The Best All Butter Pie Crust
This all butter pie crust recipe is going to be a staple in your home. It is simple to create in either a standing mixer or by hand and its taste is so decadent, that it has been features in The Homestead Kitchen Cookbook. Buttery, semi-sweet and melt in your mouth. It’s so simple, gather the kids to help out!
A few years ago when my son was quite young, I saw a photo of a young woman holding a exquisitely decorated pie and I fell in love with the idea of yet another way to express myself creatively. As I went in search for a great pie crust recipe that would allow me to mold them into shapes, I noticed that although they were easy to manipulate, they tasted awful. I wanted something that was going to really shock folks when they bit into it. Months passed before I found one recipe that I was “ok” with and ran with it until I made it my own. I brought my first pie to my father in laws house that year, who is very well known for being an amazing cook, and I can’t express to you the satisfaction it brought me to him begging me for the recipe!
The ingredients are very simple but quality will always matter especially when it comes to flour and butter. People really do over complicate food these days, because I have found that the best tasting foods contain ingredients that are found in our homes. As you know, I am a fan of sourdough and raw dairy, so feel free to create this recipe with some discard or starter.
B A K E R S N O T E S
S a l t e d o r u n s a l t e d ?
When it comes to butter, I find that using either salted or unsalted really is just a matter of preference. I myself, use salted butter and I find that for me it brings out the flavors a bit more. The MOST IMPORTANT thing is that the butter is as COLD as it can be.
Can I Use Raw Butter? yes- yes you can!
C h i l l B e t w e e n D e c o r a t i n g
If you are going to attempt a decorative pie, my suggestion is to chill when you start to feel the dough becoming a rubbery texture. You’ll find that a stiff cold dough works miracles over a warm one.
F l o u r
I have found that quality (as with most things) matters when you are choosing a flour. I prefer King Arthur unenriched all purpose flour makes for wonderful pies.
RECIPE
2 + 1/2 C all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 C (1 stick) VERY cold butter
1/2 C + 2 Tbsp more ice cold water
ASSEMBLY
In a large bowl, combine all of your dry ingredients - flour, salt, sugar and give a quick whisk to incorporate well.
Next, pull out your very cold butter and chop into slices (I prefer to them spin them and cut them once more in half) and add to the flour.
Using the two fork method or a pastry cutter, smash and incorporate the butter into the flour mixture until your butter and flour resemble larger crumbles.
Grab some ice cold water and pour a little in at a time. Trust me, this part seems a bit tedious and you’ll have the urge to want to just add large amounts, but you put yourself in the dangerous cycle of adding to much and then trying to compensate with more flour, and on and on until you no longer have a good tasting dough.
NOTE: you’ll need to use your hands at this point or you can use the kneed option on most modern mixers
When you start to see the dough coming together, it should feel slightly wet, but with floured hands should not be completely sticking to you. Tacky is ok.
Set the dough to firm up in the fridge before attempting to work with it.
When ready to use, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to your desired thickness. This dough is very workable and will be extremely easy to transfer into your dish.
BAKERS NOTE - double this recipe if you are planning to create decorative pies.
Once you make this crust a couple of times, I promise you it becomes less and less necessary for you to even measure - I don’t. I now can turn out this pie dough over and over and double or even triple the recipe with no doubts and no pressure of needing to be “perfect”.
