Easy Pie Dough (Crust)

• servings: 16 servings
• total time: 2 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups (12.5 ounces; 350g) all-purpose flour, divided

2 tablespoons (25g) sugar

1 teaspoon (5g) kosher salt; for table salt use same weight or half as much by volume

2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces; 280g) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pats (see note)

6 tablespoons (3 ounces; 85ml) cold water

Directions

Combine two thirds of flour with sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse twice to incorporate. Spread butter slices evenly over surface. Pulse until no dry flour remains and dough just begins to collect in clumps, about 25 short pulses. Use a rubber spatula to spread the dough evenly around the bowl of the food processor. Sprinkle with remaining flour and pulse until dough is just barely broken up, about 5 short pulses. Transfer dough to a large bowl.

Sprinkle with water. Then, using a rubber spatula, fold and press dough until it comes together into a ball. Divide ball in half. Form each half into a 4-inch disk. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before rolling and baking.

When ready to shape the dough, pull out one ball, set it on a well-floured work surface, and sprinkle with more flour. Use a tapered rolling pin to start rolling the dough out into a circle, lifting the dough and rotating it while rolling to achieve an even shape. Continue rolling, changing the angle of your rolling pin as you go to get an even shape and thickness. The finished dough should overhang your pie plate by an inch or two.

Pick up the dough by carefully rolling it around your rolling pin, using your bench scraper to help lift it off the work surface. Unroll it over a pie plate. Gently lift and fit the dough into the pie plate, getting down into the corners.

For a single-crusted pie, use a pair of scissors to trim the dough so that it overhangs the edge by 1/2 inch all around. For a double-crusted pie, at this stage, fill it and drape your second round of pie dough over the top. Trim it to a 1/2-inch overhang along with the lower crust. Either way, tuck the overhanging edge(s) under itself all the way around the pie.

Flute the edges of the pie crust using the forefinger of one hand and the thumb and forefinger of the other. The single-crust pie shell is ready to be blind-baked or filled. For a double-crusted pie, brush with an egg white, sprinkle with sugar, and cut vent holes in the top with a sharp knife before baking.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: Makes 2 single crusts or
• Calories: 211 kcal
• Total Fat: 14 g
• Saturated Fat: 9 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 38 mg
• Sodium: 124 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 18 g
• Dietary Fiber: 1 g
• Total Sugars: 2 g
• Protein: 2 g