is pliable.
- For hand pies: roll the dough out quite thinly and use an approximate 5-inch yogurt container or bowl to cut circles. I then use a rolling pin to get each circle a little thinner and a little bigger, about 6-inches in diameter. Add about 2 tablespoons filling in center, dot with butter, fold over into half-moons, crimp, cut decorative steam vents, than bake on a parchment-lined sheet pan for about 25-30 minutes at 425°F until the crust is just beginning to brown.
