Tender Pie Dough Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water until mixture forms a ball. Divide dough in half, and shape into balls. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
• Roll out dough on a floured counter. Don't over work it. Use as directed in pie recipe.

Steps:

• Measure flour and salt into bowl. Add oil; mix with a fork, until particals are the size of small peas. Sprinkle with water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until flour is moistened and dough almost cleans the sides of the bowl. (If dough seems too dry, 1 to 2 tablespoons oil can be added. Do not add water.If dough seems a bit too wet, add a tiny bit of additional flour).Gather dough together;PRESS FIRMLY INTO A BALL. After pressing firmly into a ball,the less the dough is handled the more flaky the crust will be.
• Divide dough in half ; place one half cut side down and flatten into a round. Roll each round of dough between two sheets of wax paper. Gently peel off one sheet of wax paper and turn dough upside down. Peel off remaining sheet of wax paper after placing bottom crust into pan leaving a 1/2 inch overlap around pan edge.( Fill with desired pie filling.) Repeat with top crust rolling out same as bottom crust leaving 1 inch overhang around pan edge). Fold and roll top edge under lower edge, pressing on the rim to seal; flute edges as desired.
• Cut slits to vent steam in top of pie. I usually moisten my hands with a little water and dab across top crust. Sprinkle a tiny bit of sugar across the top of the pie, but not on the fluted areas of crust. Bake as directed following your pie recipe.
• *Do not use quick mixing flour in this recipe. If using self-rising flour,omit the salt. Pie crusts made with self-rising flour will differ in flavor and texture from those made with regular flour. (I always use regular flour.).
• Lots of people say they can't make a good pie crust. You can using this recipe,just work with the dough. It may take a time or two, until you become used to making the dough and working with it. Just remember to press the dough into a firm ball before rolling it out between the wax paper sheets. Another small bonus for me is that it uses oil instead of hydrogenated fats.

Steps:

• For a flaky, tender crust (as opposed to one that's harder, mealy, and more cookie-like), the following works well.
• Whisk together all of the dry ingredients, reserving a few tablespoons of the flour.
• Cut in half of the fat, working the mixture until it's mealy and crumbly.
• Place the reserved flour on your work surface, and coat the remaining fat with the flour.
• Use a rolling pin or the heel of your hand to flatten the fat till it's about 1/2-inch thick.
• 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.
• Sprinkle the liquid(s) over the dough while tossing with a fork.
• 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.
• Flatten the dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic wrap or waxed paper.
• Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer; this resting period allows the flour to absorb the water, making the dough easier to roll out.
• Flour your work surface and roll the dough into a 12 x 9-inch (approximately) rectangle.
• (If it isn't holding together well, sprinkle it lightly with a couple of teaspoons of water.
• 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.).
• When you're "ready to roll," remove the dough from the fridge.
• If the dough is made with all lard and/or vegetable shortening, you'll be able to work with it directly from the refrigerator.
• 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.
• Dough made with a combination of butter and shortening should rest for about 5 minutes at room temperature before rolling.
• Roll the dough to the size needed (about 13 inches for a 9-inch pie).
• Fill and bake as directed in your recipe.
• 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.

Steps:

• Beat the butter in the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at high speed until the butter is smooth, about two minutes. With the mixer running, slowly dribble in the milk, occasionally stopping the mixer and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula. The butter mixture should be fluffy, smooth, and shiny, like a butter cream frosting.
• Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together in a small bowl. With the mixer speed on low, gradually add the flour mixture and incorporate just until the dough forms a mass on the paddle and the sides of the bowl are clean. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead a few times until it is smooth and supple. Divide the dough in half. Shape each portion into a disk, about one-inch thick. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate until chilled but not hard, 30 minutes to an hour. (The dough can be refrigerated up to one day, but it will be very hard, and should stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before rolling out. The dough can also be frozen, double wrapped in plastic, for up to two weeks. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight.

Steps:

• Combine dry ingredients in a chilled large stainless steel bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives and incorporate the fat thoroughly into the flour to resemble a consistency of coarse meal. Add shortening, sour cream and lemon juice, mix well and refrigerate for at least 1 hour
• Grease and flour a 9-inch pie pan. Remove dough from refrigerator, divide mixture into 2 disks. Keep 1 disk in the refrigerator until ready for top crust. Roll dough out on a floured surface between waxed paper. Carefully transfer the bottom crust to the pie pan and trim the overhanging excess. Chill for 15 minutes to help set dough in the pan. Brush bottom with egg yolk to seal. Fill with your favorite fruit filling. Roll out remaining disk as you did for the bottom crust. Cover the pie with remaining dough. Seal and crimp the edge. Cut vents in the top crust.
• Bake in the bottom half of a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Cool thoroughly before cutting.
• *Variation: Substitute vegetable oil for shortening for a pat in the pan crust.

Steps:

• Blend flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter; using on/off turns, process until coarse meal forms. Add 8 tablespoons ice water and cider vinegar; blend until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough together. Turn dough out onto work surface; divide dough in half. Form each half into ball and flatten into disk. Wrap disks separately in plastic; refrigerate at least 1 hour. (Can be made ahead. Keep dough refrigerated up to 2 days, or enclose in resealable plastic bag and freeze up to 1 month, then thaw in refrigerator overnight. Soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)