Description
Grandmother’s Pie Crust is a classic, flaky, and buttery pie dough recipe perfect for sweet or savory pies. Made with simple ingredients like all-purpose flour, cold unsalted butter, and ice water, this dough is easy to prepare and yields tender, flaky crusts. Optional additions like sugar and apple cider vinegar enhance flavor and tenderness. The dough is chilled before use for the best texture, making it ideal for traditional American pies.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (optional)
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 6–8 tablespoons ice water
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (optional, for tenderness)
Instructions
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar (if using) until well combined.
- Cut in Butter: Add the cold cubed butter to the dry ingredients. Use a pastry cutter or your fingers to cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with pea-sized bits of butter.
- Add Liquids: Drizzle in 6 tablespoons of ice water and the apple cider vinegar (if using) over the mixture. Gently mix with a fork to combine.
- Adjust Dough Consistency: Add more ice water, one tablespoon at a time, just until the dough holds together when pressed. Be careful not to overwork the dough.
- Form Dough Discs: Divide the dough into two equal portions and form each into a flat disc.
- Chill Dough: Wrap each dough disc tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow the dough to rest and firm up.
- Use as Desired: After chilling, roll out the dough discs as needed for your pie recipe, suitable for both sweet and savory pies.
Notes
- Chill all ingredients and tools before starting to ensure a flaky crust.
- The dough can be made ahead and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
- Handle the dough gently to avoid warming the butter and toughening the crust.
- Adding apple cider vinegar is optional but helps improve tenderness.
- If you prefer sweeter crusts for fruit pies, include the sugar; omit for savory pies.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Baking
- Method: No-Cook
- Cuisine: American
