My Favorite Pie Crust

I find it kind of funny that I don't make more pie.  Everyone loves pie and if they don't they're weird.  But for some reason I usually save pie for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  It's actually completely backwards that I don't make pie all summer because that's when all the beautiful fruit is available.  Plus you get to eat it with ice cream.  Forget about crisps and crumbles, it's all about the pie!

Not that I made real pie today... I just made pie crust.


This crust was made as a dipper for a lemon meringue pie dip (but you have to wait two days to hear about that... sorry for the tease, it's a function of the blog world.  If I told you everything today then we wouldn't have anything to talk about tomorrow).

This crust is really quite perfect to me.  I've made a lot of different pie crust recipes (including the one from the Bouchon Bakery Cookbook) but I always go back to this recipe.  The result is light, flaky and buttery.  It's also easy to make and it has vodka in it.  Which makes it better because booze makes everything better.  There's actually science behind it... I know science is boring but this will only take a second.

The vodka evaporates more quickly than water when it bakes so using some vodka helps keep the crust from getting soggy.  Also, alcohol does not aid in the formation of gluten and gluten is the thing that makes bread chewy... chewy pie crust is bad so you want to keep the gluten down in pie crust (which is why you don't knead or mix up pie dough too much either).

Let's recap what we learned today.

1.  Pie is good.
2.  Liquor is good. 
3.  Liquor is good in pie.

See, that was easy?  So, yeah, I love this pie crust and will probably use it forever.


Pie Crust

Adapted from Williams Sonoma
Makes enough for a single pie crust

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
1 T Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1 stick cold Butter, cut into 1/4" cubes
1 1/2 T Vodka, chilled
up to 1 1/2 T Water, chilled

Instructions
In a Stand Mixer: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment stir together the flour, sugar and salt.  Add the butter mix on low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the vodka and mix on low speed until incorporated.  Add the water in 1/2 T increments until the dough just pulls together and still has a few crumbs (you may not need all the water).


In a Food Processor: Pulse together the flour, sugar and salt in the food processor.  Add the butter pulse until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the vodka and pulse until incorporated.  Add the water in 1/2 T increments and pulse until the dough just pulls together and still has a few crumbs (you may not need all the water).

Transfer the dough to a work surface, pat into a ball and flatten into a disk. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour.  Roll out on a piece of plastic wrap or a floured surface. Fill and bake as your pie recipe directs. 

Enjoy!

Julie