Pie Dough Recipes

Steps:

• Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Cut the dough in half. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan. Repeat with the top crust.

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:

• Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter and lard using a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Add 2 tablespoons water and continue mixing. Add remaining 3 tablespoons water, one at time, mixing well after each addition, until dough just comes together.
• Turn dough out onto a clean work surface. Divide in half, and place each half on a piece of plastic wrap. Shape into flattened discs. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days before using.

Steps:

• To prepare the dough by hand, combine the flour and salt in a stainless steel bowl, using a pastry knife mix well.
• Add the cold butter cubes to the flour and mix in until the mixture begins to resemble a mealy mixture where the butter forms pea sized nuggets plainly visible in the flour. Add only enough ice water to pull the dough together. The water should be added to the flour slowly to ensure that only the minimum amount of water is used. Do not over mix the dough. When the dough has been mixed just sufficiently to combine the ingredients, form it into a ball and wrap in a piece of plastic and refrigerate for several hours.
• When ready to use, lightly flour a pastry board and a rolling pin, and unwrap the dough. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces and begin to roll out the first piece into the bottom crust.
• Tamp down the dough with the pin and gently begin to roll out into a circular pie shape by rolling evenly outward from the center and turning the dough in small 1/8th turns to keep the rolling even. When the dough is rolled out to an even thickness and is about 12 inches and is about 1/8th-inch thick it is ready to be transferred to a 10-inch pie tin.
• Lightly butter the tin, lift the dough with the rolling pin by partially rolling the dough up on the pin, center the dough in the tin and unroll. Pierce it in several places with the tines of a fork.
• Roll the second half of the pie dough into a round shape slightly larger than the pie pan. Fill the bottom crust with your chosen fruit filling. Cover the filling, such as apple, with the top half of the pie dough. Using both hands, crimp the edges of the two crusts together to seal. With a sharp knife, make several crosshatch slits in the top crust. Brush with the egg wash and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 20 minutes.

Steps:

• In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, pulse together the flour, salt, sugar and butter until the mixture resembles cornmeal with some pea-size pieces of butter remaining.
• In a small bowl, stir together the ice water and the lemon juice. Slowly add the liquid to the flour mixture, pulsing, until the dough just comes together. Squeeze a small piece of dough between your thumb and index finger to make sure it holds its shape.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it in half. Gently turn over each piece of dough a few times so that any dry bits are incorporated. Form each piece into a loose disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

Steps:

• In the bowl of a food processor combine the butter, flour and salt. Pulse, pulse, pulse until the mixture looks like finely grated cheese. Add half of the ice water and pulse again. The mixture should start to come together to form a rough ball; if it still seems dry add the remaining water and pulse until it has formed a rough ball. Remove the mixture from the food processor to a clean work surface and form it into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. This can be done a few days in advance.
• When using the dough, remove it from the refrigerator 20 to 30 minutes before using to allow it to soften up a bit. Dust the dough and a work surface with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out evenly in all directions. In between rolls it is a good idea to rotate the dough a quarter of a turn and dust it lightly with flour if it feels tacky. This will prevent the dough from sticking to the work surface and help it to roll out evenly. Roll the dough into a circle about 1/8-inch thick.
• Lay the dough in a lightly greased 9-inch pie plate. There should be about a 1/2-inch of dough hanging over the sides of the pie plate. If there is more than that, trim it with a sharp pair of kitchen shears. Fold the dough underneath itself around the rim of the pie plate and pinch or crimp into desired shape.
• Fill the dough with desired filling and bake according to the recipe you are using or dock (poke holes all over the dough with a fork) and blind bake. To blind bake: Line the dough with foil and fill with pie weights, raw rice, or dried beans. Bake in a preheated 425 degrees F oven for 10 to 12 minutes, remove the foil and beans and bake for 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove the pie shell from the oven and cool. The dough should be golden and crisp. Continue with desired filling.
• Voila!!!

Steps:

• 1. Stir together the flour, butter, and salt to blend. Using a pastry blender or 2 forks, cut the butter into the flour. For pies with liquid fillings (like custard or cooked-fruit fillings that are thickened with cornstarch or tapioca), the bits of fat should be evenly small, and the mixture should resemble a coarse meal. This will result in a mealy piecrust, which is less likely to become soggy as the pie bakes. For pies to be filled with fruit or another non-liquid filling, leave some larger bits of fat, about the size of small walnut pieces, for a crisp and flaky texture in the baked crust.
• 2. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and add the water all at once. Gently toss the mixture together until just blended and the flour is moistened (the mixture will look shaggy and loose).
• 3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently knead it together, combining parts of the mixture that are wetter with those that are drier. If preparing a double-crust recipe, divide the dough in half. Shape the dough into a 1-inch-thick disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill until firm, about 20 minutes. NOTE: At this point, the dough is ready to be used. It can be stored, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
• 4. Working with one disk at a time, unwrap the dough, place it on a lightly floured work surface, and scatter a little flour over it. Alternatively, place the dough between sheets of parchment or waxed paper. Roll out the dough for the bottom crust of a pie into an even round, about 13 inches in diameter (for a 9-inch pie pan). It should be about 1/8 inch thick.
• 5. Fold the dough in half or roll it loosely around the rolling pin, and gently lift and position it over the pan. Unfold or unroll the dough and ease it into the pan without stretching, making sure that the pan sides and the rim are evenly covered. Press the dough gently against the sides and bottom. Trim the overhang to 1 inch.
• 6. For a single-crust pie, tuck the dough overhang under itself and flute the edges. Fill and bake the pie according to the recipe directions. For a double-crust pie, roll out the second piece of dough into an 11-inch round (for a 9-inch pie pan), and then cut vents in it. Fill and finish the pie according to the recipe directions.

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.