- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and diced
- 1/4 cup ice water
(Recipe makes a single pie crust, double if needing a double pie crust.)
- In a large bowl (preferably metal), combine flour and salt. Set bowl in fridge. Meanwhile, cut butter into cubes and set in freezer until very cold. (Alternatively, you could freeze butter and grate with a cheese grater.)
- Take butter and flour out of fridge/freezer. Cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Work fast and ensure that all ingredients stay cold. Stir in ice water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture forms a ball. The dough should have small bits of butter – this makes the crust flaky. It will still look crumbly, but will stick together as a ball if you press it with your hands. Wrap dough ball in plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Refrigeration is necessary because it allows the gluten to relax and prevent shrinkage.
- Take dough out of fridge and roll out to fit a 9 inch pie plate. You may need to roll it out twice. The first roll is usually crumbly and uneven and has large breaks. Just gently gather the dough, form another ball, and roll out again. Smooth, round crust should be easier the second roll out.
(Additional Tips: You could place Ziploc bags of ice on your counter where you intend to roll out your dough, this makes the work surface cold. I have a marble rolling pin, so I just place my rolling pin in the freezer so that it is very cold.) - Place crust in pie plate. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown.