Tutorial Tuesday : How to Make Pie Crust

One of the easiest, yet most intimidating things to make is homemade pie crust. It's so easy to pop open that box and unroll that frozen pastry, but tasted side-by-side, there is no contest in flavor and texture with the real thing. I think a homemade pie is one of the most thoughtful things you can offer a friend.

I can walk you through this, but you must promise me you will try it. I found this recipe as a new bride, motivated to learn to make the perfect apple pie. This is Martha Stewart's recipe from her magazine and it must be about 13 years old.
Pull out your food processor and let's make some pie crust, baby!

Ingredients:

2 sticks cold butter, cut into pieces
2 1/2 cups flour
1 t. salt
1 T. sugar
1/4 cup ice water



Begin by measuring your dry ingredients into the bowl of your food processor. Pulse about 5 times to mix well.

Now, add the chunks of cold butter.



Pulse about 15 times or as long as it takes to get pea sized pieces of butter throughout the flour mixture. It will look like this:



Begin to add your ice water a tablespoon or so at a time while pulsing, you will probably not use the entire amount measured. The key here is to not over mix and incorporate as little water as possible into the flour.



You want just enough water to make your dough stick together when pinched - like damp sand. Can you see how it is beginning to come together?



This recipe is for a two crust pie, so divide the dough onto two pieces of plastic wrap.



Begin to pull the sides up to make a ball of dough. Try to use the plastic wrap and not your hands and do this quickly. Keeping the butter cold is key here, and working quickly and not melting it with your warm hands will help.



This nice disc of dough is ready for the fridge. I would try to keep it there for about an hour.



Now, between two pieces of plastic wrap, begin to roll your dough. You can judge the size by laying your pie plate on top to measure. You want it a bit larger than the rim of the plate to accommodate for depth.



Peel off one layer of plastic wrap and place the dough into the pie pan, leaving the top plastic wrap intact. Like this, and pop back into the fridge for at least 1/2 hour longer. You can use this time to prepare your filling or preheat the oven. Keeping the butter cold is key for flaky crust.



Want to make Apple Pie? Okay, peel off the top layer of plastic wrap and pile the following into the crust:

4-6 lbs. peeled, chunked apples
1 t. cinnamon
1 T. flour
2 T. butter cut into small pieces
1 t. vanilla
3/4 c. sugar



Pop it into an oven (preheat it to 400 degrees, then turn down to 375 degrees when ready to bake) for about an hour. Keep an eye on it and tent with foil if the edges are getting too brown.



Girl, you just made an apple pie from scratch! You are sooooo going to hear about this from all the other wives in the neighborhood.
Head on over to Kimba's; It's a party, man!