I’m always looking for new pie crust recipes, especially after trying the Poppy Seed Pie Dough, which went over so well with my coworkers. To make a pie dough perfect for berry-picking season, I added sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg to a butter-based recipe.
ingredients.
- 1 ¼ c. all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 ½ tsp. sugar
- ½ rounded tsp. cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg
- 8 T. (1 stick) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 3 to 4 T. ice water, very cold
directions.
- Cut up a stick of butter into small cubes, about half an inch, and put into the freezer. Freeze the butter at least 15 minutes. The longer the better. Overnight is best.
- Place the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar into a food processor and pulse until well combined. Add half of the butter cubes and pulse 6 to 8 times. Then add the other half of the butter cubes and pulse 6 to 8 more times. You should have a mixture that resembles a coarse meal, with many butter pieces the size of peas.
- Add a couple of tablespoons of ice-cold water to the food processor bowl and pulse a couple of times. (To get the water really cold I put it in a cup in the freezer when I’m just starting to prepare the dough.) Then add more water, slowly, about a tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the mixture just barely begins to come together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it’s ready. If not, add a little more water and pulse again. Note: Too much water will make your crust tough.
- Remove the crumbly mixture from the food processor and place on a very clean, smooth surface. Press the heel of your palm into the mixture, pressing down and mushing the mixture into the table top. Do this 4 to 6 times to help your crust get extra flaky. Then press the crumbly dough together and shape into a disc. Work the dough only enough to just bring the dough together. Do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter, peppered in the dough. When these bits of butter melt as the crust cooks, the butter will help separate the dough into flaky layers. Visible pieces of butter is what you are actually aiming for.
- Sprinkle the disc with a little flour on all sides. Wrap the disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
- When you are ready to roll out the dough, remove the disk from the refrigerator and place on a clean, smooth, lightly floured surface. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes to take just enough of a chill off of it so that it becomes easier to roll out. Sprinkle some flour on top of the disk. Using a rolling-pin, roll out the dough to a 12 inch circle, to a thickness of about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below.
- Add a few sprinkles of flour if necessary to keep the dough from sticking. Place on to a 9-inch pie plate, lining up the fold with the center of the pan. Gently unfold and press down to line the pie dish with the dough.
This crust was possibly my favorite thing about the Fresh Blueberry Pie I recently made. My only regret was making such a loose lattice. A tighter lattice would have yielded more delicious, flakey pie crust!
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 