Surprise 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:

• 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 1tablespoon 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 coarseground 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, 1 teaspoon at a time for the smaller quantity of dough, a tablespoon at a time for the larger quantity, 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 1second intervals to mix. Cut butter into 1 tablespoon pieces and add to work bowl. Process, pulsing repeatedly at 1second intervals, until the mixture is fine and powdery, resembles a coarseground 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, 1 teaspoon at a time for the smaller quantity of dough,one tablespoon at a time for the larger quantity, until the dough holds together easily.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a disk (two equal disks for the larger amount of dough). Sandwich the disk(s) of dough between two pieces of plastic wrap and press it into a 6inch circle. Refrigerate the dough until firm, or until you are ready to use it, at least 1 hour.

Steps:

• Using your fingertips or the pulse function of a food processor, blend together the flour, fats and salt until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. There should be pebbles of butter throughout the mixture.
• Add egg yolk and vinegar to 1/4 cup ice water and stir to combine. Drizzle 4 tablespoons of this mixture over the dough and gently stir or pulse to combine. Gather a golfball-size bit of dough and squeeze to combine. If it does not hold together, add a little more of the liquid and stir or pulse, then check again. Repeat as necessary.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gather together into a rough ball. You want to be careful not to overwork the flour, but not too careful; the dough should hold together. Divide the ball in half with a knife or a pastry scraper, then divide each portion in half again, and again, to create eight portions. Using the heel of your hand, flatten each portion of dough once or twice to expand the pebbles of butter, then gather the dough together again in one ball. Divide this ball in half.
• Flatten each ball into a 5- or 6-inch disc and dust lightly with flour. Wrap the discs in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 60 minutes.

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:

• Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage-cheese curds, and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.
• Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

Steps:

• Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract in a medium mixing bowl. Mix until smooth. Spread onto bottom of baked pie shell. Chill several hours or overnight.
• Before serving, top cream cheese layer with drained peach slices. Mix raspberry preserves with lemon juice until well combined. Spoon over peaches. Garnish with mint sprigs.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.
• Add baking powder. Beat a few seconds.
• Fold in alternately sugar, cracker crumbs and nuts.
• Add vanilla mixing gently.
• Pour into a buttered 8 or 9 inch pie plate.
• Place in oven and reduce temperature to 250 degrees.
• Bake 45 minutes.
• Cool and place in fridge to chill.
• Cover with Cool Whip and return to fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.