Simple and Quick Pie Crust

“Hi, my name is Sandy and I have never made homemade Pie Crust.”

There is a little extra humor in this, as a Dietitian I had to take Food Science classes for my degree.  Not only did I have to take the classes, I was the teaching assistant for said classes for multiple semesters.  I guarantee pie crust was made in that food lab at some point.  Seriously, how did this happen?

As I mentioned in my initial post, I looked at store bought pie crust when I went shopping for the week.  When I looked at the price ($2.39 for two) I took a pause.  The whole point of this challenge is to save some money.  I figured spending almost $5 of my $50 budget was less than smart.  How hard could it be, right?

Pie crust has always intimidated me for some reason.  It shouldn’t have.  It is all of 4 ingredients and took me under 10 minutes to make.  15 if you include rolling it out.

I started with a quick search and was feeling a bit disheartened at first.  I remembered why it had intimidated me in the past.  The typical options include cutting butter into flour with a pastry cutter (which I don’t have) or with a couple of forks (which sounds SUPER tedious).  Then, I found my kind of recipe.

Hello, food processor!  I think I’ve been pretty open that I like the quick and easy option in the kitchen when it is available.  This did not disappoint.

I started with 2.5 cups of flour and about 1 teaspoon of salt (I usually just measure salt in the palm of my hand by sight).  To this, I added two sticks (1 cup) of cold, diced butter.

Hit the pulse button 4-5 times until the butter combines with the flour/salt into small pea-sized pieces.

Next, you need ice cold water.  I took a large measuring cup, filled it up with ice and then water.  I measured out about 2/3 cup of ice water into another measuring cup.  Slowly, stream the ice water into the flour/butter mixture while the food processor is running on low. You may not need all of the water, somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 cup should do it.

When the dough starts to come together in a ball but still a bit crumbly, stop.

Turn the dough out onto your counter or a plate and form into a ball.  Cut the dough into two equal portions and wrap in plastic wrap.  The most time consuming part of this – place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or overnight.  This will ensure your crust doesn’t turn into a gooey mess or fall apart when you roll it out.  At this stage you can also freeze it for later.

When you are ready, roll the crust out on a lightly floured surface and transfer to your pie plate.

I made this recipe twice this week, the only struggle I had was with the amount of water.  My first attempt didn’t have quite enough, so it was a little brittle.  You can see what happened to the finished product in my Chicken Pot Pie Recipe.  Not the prettiest, but it was flaky and tasty!

Depending on where you purchase your butter, you can make 2 crusts for less than $2.  I bet if you are super savvy, you could get it under $1, so a definitely a savings.  But, store bought crusts are a great option and basically turn out perfect every time!

A final note – my Food Science Professor always said that lard was the best fat to use for a flaky pie crust.  I have mixed feelings about this, but I may have to try it in the future.

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Quick and Simple Pie Crust

Prep Time 10 minutes

Servings 2 crusts

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup cold butter, cubed
• 2/3 cup ice cold water

Instructions

1. Combine flour, salt and butter in food processor

2. Pulse food processor 4-5 times until small, pea sized pieces form

3. Slowly add ice water until dough forms, with some crumbs.  Dough will not be sticky.

4. Turn dough out onto counter or plate, press into a ball.  Divide into two equal portions.

5. Wrap each portion in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.  Dough can also be frozen until needed.

6. Roll out pie crust on a lightly floured surface.