Pie Crust Babycakes Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening (or cold butter)
4 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Preparation

Step 1

In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Using a blending fork or pastry blender,cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Add 4 tablespoons ice water and let stand for 30 seconds. Blend with a fork until dough holds together and cleans the sides of the bowl, adding more ice water, if needed. Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or for up to 24 hours.

On a lightly floured surface, lightly dust top of dough with flour. Roll out gently, picking dough up after each roll and rotating it from 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock (this keeps the dough from sticking.) Roll and rotate until dough is about 1/8-inch thick.

Use as directed in the recipe, or follow these baking directions to adapt your own recipes.

To Bake Two-Crust Hand Pies:
Use the large circle of the crust cutting tool to cut 8 bottom crusts, and use the small circle to cut 8 top crusts, rerolling scraps as necessary. Place large crusts evenly on top of wells and gently press into wells with the pie forming tool. Spoon filling into each bottom crust until about half full. Place small crusts directly over the center of each filled shell. For added browning and sheen, lightly whisk together 1 egg and 1 tablepoon water and brush lightly over top crusts. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until top crusts are golden brown and crisp. Transfer pies to a wire rack to cool.

To Bake Single-Crust Mini Pies:
Use the large circle of the crust cutting tool to cut 8 crusts. Place crusts evenly on top of wells and gently press into wells with the pie forming tool. If desired, crimp the top edge. Spoon 1 to 2 tablepoons filling into each crust. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until filling is cooked according to recipe directions and crusts are golden brown. Transfer pies to a wire rack to cool.

To Bake Single Crusts Blind (Empty):
Use the large circle of the crust cutting tool to cut 8 crusts. Place crusts evenly on top of wells and gently press into wells with the pie forming tool. If desired, crimp the top edge. Evenly prick the bottom and around the sides of each crust with the tines of a fork, being careful not to scratch the surface of the wells. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until crusts are golden and crisp. Transfer crusts to a wire rack to cool. Fill the cooled pie crusts with any of the fillings in this book, or, for a quick filling, spoon in prepared pudding, mousse, fruit, jam or ice cream.

If the pastry crust recipe you are preparing has a tendency to puff while baking, prick the crust, then line each crust with a paper liner or a small circle of parchment paper or foil and fill it with dry beans. First, spray the outside bottom of the liner, paper or foil with nonstick baking spray, to prevent the liner from sticking to the crusts. Once you've added the beans, bake as directed above, then gently remove paper or foil from crusts. Be sure you get each and every bean; no one would want to bite into a hard, dry bean instead of a creamy, wonderful pie. Beans that have been baked in a pie crust should not be used for cooking. Let them cool thoroughly, then place in a jar or ziplock bag and use again as pie weights.

Tip:
Wrap leftover dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate; use within 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then roll out and use as desired.

For a flakier crust, use pastry flour instead of all-purpose flour.