Recipe
December 21, 2016
Perfect Pastry
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes, plus 1 hour resting time
Food editor Kristen Eppich’s Best Tips
- Use all-purpose flour for rolling out dough. It has a higher protein level than pastry flour, so it won’t be absorbed by the dough when rolling.
- Continuously rotate the dough as you roll it out. This will help create an even circle and prevent the dough from sticking to the counter.
- Dough overchilled? Place dough, still wrapped in plastic wrap, on the countertop. Using a rolling pin, firmly bang down on the dough to make it more malleable.
- Flour liberally: Recipes refer to using a lightly floured surface — but properly mixed dough will absorb very little flour during rolling, so use an adequate amount when rolling out your dough to prevent sticking. Flour the rolling pin, too.
- To make a sweet crust without fundamentally changing the structure of the dough, add 2 tbsp sugar.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes, plus 1 hour resting time
Directions
Yield: Makes Enough For 19" Double-Crusted Pie
Make And Chill Dough
- Stir flour with salt in large bowl. Add butter and shortening, and cut into flour using pastry blender until fat is pea-sized. Drizzle in ice water while stirring with fork. Continue stirring until water is absorbed and mixture is crumbly.
- Turn dough out onto a countertop. Gently knead about 5 times or until dough comes together into a smooth ball. Flatten into disc shape and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour.
- Sprinkle surface with all-purpose flour. Roll out pastry, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking. Use dough as indicated by recipe.
Alternative Food Processor Method
- Add flour and salt to bowl of food processor. Add butter and shortening, and pulse until fat is pea-sized. Drizzle in ice water, then continue pulsing until water is absorbed but mixture is still crumbly. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and continue with recipe as above.