Flawless Pie Crust
Making a pie crust can be a daunting task if you've never made pie or you've had a few bad experiences. A vegan pie crust may seem even scarier, but let me assure you that it's very easy to make an incredible vegan pie with a crispy crust that browns and has a solid base to hold any filling you can dream up. This recipe is for a pie crust only.
Servings - 12 pie slices
Equipment
- Parchment paper
- Ziploc gallon bags
- Straight rolling pin
Ingredients
- 14 tablespoons vegan butter (I prefer Earth Balance)
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (unbleached and 320 grams if by weight)
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder (Helps it get flakey)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 7-10 tablespoons ice water
Instructions
- Cut the butter into 1/2 tablespoon slices and place in the freezer while you prepare the rest of your ingredients. Measure out 3/4 cup water and place into the cup a few ice cubes. Set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, corn starch, salt, and baking powder.
- Add 8 tablespoons of the chilled butter to the flour mix, toss, then use two knives or a pastry cutter to cut the butter in until it's like sand with small pieces of gravel. Toss the remaining 6 tablespoons of chilled butter with the flour but don't cut in.
- Transfer the flour mix and butter to a gallon Ziploc bag, press out the air, seal, and use a rolling pin to flatten, shake the bag slightly, then flatten again. Don't shake, place the sealed bag into the freezer and chill for 15-30 minutes.
- Pour the chilled flour and butter into a bowl, sprinkle on the apple cider vinegar and 5 tablespoons of ice water. Fold to incorporate. Sprinkle on 2 more tablespoons of ice water, fold, and repeat adding 1 tablespoon of water until you can press the dough between your fingers and it sticks together but doesn't seem sticky or wet.
- Turn the dough onto a countertop or workplace. Lightly press into a mound. Divide into a 60/40 ratio. Press each into a round and flatten to 1" thick. Wrap each disc with plastic wrap. It will be crumbly but that's okay. Refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.
- Lay a piece of parchment paper on the countertop. Sprinkle a little flour on the paper. Unwrap the larger dough disc onto the parchment. Press together to incorporate any loose dough into the sides. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough then lay a piece of parchment paper on top. Use a straight rolling pin on the parchment paper and roll out to desired thickness or diameter. Generally a pie crust is slightly less than 1/4" thick and about 11-12" round for a 9" pie pan.
- You can trim the edges at this point or turn the rolled dough into your pie pan and trim after. Press pieces of dough onto any cracks or splits.
- Repeat with the smaller piece. Place on filled pie pan or cut into lattice strips. Bake according to specific pie recipe.
Notes
The goal of pie crust is to add as little liquid as possible and keep as butter flakes rather than overwork the dough and potentially melt them in. The butter flakes are what gives the dough layers and makes it flakey. This is why the dough is worked in stages from freezing the flour blend and butter then adding in liquid slowly.
The amount of ice water really depends on how dry your flour is and can range from 7 tablespoons to nearly 12 at times. Some recipes say to add the water in 1 tablespoon at a time, but I've found that takes too long and you end of overmixing and melting the butter. That is why I start with 5 tablespoons then add in 2 and add 1 at a time after.
The dough is going to seem dry and crumbly but that's because you don't want to add too much water and you don't want to knead the dough which will make it tough, ruin the layers, and melt the butter in just from the heat of your hands. You'll notice in the recipe instructions that you don't use your hands for much of this recipe because that warmth will heat the butter which wrecks the layers.