Sweet Pastry for a Two-Crust Pie

Ingredients

 (Makes a double pie crust)

Instructions

  1. Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
  2. Add cold butter.
  3. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter until flour and butter particles are size of small peas.
  4. Sprinkle mixture with 4 to 5 tablespoons cold water.
  5. Using a fork toss the mixture together until it begins to hold together.
  6. Working with your hands quickly gather pastry into a ball.
  7. If necessary place the bowl with the pastry ball into the refrigerator for 5 minutes so the butter firms up a bit.
  8. Divide pastry into 2 rounds.
  9. Dust a work surface with flour.
  10. Place the first pastry round on the work surface and sprinkle with flour.
  11. Roll out a few inches with a rolling pin.
  12. Sprinkle the pastry round generously with flour.
  13. Pick up the pastry round and sprinkle counter with flour.
  14. Place pastry round flour side down on the counter.
  15. Dust top of round with flour.
  16. Continue rolling with quick gentle strokes.
  17. Roll until round is about 2-inches larger than an inverted pie pan.
  18. Fold pastry in half and place over pie pan so edge hangs 2-inches over rim of pan, fold other half out to cover entire pan.
  19. Gently press crust against bottom and sides of pan.
  20. Take a sharp paring knife and cut excess pastry from around pan so that there is about 1-inch of pastry overlapping edge.
  21. Add any excess pastry to the second dough round.
  22. Add filling of your choice to the bottom crust in the pie pan.
  23. Roll out the second round of pastry following the steps above.
  24. Fold pastry in half and place over the filled pie pan so edge hangs 2-inches over rim of pan.
  25. Fold other half out to cover the entire pan.
  26. Trim the top crust so that it is approximately even with the edge of the bottom crust.
  27. Crimp the edges of the two crusts together.
  28. Poke slits in the top crust with a paring knife to allow steam to escape during the baking process.
  29. Follow the recipe and baking instructions for the pie of your choice.

Comments

Recipe makes enough pastry for one 8 or 9-inch double crust pie.

Click here to make sweet pastry for a one-crust pie.

Categorized in

Recipe from Betty Crocker's Cookbook. New York: Golden Press (1980).