Favorite All-Purpose Pie Dough Recipe {Video} + 5 Recipes To Use It In

Friends, Thanksgiving is one week away. Let’s review:

Dough Making, Pie Baking

No matter which pie dough recipe you use, the principles of making it will be the same: keep the ingredients cold, cold, cold.

Purists will say that making a pie dough in the food processor is a no-no, but I find it works very well—so does Martha Stewart!—and if you are making a lot of dough, using a processor will save you a lot of time.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• To start the pie-dough making process, cut your butter into smallish slices or cubes, place them on a plate (or some other vessel) and stick them in the freezer. Fill a large liquid measuring cup with ice and water. Set aside.
• If you want to make several batches of dough, rather than multiply the recipe and load up your food processor, make separate batches consecutively. For example, when I triple the pie dough recipe below, I’ll start by cutting up the butter and placing each portion on a separate plate in the freezer. Then I’ll fill up a large liquid measure with ice and water. Then I’ll line up three big mixing bowls and fill each with 320g flour, 2 T. sugar, and 1/2 tsp salt. Then I make one batch at a time using the food processor, wrapping each batch in a tea towel or plastic wrap before proceeding with the next batch. No need to clean the processor in between batches.
• When I make the dough and plan on using it shortly thereafter, I prefer rolling it out immediately, fitting it into the pie plate, then chilling the dough-fitted pie plate. I find this easier than chilling the dough round, then rolling it out once it has chilled and firmed up.
• When you are rolling out your dough, try to keep tools and ingredients cold — my aunt uses a marble rolling pin that she keeps in the freezer. (I never remember to freeze my rolling pins, but it’s something to keep in mind.)
• As Martha Stewart says: “Make it cold; bake it hot.” A good rule of thumb is to bake your pie on the lowest rack of the oven at a high temperature to start (around 425ºF for 20 minutes or so), and then to reduce the heat to a lower temperature (350ºF or so) for the remaining baking time, anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes longer. Every oven is different, of course, so adjust temperature and timing as needed.

Make the dough.

First pulse the flour, sugar and salt together.

Add the butter and pulse 10 times (about).

The butter should be the size of peas (about).

Add ice water.

Pulse again about 10 to 15 times or until the dough is still crumbly, but holds together when pinched.

Divide dough between two clean tea towels. (Don’t wash your food processor!) I love these tea towels by Now Designs.

Gather towel into a beggar’s purse, and squeeze to form a round.

Transfer one to the freezer for a future use.

5 Recipes to Use Your Homemade Pie Dough In

Bourbon Pecan Pie (No Corn Syrup)

Ronnie Hollingsworth’s Most Excellent Squash Pie

Apple-Frangipane Galette

Sister Pie’s Salted Maple Pie

Rhubarb Galette

Print

Posted By: alexandra · In: Desserts, Fall, Holidays, Pies & Tarts & Cobblers, Spring, Summer, Winter