Flaky Butter Pie Crust
Everone will tell you they have the best recipe for pie crust, but I'm here to tell you that I really do have the best recipe for pie crust ~ for the filling, dont miss the Whiskey Apple Pie
Ingredients
Pie Elixir
- ¼ cup brown sugar (50g)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1½ tsp sea salt
- ¾ cup hot water
Dough
- 4 cups ap flour (500g)
- 3 sticks unsallted butter (339g)
Instructions
Magic Pie Elixir
- In a heatproof glass, combine the brown sugar, vinegar and sea salt. Add the hot water and stir to dissolve the sugars. Chill the elixir in the freezer until very cold. In the meantime, we will prep the rest flour and butter.
The Dough
- In a metal/glass mixing bowl, add the flour and chop the butter in ½ inch cubes. Give it a quick fluff with your fingers to cover the butter in flour, and chill in the fridge untill the elixir is chilled and ready to go for the next step.
- Take out the bowl, and pinch the butter in between your fingers to smear the large chunks into the flour. Once all the butter has been pinched, create a well in the center of the flour. Grab the cold elixir from the fridge and pour half of the liquid into the well.
- Spread your fingers wide to gather and toss the flour with the liquid. Do it thoroughly before pouring the rest of the liquid into the shaggy dough. If it helps to dump the mixture onto the counter, please do so!
- Continue gathering and tossing, once the elixir is well incorporated you can start squeezing and pressing everything together until it gathers into a mass. If you believe you need more liquid, read above in my notes!
- Wrap well in plastic and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Folding
- Lightly flour your surface and a rolling pin, and take out the dough for its first fold. Press down with even pressure and forcefully roll out the dough lengthwise to about ¼ inch thick. Then fold the dough in half, then in half again creating quarters.
- Refrigerate the dough for another 30 minutes. Repeat this process another two times. After the final fold, tuck the edges of the dough to create a more round disk rather than a square. Now chill for a minimum of 30 min to 1 hour.
Rolling & Crimping
- Take out the pie dough and divide in half, leave one in the fridge while you work on the other. Roll out the pie dough till it is ⅛ to ½ inch thick. Don’t worry about the size, I’ve made sure to be generous so that you have room for error!
- Transfer the pie dough to the plate and carefully lift the edges so that the dough gently falls into the pie plate. Carefully, without stretching or pulling, press the dough into the sides and bottom of the pie plate. Grab your scissors and cut any excess, leaving 2-3 inches of overhang.
- Now cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge while you work on your filling.
- Take out the pie plate and prep the edges for crimping. Everyone has a different method, but Instead of tucking the edges under themselves, I like to lift the edge and fold so that it stands on the pie plate.
- Then I crimp by using my thumb and index finger on my non-dominant hand to make a v-shape from inside of the plate. Use Then use my thumb on my dominant hand to push inward towards the v-shape. The size of your V from your non-dominant hand will determine the size of the crimp.
- If you’re making a double-crust pie, (a le my style) you will put your pie plate back in the fridge and take out the remaining pie dough. You will probably only need half to create the top.
- Roll out the disk till it is ⅛ inch thick, and using a metal/glass mixing bowl cut out the dough so that you have a perfect circle - about 1-2 inches bigger than your pie plate. Chill the disk in the fridge until it firms up. You can fill in your pie plate with your filling while you wait.
Top Crust
- Place the disk on top of your pie, and fold the edges over and scrunch to create wavy folds.
- Preheat your oven to 375° f and move the rack to the bottom third of the oven (this is crucial, don't forget). Chill the pie while the oven preheats, it must be very cold and firm.
- Finish the crust with egg wash, avoiding the crimping (as to not overbrown): 1 egg & 1 tbs water. And use a knife to create 2-3 small vents in the center. Bake your pie on a baking sheet to catch any dripping, and bake for 55 minutes.
- Set on a cooling rack to cool completely before diving in.
- Voila! That looks like a perfect pie!
Notes
This recipe makes two single 9 1/2 pie crust or a double crust with extra pie scraps