Recipe: All-Butter Pie Crust

the appetizer:

Cutie Pies: 40 Sweet, Savory, and Adorable Recipes by Dani Cone, includes recipes like All-Butter Pie Crust; The Very Best Apple Cutie Pies; Chocolate Cream Pie; and Just Right Strawberry-Rhubarb-Ginger Flipsides.

All-Butter Pie Crust

Makes 1 double-crust 9-inch pie, 2 single-crust 9-inch pies, 16 cutie pies, 36 petit-5s, 8 piejars, 10 flipsides, or 50 piepops

Strawberry-Rhubarb-Ginger Flipside

This phenomenal crust is a perfect complement to sweet or savory recipes. It is flaky yet substantial, and never disappoints once you get the hang of it. The All-Butter Pie Crust is your go-to crust; it works with all pie shapes and recipes. Although this recipe, which was developed in our High 5 Pie kitchen, is not the same as my Grandma Molly's, rest assured it is so good that even Grandma Molly approves!

Ingredients

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup ice water

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and sugar, and mix well.

2 Add the butter to the flour mixture, and mix gently with a pastry blender, a fork, or your hands. The goal is to lightly incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients. The butter pieces should be well coated with the dry mixture and somewhat flattened.

3. Gradually add the water to the flour mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, and continue mixing the dough until it comes together and forms pea-sized or crouton-sized crumbs. The dough should look like coarse individual pieces, not smooth and beaten together like cookie dough.

4. With your hands, gather the dough crumbs together to form 2 patties, gently molding the crumb-like mixture into a patty shape and being careful not to overhandle the dough. Wrap each patty in plastic wrap.

5. Chill the dough for at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days. The dough can also be frozen for up to 2 weeks.

6. When you're ready to use the dough, let it sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes to soften it and make it workable. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each of the 2 dough patties to about a 1/4-inch thickness, lightly dusting it with flour, if needed, to prevent sticking, and making sure to roll the dough evenly.

from:
Cutie Pies: 40 Sweet, Savory, and Adorable Recipes
by Dani Cone
Andrews McMeel Publishing 2011
160 pages; Hardcover; U.S.: $16.99 Canada: $19.99
ISBN: 1449403050
ISBN-13: 978-1449403058
Recipe reprinted by permission.

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