Bramble & Spice

The addition of sour cream makes the dough easier to handle and reduces gluten development, which helps the dough stay tender and flaky. The most important thing to keep in mind when making this is to keep the butter cold. Cold butter is what gives you nice, flaky layers. If at any point your dough feels as though it is warming, return it to the fridge until the butter feels firm.

If you don’t have a food processor, you can still make this dough with the method used for Flaky Pastry Dough.

Pie Dough

From Cook’s Illustrated

Single Crust

4 ½  tsp sour cream

3 Tb cold water

1 ¼ cup AP flour

1 ½ tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

8 Tb unsalted butter, cubed, cold

Double Crust:

3 Tb sour cream

⅓ cup cold water

2 ½ cups AP flour

1 Tb sugar

1 tsp salt

16 Tb unsalted butter, cubed, cold

Mix cold water and sour cream together in a small bowl until well combined; set aside. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor, pulsing until well combined. Scatter the butter over the top and pulse until the butter is the size of large peas, about 10 pulses.

Pour the sour cream mixture over the top of the dough and pulse until dough forms large clumps and no dry flour remains. If the dough feels dry and does not hold together, sprinkle with 1-2 Tb cold water and pulse until combined.

If necessary, divide dough into two even pieces. Working quickly, shape dough into rounds and wrap in plastic wrap. Each round should be about 360 grams. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.

On a lightly floured surface, or parchment paper, roll dough into about a 12-inch circle. As you are rolling the dough out, rotate by 90° every few rolls, in order to maintain a circle. Brush any excess flour off of the dough. Fold the dough in half and transfer to a pie dish. Carefully drape the dough into place by lifting the edge of the dough with one hand while pressing into the plate bottom with the other hand. Take care not to stretch the dough into place. Trim any dough overhang to about ½ inch beyond the lip of the plate. Add any trimmed dough to sections that need more length. Tuck the overhang under itself, so that the folded edge is flush with the edge of the pie plate. Create a fluted edge using your fingers (see image above). Freeze until dough is fully chilled, at least 30 minutes before baking.

For a fully baked shell:

Preheat the oven to 375°. Line the chilled pie with foil and fill with baking beans or pie weights of choice. Bake until the pie dough looks dry and is light in color, 30-35 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and weights and continue to bake until the crust is a nice golden brown all over, about 10-12 minutes. Transfer the pie plate to a wire rack to cool.