Deluxe Butter Pie Pastry Dough Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl whisk together flour and salt and with a pastry blender or fingertips blend in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork to incorporate, until mixture begins to form a dough.
• On a work surface smear dough in 3 or 4 forward motions with heel of hand to slightly develop gluten in flour and make dough easier to work with. Form dough into a ball and flatten to form a disk.
• Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill 1 hour. Pastry dough may be made 1 week ahead and chilled.

Steps:

• Combine flour and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add ice water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed., Shape dough into a disk for a single-crust pie; for a double-crust pie, divide dough in 2 with 1 piece slightly larger than the other. Shape into 2 disks. Wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight., On a lightly floured surface, roll 1 disk of dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. , For a single-crust pie: Trim crust to 1/2 in. beyond rim of plate; flute edge. Fill or bake according to recipe directions., For a double-crust pie: Add filling to pie. Roll remaining dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle. Place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edge. Cut slits in top. Bake according to recipe directions.

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine flour and salt with a rubber spatula.
• Working quickly to prevent softening, cut the butter into 1/4-inch pieces. Add the butter to the dry ingredients.
• Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into pea-size pieces. Add the shortening.
• With a few quick swipes of the pastry blender, cut the shortening into large chunks and distribute throughout the bowl. Continue to chop with the pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-size pieces. Do not let the mixture soften and begin to clump; it must remain dry and powdery.
• Drizzle 6 tablespoon ice water over the fat and flour mixture. Cut with the blade side of the spatula until the mixture looks evenly moistened and begins to form small balls. Press down on the dough with the flat side of the spatula. If the balls of dough stick together, you have added enough water. If they do not, drizzle 1 tablespoons more ice water over the top. Cut in the water, then press with your hands until the dough coheres. The dough should look rough, not smooth.
• Divide the dough in half , collect each half in a square of plastic wrap and pull the plastic tight to form a cohesive round, flat disc. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, preferably for several hours, or for up to 2 days before rolling. The dough can also be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 6 months. Thaw completely before rolling.
• Bake this crust in a preheated over at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes before filling.

Steps:

• Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor to combine. Add the butter and process until the largest pieces of butter are pea-size. Transfer to a large bowl.
• Combine the vodka, vinegar and 4 tablespoons of the ice water in a small bowl. Drizzle the wet ingredients over the dough, then mix with a fork until shaggy pieces form. Knead the dough in the bowl with your hands a couple of times until it comes together (it will look quite dry, which is fine). Transfer the large clumps of dough to a work surface. Drizzle 1 tablespoon ice water over any remaining smaller bits of dough in the bowl and knead again to bring it together. If the remaining dough is still too dry to come together, add more ice water in 1-tablespoon increments. Add to the dough on the work surface and press together into a single mass, incorporating any dry bits. Pat the dough into a 1-inch-thick block.
• Divide the block into 4 pieces with a bench scraper or knife. Stack the pieces on top of one another, tucking any unincorporated dry bits in between the layers. Flatten the dough into a 3/4-inch-thick block. Repeat this process (cutting, stacking and flattening) 3 more times; this creates layers of butter in the dough that produce a wonderfully flaky crust.
• Divide the dough in half and form into 1-inch-thick discs; wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 3 hours and preferably overnight. The dough can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen for up to 3 months.

Steps:

• Place blade insert into bowl of food processor. Add 1 cup flour. Sprinkle frozen butter cubes over flour. Add remaining 1 cup flour, sugar, and salt. Cover. Pulse in short bursts on and off until butter is broken into small pieces and looks crumbly, about 1 minute. Drizzle in ice water. Pulse with longer pulses, on and off, until mixture turns pale yellow and looks like crumbs, about 10 to 12 seconds. Scrape down sides with spatula. Pulse once or twice more.
• Transfer mixture onto a work surface. Bring pieces together to form a tight round ball of dough. Flatten slightly and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight before rolling out.

Steps:

• Into a chilled large metal bowl sift together flour, sugar, and salt. Set a grater in flour bowl and coarsely grate frozen butter into flour mixture, gently lifting and tossing flour to coat butter. Chill flour mixture 20 minutes.
• Drizzle 6 tablespoons ice water evenly over flour mixture and gently stir with a fork until just incorporated. Test mixture by gently squeezing a small handful: When it has proper texture it should hold together without crumbling apart. If necessary, add enough remaining ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until just incorporated, and test mixture again. (If you overwork mixture or add too much water, pastry dough will be tough.)
• Turn mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and with floured hands mound into 4 portions. With heel of hand smear each portion once in a forward motion to help distribute fat.
• Gather dough portions together and form dough, rotating it on work surface, into a disk (dough will not be smooth). Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, at least 2 hours, or until firm, and up to 2 days.

Steps:

• Chill your fat and water! This is essential. Cut your butter into small pieces and add to your measured flour and salt. Cut the butter in quickly and then cut in the shortening. Your mixture should resemble coarse meal. Bigger lumps of fat are just fine; aim for pea-sized at biggest. Slowly add the water and watch closely as you work it in with the edge of a spatula or continue pulsing. It should still look dry. Grab some with your hand and squeeze. Did it hold together? Then you have enough water. If it didn't, or you're not sure, add a little more and mix quickly. Test again. Divide the dough in half to make single crust amounts. Wrap up the dough up by placing a portion of it on a piece of plastic wrap. Using the wrap, instead of your hands, push the dough into a flat disk. Refrigerate this for an hour or more. Sometimes dough gets too hard in the refrigerator. If this happens to you, let it warm up a little (15 or 20 minutes) on the counter before you roll it out. Using a lightly floured board, begin by rolling from the middle of the disk up. Turn the dough one quarter and repeat. To avoid toughening of the pastry, always roll in one direction and turn the dough often. For berry pies or other pies that may leak, roll the crust a little thicker. Carefully fold the dough in half, pick it up and lay across the pie plate. Open up the dough and gently work it into the plate. If it tears or splits, just pinch it together again, or use scraps to repair any holes. Crimp the edges. Use the dough as called for in your recipe. Some call for an unbaked pie crust, and some call for a baked pie crust.

Steps:

• Pulse flour and salt in a food processor to combine. Pulse in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal with pieces of butter still visible, about 20 pulses.
• Combine vinegar and 1/2 cup ice water in a measuring cup. Pulsing, drizzle in vinegar mixture; pulse until dough just holds together when squeezed (it should still be crumbly), about 10 pulses.
• Turn out dough and divide in half. Place each half on a sheet of plastic wrap and use plastic to press into disks. Wrap and chill until firm, about 2 hours.
• Do ahead: Dough can be chilled 3 days ahead. Or, freeze up to 2 months.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture forms a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
• Roll dough out to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Place crust in pie plate. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate.