Double Pie Crust

Desserts & Chocolate
Everyone has their go-to pie crust recipe, this is mine. I don’t know if it’s fool-proof because I’ve never given it to a fool to make. I think that people take making pie crust way too seriously. The most important this is to not be afraid of it. You dough should be mottled with bits of butter that are large enough so you see streaks and blobs in it. If you can’t see the butter, you’ve overmixed the dough. Before that happens stop cutting in the butter.
Double Pie Crust

Ingredients

  • 12.5 ounces (352g) flour
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 8 ounces (228g) fat, cold, but pliable (all unsalted butter or 50:50 butter and shortening)
  • 2/3 cup ice water

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients. Add butter and shortening, if using. Process lightly running the mixture between your fingers and thumb or with a pastry cutter until most of the flour is coated and you have a mixture that ranges from coarse meal to large pea or Nicoise olive-sized pieces.
  2. Mix in 1/2 cup iced water with a fork and stir to moisten the ingredients. Using a kneading motion, press the ingredients to get them to just stick together. It may seem like it’s not going to come together, then all of a sudden, it does. Only use the remaining water if absolutely necessary.
  3. Shape the mixture into two balls. I weigh them to make sure they are the same size. Press each ball into a 1” thick disc. Wrap the disc in waxed paper or plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  4. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a floured board. Dust it lightly with flour. Using a flour-dusted rolling pin, roll from the center to the edges of the dough, moving the dough every couple of rolls to make sure it’s not sticking. Roll it into a 1/8” high circle. Lay the dough circle over your rolling pin and transfer it to your pie pan. Shape and trim as necessary.
Total time:
Yield: It makes 2- 9” crusts

Notes

Food Processor Method: In a food processor, mix dry ingredients. Add butter and shortening, if using. Process by pulsing until most of the flour is coated and you have a mix that ranges from coarse meal to large pea or Nicoise olive-sized pieces. Pour mixture into a large bowl. Follow recipe from step 2.

I’ve made this crust with all butter and with half butter and half shortening. I like the flavor in the all-butter version best.
A tip from Harold McGhee for making pie crust manually is to chill the butter and shortening and grate it on the large holes of a box grater.