Basic Pie / Pastry Dough
A flaky all-purpose pastry dough for sweet or savoury pies — makes a double 9-inch crust.
Makes 2 crusts (one 9-inch double-crust pie) · Prep 15 min · Rise 60 min
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Cold butter, cubed — or half butter, half cold lard/shortening
- 1/2 cup Ice water
- 1 tsp White vinegar — makes the dough easier to roll and a bit flakier
Instructions
Dough
- Whisk the flour and salt together in a large bowl.
- Cut the cold butter into the flour until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with pea-sized butter pieces still visible. (Tip: If the butter starts to soften while you work, pop the whole bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes before continuing.)
- Stir the vinegar into the ice water, then drizzle it in a tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork, until the dough just holds together when squeezed. (Tip: Stop adding water as soon as it clumps — a wetter dough is harder to roll and toughens as it bakes.)
Chill
- Divide the dough in two, flatten each half into a disc, wrap, and chill.
Roll
- On a floured surface, roll each disc from the centre outward, turning a quarter-turn between rolls, into a circle about 2 inches wider than your pie pan.
Tips
- Cold is the whole trick: Every step should feel a bit too cold, not too warm. Cold butter that's still in visible pieces when it hits the oven is what creates flaky steam pockets as it melts.
- Don't overwork after adding water: Once the water's in, handle the dough as little as possible — overworking develops gluten and makes a tough, not tender, crust.