I have been on a pie and tart kick lately. It started a couple weeks ago, when I began thinking about holiday pies. With Thanksgiving gatherings essentially cancelled here in the US, it would just be my little family of three having dinner this year. Three people equals three different opinions on the type of pie, and frankly the thought of three pies sitting in my kitchen for a week was a bad idea. So I decided I would make mini pies. I set out on the internet to find some mini pie plates that were up to the task.
What I wanted was some cute little crock/ceramic pie plates by one of my favorite brands. Something totally adorable (and photo worthy). Of course, everyone must had the same idea because everything I found was on backorder. As I continued my search, what I ended up finding was a mini pie maker. What?! Insert record screech here. Yes, a pie maker. Apparently these are a thing, and they were all the rage back when I was chasing a toddler around the house. I somehow missed this craze, maybe it was the fact I had a baby on my hands!
If you know me, you know I love gadgets. I am often an early adopter and have a gadget for practically everything in the kitchen. So a mini pie maker?! You know I had to buy one!
With the new pie maker in hand, I began experimenting with mini pie fillings and crusts. I admit, in the process I played with some store-bought doughs, hoping for a quick weeknight pie option. They worked fine, with some better than others, but they weren’t homemade goodness. Plus I don’t always have store-bought dough on hand, which means I have to plan ahead. So it was time to just make my own.
My pet peeve is dry, inflexible dough that doesn’t want to be rolled. If you want to see me mad, give me a recipe that is temperamental and difficult to work with. There are a lot of them out there. In fact, I swear they are the reason many people turn to store-bought. The frustration is too real!
Today’s goal was to create an easy and pliable dough that was still flakey, without the frustration. I wanted to create a dough anyone could make. I also wanted to work with ingredients I always have on hand, including one secret ingredient–vodka! Before you think I’ve lost it by boozing up my pie crust, I must tell you that I have used vodka in pie crusts for years. It adds the moisture you need to make dough easy to work with, but it also burns off during baking which dries out the dough enough that the butter and flour can create flakey magic. Yum!
If you’ve been scared (or frustrated) to work with pie dough in the past, give this one a try before you run out to the grocery store. It really is crazy easy. It’s buttery, flakey and so delicious. Use it with your favorite fillings–I won’t judge you if you use store-bought–and bake as directed by your recipe (or the instructions on the can).
Crazy Easy Butter Pie Crust
Course: DessertDifficulty: Easy8
servings10
minutes1
hour169
kcalEveryone loves a flakey pie crust, however, it isn’t always easy to achieve. Most recipes yield a dough that is tough, dry and difficult to work with. The frustration sends most people to the grocery store in search of pre-made. This recipe is easy to make, pliable to work with and will have you thinking twice about ever buying store-bought dough again!
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 cup + 2 tbs all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1/2 tsp table salt
2 tbs cold vodka
6-8 tbs ice water
Directions
- Pulse the butter, flour, and salt in a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse sand. No butter lumps should be remaining.
- Add vodka and 6 tablespoons of ice water (no ice!) to the food processor. Pulse until mixture begins to form large clumps and pulls away from sides of the food processor bowl. You may need to add up to 2 additional tablespoons of water if dough is dry and not coming together. Do not over water or allow the dough to get too wet!
- Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and push it together into a big lump using your hands. Form into a ball and then flatten into a 5-inch disk. Place disk in a plastic baggie or wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour (or up to 4 days).
- When ready to use, lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin. Remove the dough disk from the plastic and roll out dough from the center moving outward, occasionally turning it a quarter turn and dusting with flour as needed. Repeat until the diameter of the whole crust is about 4 inches larger than the pie pan.
- Loosely roll dough around your rolling pin and carefully transfer the pie crust to the pie pan. Work dough down into pan gently and crimp the edges (for a single crust pie). Proceed with your pie recipe as directed.
Notes
- Recipe is for one 9″ pie crust. For a double crust pie, simply double the recipe OR make the dough in two batches if your food processor can’t accommodate a large quantity.
- Don’t let the vodka scare you! It makes for a tender, easy to roll dough, and the alcohol cooks off in the oven. Don’t worry, it is flavorless and you won’t have any drunk family members or kids after serving.
