Makes one 8-inch pie crust
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup cold butter (cut into four pieces)
- 1/4 cup ice water (at the most)
1. Assemble the ingredients.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
3. Combine the flour and salt. Cut the COLD butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the ICE water over the dough, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing briskly with a fork until the mixture holds together.
4. Press the dough into a flat round and place it on a lightly floured pastry cloth or floured rolling surface of your choice. Flatten the round slightly from the center close to the edge, but without flattening the edge, leaving it raised somewhat. This will help prevent the edge from becoming too thin and developing large cracks as you roll it.
5. Quickly roll the dough out from the center in all directions equally, never quite rolling to the edge – again to protect the edge. Turn the dough slightly to prevent it from sticking to the rolling surface as you roll, adding flour if necessary. Roll evenly and with a sure hand until the circle is round and one inch larger than the pie plate, approximately 1/8 inch thick. Flour the top lightly.
6. Gently fold the rolled dough in half, lift the folded crust into the pie plate, unroll it, and gently fit it into the pan.
7. Trim the crust evenly to one-half inch beyond the edge of the pie pan, and then fold the extra crust under and pinch into a decorative shape or crimp flat with floured fork tines.
8. To par-bake the pie crust, preheat the oven to 400º F. Line the crust with parchment paper or aluminum foil, shiny side down. Weight with dried beans or pie weights.
9. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the bottom is set and the edges are slightly browned. Remove the paper or foil and weights for fruit fillings and brush the bottom crust with an egg white wash; bake another 2 minutes. The egg white wash will seal the bottom crust.
10. For a baked single crust, prick holes in the pie crust, called docking, and bake, adding 5 to 7 minutes more to the baking time until the crust turns amber and begins to pull from the pie plate.
Note: This is the crust I use for Two Good Strawberry Pies – Fresh Strawberry Pie and Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.
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