Pie Crust 101

From the King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook.

This is a generous version for two single-crust shells or one double-crust

Ingredients

  • 3 cups (12¾ oz) King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1½ tsp salt
  • 8 tbsp shortening, chilled
  • 1 stick butter, chilled
  • 4-6 oz cold water

How-to

  1. In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Cut or rub in half of the shortening/butter, then the other half, leaving some pieces as large as your thumbnail
  2. Sprinkle the ice water, 1 tbsp at a time, over the mixture. With a fork, toss the mixture together. Continue until the dough is just moist enough to hold together when pressed
  3. If you're making a two-crust pie, gather a little more than half of the dough and pat it into a disk; wrap in plastic and chill for 1 hour (the larger portion will be the bottom crust.) Do the same with the remaining dough for the top crust. If you're making two one-crust pies, divide the dough evenly, wrap and chill before rolling
  4. Roll the crust until it is about ⅛" thick and about 2" larger than the diameter of the pie plate. This gives you enough to make a good high rim (single crust shell) or to match with the upper crust (double crust bottom). If you turn your pie plate upside down on the dough, you will be able to figure out just about how big to roll it. Keep chilled until ready to use
  5. These can be made up to a month ahead of time, and frozen (well-wrapped!) until needed