All Butter Pie Crust

Every cook should know how to make a basic butter pie crust–they’re easy, tasty, and go with so many dishes.  I use them for pies (sweet and savory), quiches, and tarts.  Butter Pie Crusts are really versatile and if made correctly, taste as good as the fancy store bought ones.

I recently made this crust for the Mushroom and Onion Quiche recipe, but have had enormous success using it for an all American Apple Pie, or Fruit Tart. See former recipes for an example of how to use this easy, flaky, clearly delicious crust.

All Butter Pie Crust
This recipe comes from Elise Bauer over at Simply Recipes (and can be found here).  Some cooks substitute half shortening for the below recipe (thus, 1 stick of butter plus 8 tablespoons shortening) because it’s healthier, and yields a flakier crust.  In fact, my friend Laura swears by this substitution.  Both, however, work great; I just prefer the all butter crust flavor.


Ingredients:
* 2 1/2 cups flour, more for dusting
* 2 sticks of unsalted butter, cut into one inch cubes and frozen
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 2-5 tablespoons ice water

1.) Begin by freezing the butter.  Place 2 sticks unsalted butter cut into 1 inch cubes into freezer and allow sit for at least 15 minutes, but preferably an hour.  The longer the better.

2.) Add flour, salt, and sugar to a food processor.  Pulse to combine.

3.) When butter is adequately frozen remove the 1 inch cubes and roughly chop (I suggest quartering the 1 inch cubes).  Add to food processor.

4.) Pulse in food processor until mixture resembles coarse meal.

5.) Slowly add ice water to processor until a ball forms.  You’ll know it’s done because a ball will quite literally form in the processor.

6.) Flour a surface and add dough ball to surface.  Divide in half and create two circular discs.

7.) Wrap discs in plastic wrap or sandwich bags and refrigerate for immediate use, or freeze for later use. Dough keeps for up to 2 months; one disc equals one layer of standard pie dough.

(NOTE: When using/baking the All Butter Pie Crust: make sure to puncture holes with a fork into the dough.  Can be pre-baked, or baked with a pie).

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