Parnell's Pantry: Pie Dough

Monday, November 19, 2012

Pie Dough

Making pie dough really is not as complicated as it sounds.If you have a food processor, then it really becomes a quick process. This particular dough is made with butter and shortening. The most important thing is for the ingredients to be super cold! If they are not, you will wind up with soggy dough.I like this dough around the holidays, because it is light and flaky.The following recipe will give you enough dough for two single crust pies, or one double crust pie. It is a great idea to make a few batches,then wrap and freeze them, this way making a pie will be, well, as easy as pie (corny, I know, but I had to do it).

Ingredients:
10 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
6 Tbsp. shortening, cold , cut into cubes
pinch of salt
1 tsp. sugar
2-1/4 c. flour
1/3 (possibly a touch more), ice cold water

In the bowl of your food processor, mix the flour, salt and sugar. Add the butter and shortening,and pulse only a few short times. The butter and shortening should be the size of peas. With the processor running, slowly add the water through the opening,until the dough comes together in a ball- like shape. DO NOT add all of the water at once...you may end up with mushy dough. A little more water can always be added if it is too dry, but once you add too much water, you cannot take it away!

Pour the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper.Form it into a round, then cut it in half. Form each piece into a round, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap, or place in a plastic storage bag. Refrigerate for at least one hour, then roll out onto a generously floured surface, and place into your pie plate as follows.

How To Roll Out Pie Dough:
Place the dough on a floured surface. Roll from the middle out, turning the dough a half -turn each time, until it is the desired size.

Roll the dough around the rolling pin, then carefully unroll it over the pie plate. Gently ease the dough into the plate so it fits( this prevents it from shrinking while baking). Cut off the excess dough around the edge, leaving about one inch. Fold the extra inch under, all the way around the pie plate. Then using your thumb and two fingers on your other hand, crimp the edges if desired( I tried to have my kids take this pic, but it did not work out too well).Freeze the dough in the plate until ready to use.

***Save the scraps to make decorative edges as shown here.Just brush the crust with a little water, then add the mini shapes. I used a pie dough/cookie cutter from www.williamssonoma.com .