Recipe: Basic Pie Crust

By Khalil Hymore

Even though many people find it intimidating, a good basic pie crust is an important and easy recipe to master in the kitchen. Pie crusts are versatile too, lending themselves to work well with sweet as well as savory recipes. To make your crust sweeter add a little sugar to the dough or substitute orange juice for ice water. To add flavor to the crust when working with savory recipes try adding ground pepper or fresh herbs.

Basic Pie Crust
Makes enough for a 9-inch double-crust pie, or 2 single-crust pies

• 2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
• 3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, diced
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar

1. Add the flour, salt, and butter to a large bowl and mix together with your fingertips or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Combine the egg yolk and vinegar with ¼ cup of ice water and toss with flour mixture. Gather the mixture together with your hands until dough forms (it may be necessary to add an additional ¼ cup of ice water, a tablespoon at a time, until this happens). Be careful not to overwork the dough. Divide in half and flatten each piece into a disk. Wrap each disk tightly in plastic and chill for at least an hour.

2. To use, follow pie recipe directions. Dough can be frozen, stored in freezer bags, for up to 3 months.