Pie Crust 101

My friend Kelly and I had a ball a few weeks of putting together an apple pie. As you can see a few posts down, we did have some mishaps, but she assures me she ended up with a great pie, and we each went home with a dish of homemade applesauce as well.

Here's Kelly :):

So here are the step by step instructions as I know them. Pioneer Woman I am not, so bear with me! 

Place 2 sticks of cold butter into 2 1/2 cups of flour.  I don't go crazy here and freeze the butter and the bowl or anything, just pull the butter straight from the fridge and drop it in. I also add a Tbs of sugar (for a sweet pie) and a tsp of salt.

Using a pastry blender (or if you're my mom and you're really good--two knives!) and cut into the butter and flour. This is "cutting the fat into the flour" that recipes call for. You'll cut one direction, than another, just keep at it, almost like a kneading motion while holind the pastry blender.

It will start to combine and look like this. We're not quite there yet!

Ahh, there they are. The small peas. When all the little butter blobs are about the size of small peas, you're there. You know all those beautiful flakes in a good pie crust? Those come from these tiny peas melting individually when it's cooked to form little buttery pockets in the crust. 

Add cold water, one tablespoon at a time (again, I don't go nuts with the temp. We don't want the butter to melt, but I don't feel the need to soak the water in ice or anything). I usually add 6-8 tablespoons total. Sometimes more, sometimes less. This will depend on humidity, the water content in butter, just the overal mood of your flour? Just don't dump it all at once. You'll be sorry. 

Mix the water in with your hands or the dough hook after each water addition. Pick up some of the dry mixture and form it into a ball with your hands. Pull it in two, if it crumbles completely, keep adding water. If it's starting to pull apart like dough, stop adding water! It should be somewhat dry, but not totally falling apart.

Form the dough into two discs and wrap them in plastic wrap (or...if you forgot to buy plastic wrap,  in the produce bags from the apples for your pie!) and put them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Don't skip this step!! You'll be sorry again.

When you're ready to roll it out, flour everything! The counter, the dough, the awesome rolling pin your mom bought you, anything that might touch the dough.

Roll the disc out in one direction in short little flips of the roller. You don't want to be too hard on the dough, you'll squish all those aforementioned buttery fat pockets.

Flip the dough over and turn it 90 degrees, be sure to throw a little more flour underneath it, on top of it, and on your rolling pin. Continue to roll in short little flips. 

You'll repeat this process of flipping and turning the dough, and rolling it out, several times. You don't want to just leave it flat and get it all rolled out, it will be STUCK to the counter without the flipping turning action. TRUST ME. You'll be....sorry. :)

The easiest way I've found to move the dough is to fold it into fourths (I tried to show Kelly the cool way of rolling it onto your rolling pin almost ended in disaster) and then move it to the pan. It may break some, but you can just press it back together.

With the bottom crust in the pan, repeat the process to roll out the top crust. You can either seal the of the top and bottom crust with a fork, or use your thumb between your forefinger and middle finger to flute the edges.

And voila! You've made a pie. You won't be sorry!