FOR A ONE-CRUST PIE
1 c All-purpose bleached flour
3 tb Sugar
1/4 ts Baking powder
1/8 ts Salt
4 tb Cold unsalted butter
1 lg Egg
FOR A TWO-CRUST PIE
2 c All-purpose bleached flour
1/3 c Sugar
1/2 ts Baking powder
1/4 ts Salt
8 tb Cold unsalted butter
2 lg Eggs
1. To mix the dough by hand, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder
in a medium mixing bowl and stir well to mix. Cut butter into 1 Tbsp.
pieces and add to dry ingredients. Toss once or twice to coat pieces of
butter.
2. Using your hands or a pastry blender, rub the butter into the dry
ingredients by breaking it into tiny pieces, continuously pinching and
squeezing it into the dry ingredients. Be careful to keep the mixture
uniform by occasionally reaching down to th e bottom of the bowl and mixing
all the ingredients evenly together.
3. Continue rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture
resembles a coarse-ground cornmeal and no large pieces of butter remain
visible. Beat the egg(s) in a small bowl and pour over the flour and butter
mixture.
4. Stir in with a fork, continuing to stir until the dough begins to hold
together, but still appears somewhat dry. Scatter flour on the work surface
and scrape the dough onto it. Press and knead the dough quickly 3 or 4
times, until it is smooth.
5. To mix the dough in the food processor, combine flour, sugar, salt and
baking powder in work bowl fitted with metal blade. Pulse 3 times at
1-second intervals to mix. Cut butter into 1-Tbsp. pieces and add to work
bowl.
6. Process, pulsing repeatedly at 1-second intervals, until the mixture is
fine and powdery, resembles a coarse-ground cornmeal and no large pieces of
butter remain visible, about 15 pulses in all.
7. Add the egg(s) to the work bowl and pulse ten times or so, until the
dough forms a ball. Scatter flour on the work surface and scrape the dough
onto it. Press and knead the dough quickly 3 or 4 times, until it is
smooth.
8. Press the dough into a disk (two equal disks for the larger amount of
dough). Sandwich the disk(s) of dough between two pieces of plastic wrap
and press it into a 6-inch disk. Refrigerate the dough until firm, or until
you are ready to use it, at l east 1 hour.
Yields
1 servings