An easy classic pie crust recipe should be quick and flexible. It’s a great base for many impressive meals, but unless you were raised making it, you probably buy it frozen at the supermarket. But I promise you, it is faster, easier, and cheaper to make on your own.
Don’t be limited by a pre frozen pie shape. A pastry crust is great for a rustic galette, a pie, a quiche, homemade pop-tarts, and much more.
The concept is simple. Take your bowl of flour and work your fat into it with your hands. Pinching it into progressively smaller pieces until you have mostly little pea-sized bits of fat coated in flour. Drizzle in COLD water and gently mix until the flour and fat become a dough.
The following is the recipe I use, taken partly from Alice Waters and partly from my mom. Butter will taste the best. It will make a tender flakey dough and because it can be made cold, I find it easiest to work with. Crisco also works if you are looking to make the dough vegan or save money. Know that Crisco will squish in with the flour very quickly. Be careful and try to get those pea-sized pieces.
Easy Classic Pie Crust Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons of butter cut into 6-8 chunks
- ¼ cup cold water (more or less as needed)
Directions
- Step 1 Measure flour and flavor it as desired. Certainly add a heavy pinch of salt. But also consider heavy sprinkles of paprika, chili powder, parmesan cheese, or cinnamon, depending on your application.
- Step 2 Add your fat and mix together, pinching dough into progressively smaller pieces. Roll those pieces through the bowl until they are coated in flour and then pinch smaller again. This can be done with a pastry blender or even a food processor, but as you are learning, doing it by hand is best. You will feel it when it starts to become dough.
- Step 3 When all the butter is in little flakes and pea-sized pieces coated in flour, begin drizzling cold water into your dough a couple tablespoons at a time. Mix with your hand, feeling for when the mixture begins to turn to dough. When you are close, pause and knead the dough to see if it comes together. Add more water as needed. If you go too far add a sprinkle of flour, trying to work the dough as little as possible.
- Step 4 Wrap the finished dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill. (For faster results, wrap the ball of dough in plastic and squish it into a flat disc. It will chill faster and more evenly when it is thinner.)
- Step 5 When the dough is chilled, roll it out into your desired shape and fill as desired. If it sticks, lightly flour the dough and your hands. You can also roll it flat between 2 sheets of parchment or plastic wrap.
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