By popular demand of our current guests, here’s my go-to piecrust that I used for the Spinach-Mushroom-Bacon Quiche and Mixed Berry Crostata that I served today. It’s from one of my favorite cookbooks, the America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. They call it “Double-Crust Pie Dough,” but this name, given by one of our guests, has a little more pizzaz, don’t you think?
These directions are for mixing in a food processor, but if you don’t have one, follow the usual steps for mixing by hand.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
8 Tbsp butter-flavored Crisco, cut into 1/2″ pieces and chilled
12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4″ pieces and chilled
6-8 Tbsp ice water
Process the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor until combined, only a few seconds. Scatter the shortening over the top and process until the mixture has the texture of coarse sand, about 10 seconds. Scatter the butter pieces over the top and, using short pulses, process the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 pulses. Transfer to a bowl.
Sprinkle 6 Tbsp of the ice water over the mixture. Stir and press the dough together, using a stiff spatula (cooler than your hands), until the dough sticks together. If the dough does not come together, stir in the remaining water, 1 Tbsp at a time, until it does.
Divide the dough into two even pieces and flatten each into a 4″ disk. Wrap the disks tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Let the chilled dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out and fitting into a pie plate.
To Make Ahead:
The dough can be refrigerated, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, for up to 2 days or frozen up to 2 months. Let the frozen dough thaw on the countertop until malleable before rolling
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