Whole Wheat Flaky Pastry Dough

Składniki

2 cups (240 g) whole wheat flour

2 cups (240 g) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

12 ounces (335 g) cold unsalted butter, cubed

⅓ cup (80 ml) ice water

⅓ cup (80 ml) cold vodka

Wskazówki

Put the whole wheat flour, ⅔ cup (80 g) of the all-purpose flour, the sugar, and the salt into a food processor and pulse a few times to blend

Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse sand with no lumps of butter. Take it a step further and continue pulsing until the dough just barely starts to clump together. It should look sandy with a few walnut-size clumps of dough ; the dough may start to climb up the walls of the processor bowl, so knock those down every few pulses.

Dump the mixture into a large bowl and break up any large clumps of dough with your hands so that there are none bigger than a walnut half. Add the remaining 1⅓ cups (160 g) all-purpose flour and toss to combine

Combine the water and vodka and drizzle evenly over the flour mixture, making sure to distribute it evenly. Gently toss everything together with a large flexible spatula or your hands, so the moisture gets absorbed by as much of the dough as possible.

As the mixture starts to form clumps, gently press and knead the dough together to form a cohesive but slightly shaggy log. Divide the dough in half for two tart shells or single-crust pies.

For a double-crust pie, divide the dough into one portion that's a little bigger (bottom crust) and one that's a little smaller (top crust).

Flatten the dough portions into round disks, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using. Freeze any dough you don't plan to use.

Notatki

This makes enough dough for a double-crust pie baked in a deep- dish pie plate, or for two shallow tart shells baked in 9-inch (23 cm) removable-bottom tart pans. Or anything in between! Using vodka in pie dough is a trick I learned from Cook's Illustrated magazine; if you don't have vodka or neutral grain spirits (which are almost all alcohol), use only ice water, and increase the amount to ⅔ cup (160 ml). You can freeze what you don't use; wrap well in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. The best way to thaw is overnight in the fridge, but a countertop thaw is fine, too, as long as the room isn't too warm. Turn little scraps of leftover dough into a snack: Roll them out, cut into pieces, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and a few dots of butter, and pop them in the oven while you bake your pie.

MAKES ABOUT 2 POUNDS (900 G)

Variation

Whole Wheat Flaky Pastry Dough with Turmeric: Add 2 tablespoons ground turmeric to the dough along with the flour,

sugar, and salt.