"Piecrust: The Secret Ingredient to Foolproof Pie Crust: Add an Egg"

By RoketJSquerl

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces or grated on the large holes of a box grater
• 1 egg, plus enough cold water to make 1/2 cup
• Pie weights or rice and/or dried beans, for blind baking

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from seriouseats.com

Preparation

Step 1

The true secret weapon to a delicious (and forgiving) pie crust? Adding a beaten egg to the dough, which results in a crust that's both silky and easy to handle.

Whisk together the flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and work it into the flour with a pastry blender or your fingers until it resembles a very coarse meal. Then rub the flour and butter mixture between your hands until the texture resembles moist sand and it sticks together when pressed between your thumb and forefinger. Lightly beat the egg and water together in a measuring cup. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, stirring with a fork until it begins to hold together. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and briefly knead it until the dough just holds together. Divide the dough in half, shape each piece into a ball, and then shape each ball into a flat disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight. The dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Let it come to room temperature before rolling out.

To blind bake the pie shells, preheat the oven to 400°. Line the dough with parchment paper or foil, then add dried beans and rice or pie weights. Bake until the edges are set, about 10 minutes, then remove the parchment and beans and bake the crusts until pale brown, 5-8 minutes. Set aside to let cool. The pie shells are now ready to be filled.