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The Basic Series
The Basic Series · No. I · The Foundation

The Pie Crust

One bowl, cold butter, a little patience. The foundation under every pie that follows.

Makestwo 9-inch crusts
Time15 min + 1 hr chill
Methodby hand

This is the part that asks for your hands. Make it once and the rest becomes easy — cold butter worked into flour until it looks like coarse meal, a few spoonfuls of ice water, and the patience to let it rest in the cold before it's rolled. It is the first thing in the kitchen worth learning by heart.

Ingredients

Double crust for a 9-inch pie

Method
  1. Whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar.
  2. Cut in the cold butter until only pea-sized pieces remain.
  3. Add the ice water one tablespoon at a time, just until the dough comes together — no more.
  4. Divide into two discs.
  5. Wrap and chill at least one hour before rolling.

Keep everything cold — the butter, the water, your hands if you can. Cold is what makes a crust flake.

"Make the crust the day before. A rested dough rolls softer, and the work of a pie feels lighter when the hardest part is already done."