Kereena
- Oct 12, 2021

Simple Pie Dough

Easy pie dough recipe for delicious homemade pies, savoury or sweet.

Anytime you want to bake a beautiful pie from scratch, it won't take more than a few minutes to make this simple pie crust. The best part is, you can make any adjustments for dietary restrictions needed, and save the cost of a frozen pie crust.

This pie crust recipe makes 1, 9-inch pie base and top, or two 9-inch pie bases. Divide the recipe if you only need one half, or double if you need more.

For a gluten-free dough, substitute the all-purpose flour with a mixture of cassava flour and tapioca flour (see ingredients list for amounts). Otherwise, this dough is intended to be sugar-free and dairy-free for a vegans. I've also included more common ingredient options if dietary restrictions are not a concern; however, they will alter the noted calorie count.

See the tips below for alternate versions, ideas for creating decorative pies, and more information to consider.

TIP: The top of the dough can be cut into strips for a lattice, or punched with a small cookie cutter to create decorative steam vents. Excess dough after final trimming and be rerolled and cut into shapes (e.g., leaves, stars, flowers, etc.), which can then be used to decorate the top and crust of the pie. Adhere the shapes with a light brushing of egg wash.

TIP: To add a nuttiness to this dough, add up to 2 tablespoons of ground almonds, pecans, walnuts, etc. to the flour mixture before adding the butter.

TIP: This is a sweet dough for dessert pies. For use in savoury dishes, reduce or eliminate the sweetener.

TIP: It is important to keep this dough as cold as possible throughout the entire preparation. If it seems the butter is getting soft or the dough is getting sticky, stop and put it in the refrigerator or freezer for 5 minutes before continuing. Do this as needed.

Ingredients

(Makes 1, 9-inch double pie crust - top and base | Serving size = 1/8th)

2, 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (or 2 cups cassava flour + 1/2 cup tapioca flour for a gluten-free dough)
2 tablespoons monk fruit sweetener (or granulated sugar) (reduce or eliminate for savoury pies)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup unsalted plant-based butter, very cold, cut into small cubes (2 sticks) (or cold vegetable shortening)
3/8 cup ice water (more or less depending on the flour being used)

Directions

Set aside the pie plate you will be using (typically recipes call for a 9-inch pie plate).

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sweetener, and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pair of knives or a pastry cutter to avoid warming the butter with body heat. Keep cutting the butter into the flour until the pieces of butter are no larger than tiny pebbles or peas and the overall consistency is that of coarse cornmeal. Add the water and mix until the dough starts to pull together. If the dough is very dry, add a 1/4 teaspoon of water at a time until it starts to hold together. The dough should not have any large dry areas or be too crumbly. (NOTE: For the gluten-free version, it may take a little time for the flour to absorb the water. After adding the water and giving it an initial mix, put it in the refrigerator for 5 minutes to allow time for hydration.)

Turn out the dough onto a worksurface and form it into a ball. Cut the ball in half and form the halves into 1-inch thick disks. Wrap both halves in clingwrap and refrigerator for 1 hour.

Lightly flour a flat worksurface then take one half of the dough and and flour both sides. With a rolling pin, roll it out to a diameter that will fit the pie plate being used. Don't be afraid to flip the dough over often as you roll it to help keep an even thickness all around. Use the rolling pin to help transfer the dough into the pie dish. Lift the edges of the dough to help fit it fully to the shape of the pie plate so it covers the bottom and sides completely. Cover with clingwrap and set aside in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Unwrap the other half of the dough and repeat the same steps as before. Lightly flour a flat worksurface and both sides of the disk of dough then roll out to about the same diameter as the bottom crust. If not needed immediately, transfer onto a sheet of clingwrap, wrap, and refrigerate both halves until needed for pie preparation, or freeze well wrapped for up to 6 weeks. If freezing, cut out a disk of cardboard to provide a sturdy, flat surface for the top sheet of dough.

When ready to complete the pie crust, finish as follows:

If making an open-faced / single crust pie, trim the edges so they overhang the pie plate by about an inch. Tuck the excess under and make flush with the edge of the pie plate. The edge can now be crimped as needed.

(Scraps can be used later to cut out decorative shapes or other treats, so don't discard!)

If making a pie with a top crust, leave the edges unfinished until the top is in place. Go around the pie and pinch the excess edges of the top and bottom crust together to seal the crust and form a single, joined edge. Trim the joined edge so that it overhangs the pie plate by about 1/2-inch then tuck the excess under into the pie plate to make it flush with the edge. Crimp or decorate as needed.

Cover with clingwrap and refrigerate the completed pie or pie crust for 30 minutes prior to baking. Bake, par bake, or blind bake as per the instructions included with pie recipes. If the recipe calls for par baking or blind baking remember to dock the bottom and sides of the dough before placing in the oven and fill it completely with pie weights.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: