HAPPY PI DAY - PieCrust

Happy Pi Day everyone. I hope you guys are having a wonderful Friday. The Chosen One and I are debating on what kind of pies we should make today. She is mentioning a quiché. I am thinking about a pecan pie. Because of all this pie talk I would like to share with you my favorite pie crust recipes.

Apple Pie

Bourbon Pecan Pie

Melissa has an incredible Piecrust Recipe that uses lard and you make it in a stand mixer. It is her Grandmother's recipe. Her Grandmother would use a hand pastry blender but Melissa now uses her Kitchenaid hand mixer. The Chosen One says that a recipe with lard is true down home cooking. :)

This crust is amazing and flaky. I do not always have lard on hand so when I make piecrust on a whim I use an all butter crust that I will share next. But this crust will make you want to have lard in your fridge all the time. I am actually going to go buy lard to make this crust later on today.

Melissa's Grandmother's PieCrust

Pie Crust - makes 2 crusts

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp fine salt (kosher)
3 Tbl granulated white sugar
1/4 c shortening or lard cold
12 Tbl unsalted butter, cubed and cold
1/4 c to 1/2 c ice water

In a stand mixer bowl, sift together flour, salt, and sugar. Using a flat beater attachment on low speed, begin to add the shortening, little by little spooning out of the measuring cup, work the cold shortening into the dry ingredients. Add the cold cubes of butter, one by one but quickly so the butter doesn't melt. Do not add all at once. When the dough begins to get a little crumbly, slowly add the water (start with 1/4 cup and work up). Work until the mixture become "dough", adding more water if needed.

Gather the dough and form into a ball, cut in two, flatten into two disks, and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or more as needed. On a floured surface roll out each half of dough into two 10 inch circles for pie crust and pie shell.

This piecrust will not disappoint. I promise people will be raving about your crust.

My favorite all butter pie crust recipe is Martha's Test-Kitchen Piecrust. It is made in a food processor and turns out really buttery and flaky. I always have about a pound of butter in my fridge at all times (yes I know I have a problem), so this crust his easy to do in the spur of the moment. I also got a big beautiful food processor for Christmas (Thanks Hubby) so I am itching to make this crust with my new improved equipment.

The main thing about this piecrust is everything needs to be cold. Martha's says your flour should be cold and butter should be really cold. Before I make this crust I put my flour in the fridge and butter in the freezer for about an hour. So I cut my 2 sticks of butter in small pieces and then place them in the freezer.

Martha's saying is "Make it cold and bake it hot".

I get Martha Stewart Living on my iPad and there was wonderful step by step video on this piecrust. I searched and searched online and could not find it. I hope the recipe is enough for your perfect pie crust. I am more a visual person so I love videos.

Martha's Test- Kitchen Piecrust

Makes enough dough for 1 double-crusted or 2 single-crusted 9-to-10-inch pies

Ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces, divided
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup ice water

Directions

Lay out three-quarters of the butter pieces on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and freeze until hard, at least 30 minutes. Refrigerate remaining butter.

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor. Add refrigerated butter, and pulse to combine, about 10 times. Add frozen butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with some blueberry-size clumps.

Add ice water, and immediately pulse until water is just incorporated, about 10 times. Squeeze a small amount of dough to make sure it holds together. Pulse a few more times if needed.

Lay out 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Empty half the dough onto each piece. Bring edges of wrap together to gather dough. Press into disks.

Roll out disks, still wrapped in plastic, to 1/2-inch-thick rounds (8 inches in diameter). Refrigerate at least 45 minutes and up to 2 days. Dough can be frozen up to 1 month.

I did find a pie crust video from Everyday Food that is close to this recipe. I hope it helps.