Desserts
Perfect Flaky Pie Crust
Follow this recipe for Perfect Flaky Pie Crust and these simple, easy-to-follow steps to yield the most flaky and tender pie crust you'll ever eat. This will be your new go-to crust for all your pie-baking needs. And be sure to check out our in-depth tutorial How to Make Perfect Flaky Pie Crust for a little more info before you start.
Ingredients
WHISK:
COMBINE:
Instructions
Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in butter and shortening, using a pastry blender, until pea-sized.
Combine liquor and 2 Tbsp. water, then add to flour-butter mixture; stir with a fork until dough starts to come together, adding remaining water 1 Tbsp. at a time if necessary (mixture should not be a cohesive dough at this point).
Transfer mixture to a piece of parchment paper. Use parchment to fold dough over on itself until dough comes together completely, about 5 times. Shape dough into a disk and wrap in plastic; chill at least 1 hour, or overnight.
Preheat oven to 400° with rack on very bottom.
Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 13-inch circle. Transfer dough to a glass pie plate, pressing into bottom. Trim edges to 1-inch overhang, roll under, crimp edges, and prick bottom of crust with a fork; chill 15 minutes.
Line pie crust with parchment paper or foil, fill with dried beans or rice, and blind bake until crust is set, about 15 minutes; remove parchment and beans. Bake crust until golden, 15–18 minutes. (Shield the edge of the crust with foil if it starts to get too brown.) Let crust cool completely before filling.
Cut fats into the flour — as they melt, they leave pockets in the dough, resulting in a flaky crust.
If the dough mixture holds together when squeezed in your hand, no more water is needed.
Use parchment paper to fold dough over on itself, bringing it together and creating more layers.