The Flakiest Flaky Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Salted Butter, cubbed
- 3/4 Cup Vegetable Shortening, cubbed
- 2.5 Cups All-Purpose White Flour
- 1 Tsp salt
- 1/4 Cup vodka
- 1/4 Cup water
Instructions
- Combine cubbed butter and shortening. Put in freezer for 30 minutes. *Some people would skip this step but I'm asking you to give it a try... just once. Personally, I find this helps work the dough and leave you with those big, chunky pieces you want to see. **I like using salted butter in all my baking because I find it tones down recipes from being overly sweet. But non-salted butter will still give you the promised results ;-)
- In a large bowl, add salt to your flour and mix until combined.
- Mix together the water and vodka. Set aside in the fridge of freezer.*You want this mixture to be as cold as possible but don't let ice form. I usually put mine in the freezer because I know it won't be there more than 15 mintues.
- Add cold butter/shortening. Using a pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles course sand. Do not over-mix!*It's normal to have pea-sized bits of butter/shortening left in the dough. This is a good thing! As the pie crust cooks, those bits will melt and create those flakey pockets of goodness that will make your crust scrumptous.
- Slowly add the water/vodka mixture in 1 Tbsp increments, mixing the dough until in forms. You want the dough to just come together without it being wet or it will become tough. *I personally like to use my hands for this so I can feel the texture of the dough. But you can use a wooden spoon as well. If you use your hands, make sure they stay cold and the butter/shortening doesn't melt under your touch. This is when having those super cold ingredients really comes in handy!
- Divide the dough into two balls. Each ball will roll out enough to fit a 9" pie crust. TIP: I like to use a marble rolling pin for this, which I keep in the freezer. Again, the goal is to keep this crust as cold as possible until it's filled and ready for the oven. *If you're not going to fill your pie right away, tightly cover the dough in plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight. Let the cold dough sit on the counter for 30mins before rolling.**You can also freeze the dough for up to 3 months.