Pie Dough - The Basics

by on

Basic Pie Dough

Makes 1 (10- to 11-inch) circle

Ingredients:

1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

6 ounces unsalted butter, cut into cubes and well chilled (1½ sticks)

½ teaspoon lemon juice

4 to 6 tablespoons ice-cold water, as needed

Directions:

By hand: Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Use a pastry cutter to cut the cold butter into the flour, or pinch the butter in the flour with your fingers, until it has the consistency of coarse meal.
Add the lemon juice and 4 tablespoons of water, drizzling it as evenly over the flour as possible. Fold the dough together with your hands until you are able to collect it into a dough ball. You may need to add more water in order to get to this stage.
Shape the dough into two disks of even size. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before proceeding to step 4.

Using a food processor: Freeze the butter cubes for 15 minutes before starting. Blend the flour and salt together in the food processor bowl. Add the semi-frozen butter cubes and pulse together with the flour until the butter chunks in the flour are about the size of peas.
Add the lemon juice and 4 tablespoons of water, drizzling over the flour as evenly as you can, and pulse the mixture again to get the dough to come together. You may need to add more water in order to get to this stage.

Transfer the dough to a counter dusted with flour, and shape the dough into two disks of even size. You may need to knead the dough a little or add a little more water to get the dough to come together as a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least thirty minutes before using.