1) Measure water and butter together in a Pyrex measuring glass, and microwave for several seconds until the butter is barely melted. Then whip together with a fork.
> 1 stick (½ cup) salted butter
> ¼ cup water
Set the water-butter mixture aside while preparing the pie filling, so that the water-butter mixture comes to room temperature.
2) Mix in a separate bowl and form a well in the center for the wet ingredients:
> 2 cups flour
> 1 Tablespoon sugar (omit for savory pies)
> ¼ teaspoon salt
3) Once the filling has been prepared and the butter-water mixture has cooled down to room temperature, combine wet to dry ingredients with a fork until a ball is formed. Pat into a disk, then roll the dough between two sheets of parchment or waxed paper. Generally, the dough should be rolled out about an inch past the edges of the pie pan.
4) If pre-baking the crust is required, cover the whole crust with aluminum foil and fill the pie "shell" with pie weights or dried beans or raw rice. For a partial pre-bake, remove from oven when finished. For a full bake, remove the aluminum foil half-way through baking to allow the crust to brown.
5) For all other baked pies, to keep the crust edges from burning, cut a hole out of non-stick aluminum foil just the right size to expose the pie top but still cover the edges of the pie crust. I make my hole by folding the foil like I'm going to make a snowflake. Then I eyeball the distance from the center of the pie to the inside crust edge. I cut a curve along the foil. When you unfold the foil, a circle magically appears just the right size. I don't like using the commercial pie crust shields because things stick and burn on them, and they never seem to be exactly the right size. *NOTE: Leave the foil on the pie crust during the entire baking time.
***For a Double-Crust pie, I just make this recipe twice (in separate bowls) and use one recipe on the bottom crust and one recipe for top crust.
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| Tools of the trade: large, wooden rolling board; rolling pin, pie pan (I like clear Pyrex for even browning); and parchment paper. |
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| Pie crust is rolled out past the edges of the pie pan. |
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| This picture shows how I cut out my hole in the aluminum foil for the pie crust shield. Another way to make a homemade pie crust shield can be found here. |
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| Pie baking in the oven with the aluminum foil covering the edges. |
