All-Butter Pie Crust
“We shall have a party and and we must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.”
– David Mamet, Boston Marriage.
An all-butter pie crust is a thing of beauty. The flakiness. The flavor. The butterliciousness. (Not a word but it should be.) Though more likely to lose some of its shape upon baking than a crust blended with shortening, an all-butter crust tastes so wonderful it’s worth it. I especially like it with fruit and dessert pies, or anything chocolate.
The Steps
Tips
- Cold, cold, cold – be sure your butter is cold (and cubed), and your ice water is just that – icy! For truly flaky dough and great flavor, you want your fat deposits (butter and/or shortening) kept cold and suspended throughout the dough rather than warmed up and fully integrated. I’ll often switch off from my wooden rolling pin to my marble one as it helps keep the butter cool when I’m rolling out the dough.
- Watch the water – too much ice water means too much gluten means tough dough. You want to work the dough as little as possible so only add enough ice water to barely keep the dough together when squeezing it in your hand.
- Chill for at least an hour before rolling out – this will help prevent shrinking. But let it rest on the counter for 10 minutes or so after taking it out of the fridge. If you roll it when it’s too cold, it will likely crack.
Reality Bakes
You can use the all-butter crust for any type of pie, sweet or savory. Try it with this Deep Dish Blueberry Pie, or use it with a chocolate or fruit cream pie topped with delicious Italian meringue.
Because I’m a Librarian
Although a couple of years old now, this classic pie bible is a must for any serious baker’s bookshelf. Get the book and check out the website at The Art of the Pie.
All-Butter Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (350g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp kosher or table salt
- 2 tsp sugar (optional; omit entirely for savory pies)
- 1 cup (2 sticks, 227g, or 8 oz) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup (2 to 4 oz) ice water
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, salt and sugar.
- Add chilled butter cubes to the flour and cut in with a fork, a pastry cutter, or your fingers until mixture is mealy and pea-sized pieces of butter remain throughout. If using a food processor, pulse salt and flour and sugar (optional) together briefly. Add about half of the butter and pulse to distribute throughout. Add the other half and pulse until mixture is mealy and pea-sized lumps of butter remain throughout, about 8 to 10 pulses. Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl.
- Drizzle in 4 tablespoons of the ice water mixture. Mix in with a fork or your fingers. Keep adding ice water 1 tablespoon at a time until dough no longer crumbles apart and stays together when squeezed. Stop adding water at this point, even though the dough is shaggy.
- Gather dough into a ball and divide it in half. Shape each half into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least an hour. Tip: for double crust pies, make one disc slightly larger than the other for the bottom crust.
- Allow dough to warm at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before rolling out into two crusts. Fill and bake according to recipe instructions.
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Question: can you use salted butter and omit added salt?
The amount of salt in salted butter can vary per brand but I imagine you could still use it instead of unsalted. You might consider still adding just the tiniest extra pinch of salt, though, like maybe just an eighth of a tsp. or even a little less.