Flaky Pie Dough (Julia Child)

By LaLaCooks

Ingredients

• 5 ¼ cups pastry or all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 ½ sticks cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 ¾ cups cold solid vegetable shortening (or lard)
• 1 cup ice water

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

To make the dough in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment: Put the flour and salt together in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and stir to mix. Add the butter and mix on low until it is cut into the dry ingredients and the mixture looks coarse and crumbly. Add the shortening in small bits and continue to mix on low. When the mixture is clumpy and curdy and holds together when a small bit is pressed between your fingers, add the wager and and mix only until it is incorporated. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and fold it over on itself two or three times, just to finish the mixing and to gather it together.

To make the dough in a food processor: Start with very cold ingredients and take care not to overwork them. Place the dry ingredients in the food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse just to mix. Take the top off, scatter the chilled cubed butter and shortening over the flour, cover, and pulse again, working only until the fats are cut in and the mixture resembles slightly moist cornmeal. Add a little of the liquid and pulse a few times, then add more liquied and pulse again. Continue ntil the mixture has curds and clumps and sticks together when pressed between your fingers. Don't process until the dough forms a ball that rides on the blade - that's overdoing it.

Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or for as long as 5 days. When the dough is thoroughly chilled and firm, it is ready to roll out and use for any recipe calling for flaky pie crust.

Storing: The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for 5 days r frozen for 1 month. It's a good idea to divide the dough into quarters for freezing since one quarter of the recipe is generally enough for one pie crust or tart shell. Defrost still wrapped in the refrigerator.