Kitchen Aid Food Processor Pie Crust

By hotmama

from Kitchen Aid's Laura Weathers and QVC

Ingredients

• 2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes (put in freezer for at least 1 hour)
• 1/3 About 1/3 cup ice cold water
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

Preparation

Step 1

Place flour and salt in the bowl of the food processor and pulse to combine. Add the cold butter cubes and pulse a few times until the mixture starts to become mealy and forms plainly visible pea-sized nuggets.

Slowly add the wet ingredients. To ensure a tender crust, first pulse in the white vinegar, adding a little every couple of pulses. Next, pulse in the ice water - a little water , 3-4 pulses; a little more water, 4-5 pulses. Try not to over wet the dough. Pulse until the dough just starts clumping together, then pull some dough out and squeeze test it to see if it is holding together. Be careful not to over-mix the dough. If it appears dry and is not holding, add a few additional tablespoons of water.

Dump the dough onto a floured surface and gather into two balls. Flatten each, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. Often you will find this "rest" period helps even out the moisture in a slightly dry dough.

One last hint: be sure to roll out the dough to at least 1 inch wider than your pie pan. Then you'll have plenty left over to drape. Be careful not to stretch the dough loosely in the pan. The pie crust shrinks if it is not stretched to just fit the pan.