Scrumptious Pie Dough
buttery shortcrust perfect for pies, tarts and galettes
Ingredients
Dough
- 280 g all-purpose flour (2 1/4 cups)
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar or 1 Tablespoon for savory pies (see notes)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 180 g unsalted butter very cold (1 1/2 sticks)
- 5 Tablespoons iced water
Instructions
- Freeze butter for 10 minutes or until very cold.
- Working on a cold surface, use a sharp knife to cube butter.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Add ice cold cubed butter, tossing to combine. Working quickly to avoid warming, use your hands to break up butter into smaller pieces, like coarse sand or small peas. I make all doughs by hand, but you may also use a food processor for this as long as you avoid over-mixing.
- Drizzle a few spoonfuls of iced water in mixture and toss to moisten. Continue adding remaining water until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed with fingers. To ensure a flaky crust, work quickly and do not over-process.
- Transfer dough (still crumbly) onto a piece of plastic wrap. Once wrapped, lightly form dough into a thick disk.
- Refrigerate 1-2 hours (and up to 3 days).
Notes
Three top tips for best pie crust: Use quality ingredients. Make sure all ingredients are very cold. When handling dough, less is more.
After refrigerating, quarter the dough for four (4) galettes, or use whole for one large galette as you wish.
If making a savory galette, use only 1 Tablespoon sugar. Some recipes call for no sugar, but I think a little sugar actually brings out the flavor of the crust. Test out your recipe and choose what you prefer.
For a full pie versus open top galette or tart, use 313 g (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour and 226 g (8 oz) butter, little more iced water if needed. Make two dough discs and refrigerate wrapped separately.