How To: Make Your Own Piecrust
Easy enough for first-timers, this surprisingly simple tutorial will make even the most reluctant bakers into believers. This recipe makes one 9-inch piecrust with just 10 minutes of hands-on time (total time: 1 hour, 40 minutes).
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for rolling the dough
- ½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
Preparation
Step 1
Follow These Seven Easy Steps
1 Cut the butter into the dry ingredients:
In a food processor, pulse the flour, butter, sugar, and salt until the mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea-size clumps of butter remaining.
2 Add water:
Add 2 tablespoons of the water. Pulse until the mixture holds together when squeezed but is still crumbly (add more water, a little at a time, as necessary). Avoid overprocessing, which will make the dough tough.
3 Chill the dough:
Place the still crumbly mixture on a sheet of plastic wrap. Shape it into a 1-inch-thick disk, using the plastic wrap to help. Wrap tightly and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 3 days. (The dough can be frozen at this point for up to 2 months.)
4 Soften the edges of the dough:
Place the disk of dough on a floured piece of parchment or wax paper. Using your knuckles, make indentations around the perimeter of the dough (this will help prevent cracking when you roll the dough out).
5 Roll out the dough:
With a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into an 11-inch circle (work from the center outward, and use the parchment to rotate the dough). Flour the rolling pin, parchment, and dough as necessary to prevent sticking.
6 Fit the dough into a pie plate:
Loosen the dough from the parchment and carefully transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. Fit the dough into the plate (avoid stretching). Trim the dough to a 1-inch overhang and tuck it under itself to create a thick rim.
7 Crimp the rim:
With the index finger of one hand, press the dough against the thumb and forefinger of the opposite hand; continue around the perimeter of the crust. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days before using.