Flaky Butter Crust Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, and sugar until well combined. Using clean hands, add butter and toss until just coated. Rub butter between thumb and forefingers to incorporate into flour mixture until butter is in lima bean-sized pieces and comes together in quarter-sized clumps when squeezed in palm, about 2 minutes. Add shortening, toss until just coated in flour, then rub into flour mixture until mixture forms pea-size pieces (some big chunks should remain) and comes together in fist-sized clumps when squeezed, about 1 minute. Drizzle in half ice water and rake through mixture with fingers until just moistened. Drizzle in remaining water 1 tablespoon at a time and comb through mixture with fingers to moisten. It will go from being a shaggy mess to coming together. Dough is moist enough when it is moistened through but is not wet when pressed. (Do not overwork the dough or it will become tough.)
• While rotating the bowl with 1 hand, push dough between other palm and side of bowl to gather into a ball. Turn dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, press it into a flat disk, then close in wrap. Place in coldest part of refrigerator (usually back bottom shelf) at least 30 minutes before rolling out and forming into a crust.

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:

• Dissolve the salt in the water and refrigerate.
• Place the butter cubes and flour in the food processor (or mixer) bowl. Chill the bowl, ingredients and blade (or mixer paddle) in the freezer until well chilled, at least 30 minutes.
• Cut the butter into the flour using the pulse (or mixer paddle on slow speed) until the mixture resembles flakes of oatmeal.
• With the machine running, slowly pour in the cold salted water, mix just until the dough forms a ball.
• Divide the dough into three equal portions and shape each into a disk about 6 inches in diameter.
• Refrigerate disks for at least 30 minutes.
• Roll out each disk into 11 inch circles, place in a 9 inch pie pan and return the pan to the refrigerator until ready to bake or fill.
• Note: If baking the crusts without filling, place a piece of parchment over the crust and fill with rice, or dry beans, spreading them around the bottom to cover and weigh down the crust. Make sure the crusts are cold when they go into the preheated oven at 375°F Bake until the edges are lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Remove the rice or beans and the parchment, prick each crust several times with a fork, and return the crust to the oven to bake an additional 5 - 10 minutes. Remove and cool before filling.

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.

Steps:

• To mix the dough by hand, combine flour, salt and baking powder in a medium-sized mixing bowl and stir well to mix. Cut butter into 1-tablespoon pieces and add to dry ingredients. Toss once or twice to coat pieces of butter. Then using your hands or a pastry blender, break the butter into tiny pieces and pinch and squeeze it into the dry ingredients. Keep the mixture uniform by occasionally reaching down to the bottom of the bowl and mixing all the ingredients evenly together. Continue rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles a coarse-ground cornmeal and no large pieces of butter remain visible.
• Sprinkle the minimum amount of water over the butter and flour mixture and stir gently with a fork -- the dough should begin holding together. If the mixture still appears dry and crumbly, add the remaining water, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough holds together easily.
• To mix the dough in the food processor, combine flour, salt and baking powder in work bowl fitted with metal blade. Pulse 3 times at 1-second intervals to mix. Cut butter into 1-tablespoon pieces and add to work bowl. Process, pulsing repeatedly at 1-second intervals, until the mixture is fine and powdery, resembles a coarse-ground cornmeal and no large pieces of butter remain visible -- about 15 pulses in all.
• Scatter the minimum amount of water on the butter and flour mixture and pulse 5 or 6 times -- the dough should begin holding together. If the mixture still appears dry and crumbly, add the remaining water, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough holds together easily.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate the dough until firm, or until you are ready to use it, at least 1 hour, or up to several days

Steps:

• Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Add butter and shortening, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. Add water in a slow, steady stream just until dough holds together, no longer than 30 seconds (do not overprocess). Squeeze a small amount of dough; if it doesn't hold together, add more water.
• Remove dough from processor, and knead once or twice. Divide in half; shape into disks. Wrap each in plastic; refrigerate until firm, 1 hour or overnight.

Steps:

• Measure the flour into the processor with the regular blade attached. Add the unsalted butter, cut into cubes, and lard, cut into cubes. (Your fat should be frozen or very cold). Add salt. Pulse three times with three counts per pulse to lightly mix the ingredients.
• With the motor running, pour ice water into the work bowl just until the dough starts to get noticeably crumbly. Don't wait until it is a big clump or it will be way too wet and will turn out tough.
• Stop the machine, dump the crumbly dough into a bowl, and gather the dough into a ball with your hands. You can squeeze it a bit to make it stick together. If it just won't form a ball, add a tiny bit more water. (Note that if you are making crust in the food processor, you will use less water than most recipes call for).
• Wrap your dough ball in plastic wrap and chill it about 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Roll it out on a cool surface if you can. Then follow your pie recipe for baking.