All American Pie Crust Recipes

ALL-AMERICAN PIE

Steps:

• Combine flour, sugar and salt in a food processor; pulse to combine. Add butter; pulse until crumbly. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Gradually add ice water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed. Divide dough in two, making one portion slightly larger. Shape each into a rectangle; wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight., For apple pie filling, in a large saucepan, combine apples, 2/3 cup apple juice, sugar, cinnamon and apple pie spice; bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir until apples soften, about 10 minutes. Combine cornstarch and remaining apple juice; add to saucepan. Return to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in vanilla. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally., For cherry pie filling, in a large saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch; gradually stir in cherry juice until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the cherries, cinnamon, nutmeg and almond extract. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally., For blueberry pie filling, in a large saucepan, combine 1 cup blueberries, water and butter; simmer for 4 minutes. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt; add to saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and remaining blueberries. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally., Preheat oven to 425°. For crust, on a lightly floured surface roll out larger portion of dough to a 17x12-inch rectangle. Transfer to a 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of pan. Line crust with a double thickness of foil. Fill with pie weights, dried beans or uncooked rice. Bake on a lower oven rack until edges are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and weights; bake 6-8 minutes longer or until bottom is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack., Meanwhile, roll out remaining dough to a 15x10-inch rectangle. Using a pastry wheel and star cutouts of varying sizes, cut out stars and stripes for decorative topping of flag pie. Bake at 400° until golden brown, about 15 minutes for stripes and 8 minutes for stars. Cool on a wire rack., To assemble, place blueberry filling in 1/3 of crust; fill remaining portion of crust with "stripes" of cherry and apple fillings. Top pie with star and stripe cutouts.

TRADITIONAL AMERICAN PIE CRUST RECIPE - (4.4/5)

Steps:

• 1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Cut or rub in the shortening or lard, until the fat is the size of small peas. 2. Cut in the cold butter, leaving the butter in pieces the size of your thumbnail. 3. Sprinkle the ice water, one tablespoon at a time, over the mixture, tossing the mixture together with fork as you go. Continue until the dough is just moist enough to hold together when pressed. 4. For a 2-crust pie, gather a little more than half of the dough and pat it into a disk; wrap in plastic and chill for an hour (the larger portion will be the bottom crust.) Do the same with the remaining dough for the top crust. If you're making two one-crust pies, divide the dough evenly, wrap and chill before rolling. 5. Roll the crust until it is about 1/8-inch-thick and about 2 inches larger than the diameter of the pie plate. This gives you enough to make a good high rim (single crust shell) or to match with the upper crust (double crust bottom). Fill and bake as your recipe directs. Tips from our bakers When the dough is almost moist enough to hold together, try pouring the shaggy mixture out onto a piece of parchment paper. Use a spray bottle to moisten the dry parts of the dough without waterlogging it. Then fold the dough over on itself, like a business letter. Repeat the process until all the dry bits of dough are evenly moistened. This will create lots of nice layers in the dough (click on the video to see this being done). After rolling out your crust and lining your pan, put it in the refrigerator until you're ready to fill and bake the pie: this will improve the flakiness and texture of the crust. Pie crusts can be made ahead and frozen for up to a month. To keep the bottom crust from getting soggy, try brushing it with egg white and chilling before adding the filling. You can also use melted butter to create a barrier between the fillings moisture and the crust. Lightly grease the pie plate with non-stick spray before putting in the bottom crust; this will make taking the slices out of the pan much easier later.

BEST EVER PIE CRUST

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water until mixture forms a ball. Divide dough in half, and shape into balls. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
• Roll out dough on a floured counter. Don't over work it. Use as directed in pie recipe.

ALL-AMERICAN PIE CRUST

Steps:

• In the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the flour and salt, then add the vegetable shortening and butter. Process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.
• With the processor on pulse, add enough of the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough holds together without being sticky or crumbly. Shape the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill until firm and the moisture has distributed evenly, about 30 minutes.
• Flour a clean work surface and a rolling pin. (If making a double crust pie or 2 pie shells, work with one disk at a time, keeping the second disk chilled.) Place a dough disk in the center of the floured surface. Starting in the center of the dough, roll to, but not over, the upper edge of the dough. Return to the center, and roll down to, but not over, the lower edge. Lift the dough, give it a quarter turn, and lay it on the work surface. Continue rolling, repeating the quarter turns, until you have a disk about 1/8 inch thick.
• Ease the pastry into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim 1 inch larger than the diameter of the pie plate; fold the overhanging pastry under itself along the rim of the plate. For a simple decorative edge, press the tines of a fork around the folded pastry. To make a fluted edge, using both your finger and thumb, pinch and crimp the folded dough. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• To blind bake, see directions on page 64.

ALL AMERICAN APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• To Make Crust: In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, oil, milk, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar and salt until evenly blended. Pat mixture into a 9 inch pie pan, spreading the dough evenly over the bottom and up sides. Crimp edges of the dough around the perimeter.
• To Make Filling: Mix together 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sprinkle over apples and toss to coat. Spread evenly in unbaked pie shell.
• To Make Topping: Using a pastry cutter, mix together 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar and butter until evenly distributed and crumbly in texture. Sprinkle over apples.
• Put pie in the oven on a cookie sheet to catch the juices that may spill over. Bake 45 minutes.

PIE CRUST

Steps:

• In a food processor, pulse together the flour and salt. Add butter and pulse until the mixture forms lima bean-size pieces. Slowly add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until the dough just comes together. It should be moist, but not wet.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gather into a ball. Flatten into a disk with the heel of your hand. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.

PERFECT PIE CRUST

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt to combine. Add the butter, tossing the cubes through the flour until the pieces are separated from one another and each piece is coated.
• Cut the butter into the flour by pressing the pieces between your palms or fingertips, flattening the cubes into big shards and continuing to toss them in the flour to recoat the shards. The size of the butter will vary depending on the kind of pie you're making: For fruit pies, stop when the butter pieces are about the size of walnut halves. For custard pies, stop when the butter pieces are smaller, about the size of peas.
• Make a well in the center of the mixture. Add 3 tablespoons ice water and mix it in by tossing the flour in the bowl. (This tossing movement lets the moisture incorporate without allowing too much gluten formation.)
• Continue to add ice water 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time until the dough begins to come together. As it comes together, fold it over itself a few times to make sure it's homogenous. The dough should hold together without noticeable cracks (a sign of underhydration), but it should not be wet or tacky to the touch (a sign of overhydration).
• Form the dough into a disk about 1-inch thick. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using, and up to 2 days. (It can also be frozen for up to 3 months, then thawed overnight before using.)

BASIC PIE DOUGH FOR APPLE PIE

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar; pulse to combine. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with just a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining.
• Sprinkle with 1/4 cup ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed with fingers (if necessary, add up to 1/4 cup more water, 1 tablespoon at a time). To help ensure a flaky crust, do not overprocess.
• Transfer half of dough (still crumbly) onto a piece of plastic wrap. Form dough into a disk 3/4 inch thick; wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (and up to 3 days). Repeat with remaining dough. Makes 2 disks.