In my family, knowing how to make a good pie crust is on the level of knowing how to drive a manual transmission. You’re going to learn, one way or another. Or, at least, your going to try to learn. Seeing as I have yet to successfully drive manual, I think pie takes precedence. I also think managing to drive the Allis Chalmers around the farm helped my case.

In a way, learning to make pie crust is much like learning to drive a manual transmission. When you have no experience, the thought of it is daunting. However, with lots of practice, you get better and start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Once you get to the point of proficiency, it’s pretty cool to be able to make a pie crust yourself–or drive a sports car with a stick shift. I’m not that cool though. The pie crust is as far as I go. 

If this is making you nervous because you have trouble driving manual and you don’t even know where to start with pie crust, let me encourage you. Do not fear the pie crust!

The taste of a homemade pie crust is so worth the effort AND it’s not a life and death situation if you get it wrong. You’re not going to be stuck up a hill at a stoplight and have it die on you. Just be patient and keep practicing. 

One of the most important steps you can practice to make a good pie crust is to start with cold ingredients. The flakiness of your pie crust depends on it. If the fat (plant butter in this instance) in a pie crust becomes too warm, it will meld too much with the flour. If the fat mixes too much with the flour, the pie crust can end up more like leather and far from the delicious flaky shell of your dreams. 

the process

If you are starting with room temperature ingredients, place the flour and plant butter into the freezer for at least 30 minutes. It’s helpful to store plant butter and flour in the freezer to have it ready for making a pie crust. 

When your ingredients are cold, blend or whisk together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender or food processor, cut the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs and the butter is dispersed evenly.

Sprinkle cold water over the crumbly mixture one tablespoon at a time. As the water is added, fold the mixture with a rubber spatula until the water is mixed into the dough. I wouldn’t use a food processor for this step because it seems to overwork the dough.

The next step is where I get my hands into the mix to form it into a cohesive lump of dough by folding and pressing gently against the sides of the mixing bowl. It takes about 4-5 times of folding and pressing to fully form the dough. Divide the dough into two hunks and flatten each into a disc shape. Wrap in plastic to store in the refrigerator. 

Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes in the refrigerator. The resting time allows the moisture from the water to meld with the flour. Pie dough will roll out better and stay cooler if you let it rest. It also allows the butter to set up again. Since the plant butter has been manipulated quite a bit, it has likely warmed up and needs a little time in the refrigerator to cool down. 

When you are ready to roll out the dough, lightly flour the countertop. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and gently press a disk of dough out with your rolling pin to get it started. Roll the dough into a large circle (or whatever shape pie plate you have).

Gently wrap the dough onto the rolling pin as if you are rolling gift wrap back onto its tube. Then, unroll the dough into your pie plate (or onto the top of your pie).

With a pair of kitchen shears or a paring knife, trim the crust to about 1/2-inch wider than the diameter of the pie plate all the way around. If you’re using a single crust, fold the rough edge under and press to seal the edge. 

Here are a couple of ways to add a fancy touch to the edge of a pie crust:

• Using a fork, press down onto the edge of the dough all the way around to add a simple design to the edge
• With the thumb and forefinger of your left hand pressing the outer edge and your right forefinger pressing the inner edge, crimp the pie crust with your fingers to make a sort of zig-zag pattern

Now, fill your pie and bake it to your fancy. 

A little time-saving hack to remember for next time is making several batches of pie crust and storing them in the freezer. It turns pie-making into a breeze if you already have the crust ready to cover the filling.

The simplest way to freeze your dough is following the steps until you have the dough shaped in the pie plate. Wrap the dough and pie plate in plastic wrap and freeze until you are ready to bake your pie.

To freeze the dough for several weeks, I like to roll it out to the shape I need, place the dough atop a sheet of parchment paper, then roll the parchment and dough together. The parchment should keep the dough from sticking to itself and it saves space to roll the dough into a tube rather than store it flat. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in a freezer bag. You can also freeze the dough before rolling out by placing the discs wrapped in plastic straight into the freezer, but it takes a bit longer to thaw.

I hope these tips help you bake the most wonderful and flakiest pie crust.

Happy pie baking and…

Bon Appétit!