Favorite Pie Crust

This recipe was originally posted with reddquilter's Famous Pear Pie (which you should Go Make Right Now). The pie crust is delicious, easy, and you can freeze it two ways, so I decided it deserved a post of its very own. --Min


Reddquilter's Favorite Pie Crust

1 1/4 cups pastry flour or all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold
2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

I usually make a large batch in my food processor (make sure not to over mix--easy to do in the processor) WITHOUT the water. Then I package it into single pie crust portions in zip lock bags then freeze till needed. Add the water later by hand with a fork.

I also have made the pie crust including the water and then put in the freezer in individual single crust packets as well as actually rolled out the crust into the pie plate and then freeze till needed. I now prefer to just do the dry mix, works best for me.

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Now, this is Min again. For those who need more step-by-step instructions, this is how I make reddquilter's delicious pie crust:

Add flour, salt, and sugar to a food processor bowl. Cut COLD butter into cubes, and add to food processor bowl. Pulse quickly in short bursts, just until the butter is reduced to pea-size lumps, don't process too much. Dump the flour/butter mixture into a small bowl, and add water by the tablespoon, mixing with a fork just until the crust starts to come together. Sometimes I need to use 6 or 8 tablespoons of water. The crust will not be completely together, it will look crumbly but should not look floury at all. Don't worry about this.

Generously flour the surface you'll be rolling your dough out on. Turn the dough out into a pile on top of the flour, then use your hands to gently push it together into a round shape. Flour your rolling pin, and roll out your dough. The key is not to work it too much. And you're done! Use your rolling pin to transfer the dough to the pie plate, and proceed with your pie!