Our Favorite Pie Crust Recipe-how To Make A Tender Pie Crust

Total Time: 45 mins Preparation Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (mellow pastry blend or king arthur unbleached all-purpose flour)
• 1 tablespoon dry non-fat buttermilk (1/8 ounce) (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick, 2 ounces)
• 1/4 cup lard (or vegetable shortening)
• 1 teaspoon vinegar (or cider)
• 3 -5 tablespoons cold water (1 1/2 to 2 1/2 ounces)

Recipe

• 1 for a flaky, tender crust (as opposed to one that’s harder, mealy, and more cookie-like), the following works well.
• 2 whisk together all of the dry ingredients, reserving a few tablespoons of the flour.
• 3 cut in half of the fat, working the mixture until it’s mealy and crumbly.
• 4 place the reserved flour on your work surface, and coat the remaining fat with the flour.
• 5 use a rolling pin or the heel of your hand to flatten the fat till it’s about 1/2-inch thick.
• 6 break this flour-coated fat into 1-inch pieces, and mix it into the dough, just till it’s evenly distributed; some of the pieces of flour-coated fat should break into smaller pieces.
• 7 sprinkle the liquid(s) over the dough while tossing with a fork.
• 8 just as soon as the dough becomes cohesive (i.e., you can squeeze it into a ball easily), stop mixing; there should still be visible pieces of fat in the dough.
• 9 flatten the dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic wrap or waxed paper.
• 10 refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer; this resting period allows the flour to absorb the water, making the dough easier to roll out.
• 11 flour your work surface and roll the dough into a 12 x 9-inch (approximately) rectangle.
• 12 (if it isn’t holding together well, sprinkle it lightly with a couple of teaspoons of water.
• 13 fold the dough into thirds (like a letter), then fold it into thirds the opposite way, to form a rough square. wrap it well and refrigerate again.).
• 14 when you’re "ready to roll," remove the dough from the fridge.
• 15 if the dough is made with all lard and/or vegetable shortening, you’ll be able to work with it directly from the refrigerator.
• 16 a dough made with all butter will need to warm slightly (10 to 15 minutes) before rolling, as butter becomes brittle when it’s refrigerated.
• 17 dough made with a combination of butter and shortening should rest for about 5 minutes at room temperature before rolling.
• 18 roll the dough to the size needed (about 13 inches for a 9-inch pie).
• 19 fill and bake as directed in your recipe.
• 20 note: in this particular recipe, cut all of the lard or vegetable shortening into the flour, then coat the butter with flour before adding it to the dough.