Easy Pastry Dough Food

EASY PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Place all ingredients in 9 inch pie pan. Stir together with fork. Pat mixture into bottom and up the sides of the pan. Poke holes in bottom and side of crust.
• Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light brown. Use as directed in favorite pie recipe.

BASIC SHORTCRUST PASTRY

Steps:

• Sift 225g plain flour into a large bowl, add 100g diced butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Stir in a pinch of salt, then add 2-3 tbsp water and mix to a firm dough.
• Knead the dough briefly and gently on a floured surface.
• Wrap in cling film and chill while preparing the filling.

FLAKY PASTRY DOUGH

Steps:

• Add the flour and salt to a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the butter and toss to combine. With your fingers, begin to "smush" the butter into flat pieces. Continue smushing until all the butter is flattened but none of the pieces are larger than a quarter. The flour will look like coarse cornmeal.
• Add the water, quickly folding it in with a wooden spoon to distribute the moisture. (Do not stir vigorously--the dough should appear shaggy.) Use your hands to break up any large clumps of moisture. Then use your knuckles or a palm to smear the dough up the sides of the bowl (a technique known as fraisage). This distributes the butter over a larger surface to achieve larger flakes and compact the dough. Once you've gone around the bowl one time, fold the dough over itself a few times to pick up any dry bits from the bottom. Gently press the dough into a disk. (Note: The dough should remain very cool to the touch throughout the process. If it approaches room temperature, refrigerate it for 5 to 10 minutes to chill.)
• Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll out to a 10-by-12-inch rectangle. Perform a letter fold by folding one of the short ends towards the middle and the other short end over the first, like folding a business letter.
• Turn the dough 90 degrees, so the long side faces you, and perform a second letter fold. Turn the dough 90 degrees again; perform a third letter fold.
• If the dough still feels cool, it can be used immediately. Otherwise, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for at least 20 minutes. The dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month.

EASY HOMEMADE PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Combine flour, salt, and butter in a food processor. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 1-second pulses.
• Stir water and vinegar in a small bowl.
• Pour half the ice water and vinegar mixture into the flour and butter mixture. Pulse to combine, about 3 (1-second) pulses. Pour in remaining ice water and vinegar mixture. Pulse until mixture just starts to come together, about 8 (1-second) pulses.
• Turn dough out onto a wooden surface, pat into round shape and divide in half. Form each half into a disc about 5 inches wide.
• Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes until ready to use.

QUICHE CRUST / SHORTCRUST PASTRY FOR PIES

Steps:

• Place flour, salt and butter in a food processor.
• Pulse 10 times or until it looks like breadcrumbs.
• With the motor running on low, pour 2.5 tbsp of water into the tube feeder.
• Turn up to high and blitz for 30 seconds or until it turns into a ball of dough. Initially it will look like breadcrumbs, then it will turn into a ball of soft dough - some random escaped bits is fine. If it doesn't look like its coming together at 20 seconds, add another 1/2 tbsp of water. Don't blitz longer than 30 seconds at most.
• Form a disc, wrap in cling wrap. If there are escaped crumble bits, that's fine - just press them in. Refrigerate for 1 - 3 hours.
• Preheat oven to 200C/390F (standard) or 180C/350F (fan forced)
• Sprinkle work surface with flour, unwrap dough and place on the flour. Sprinkle top with flour, then roll out into a 27cm/11" round.
• Gently roll the pastry so it wraps around the rolling pin.
• Unroll it over the quiche pan or pie dish - 23cm / 9".
• Press the pastry into the edges of the quiche pan, patching up edges if required (if pastry doesn't quite reach top of rim).
• Roll the rolling pin across the top to cut off the excess pastry.
• Optional extra "safe measure" refrigeration - 15 minutes. See (Note 2).
• Place a large piece of parchment paper over the pastry, then fill with baking beads or lots of rice or dried beans to weigh it down. (Note 3)
• Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from oven.
• Turn oven DOWN to 180C/350F (or 160C/320F fan).
• Use excess paper to CAREFULLY remove hot beads, then return to oven for 10 minutes or until base is light golden.
• Remove from oven and fill with chosen Quiche Filling. Quiche Lorraine, Salmon Quiche, Italian Sausage or your other filling of choice.
• The pastry will not be 100% cooked, it finishes cooking with the filling. It's cooked enough so the crust will not go soggy.

EASY PIE CRUST

Steps:

• To make the dough for the pie crust, mix 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and 1 teaspoon each salt and sugar in a medium-size bowl. Cut 2 sticks chilled unsalted butter into pieces. With a pastry blender, cut in butter, working until mixture resembles coarse meal.
• Add 4 tablespoons ice water; work with hands until dough comes together. If dough is still crumbly, add more ice water a tablespoon at a time (up to 4 more tablespoons). Do not overwork.
• Divide dough in half, and flatten halves into disks. Wrap disks separately in plastic; refrigerate at least 1 hour.
• To form the pie shell, roll the dough on a floured surface into a 14-inch round. Wrap around rolling pin and carefully unroll over a 9-inch pie plate.
• Fit gently into bottom and side of plate. Use kitchen shears to trim dough to a 1-inch overhang; fold under, and seal to form a rim.
• Crimp rim with fingertips and knuckle. Repeat with remaining dough; wrap each with plastic, stack, and freeze.

ALL-PURPOSE PASTRY DOUGH (FOR PIES, TARTS OR TURNOVERS)

Steps:

• Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter and shortening using a pastry blender, two knives, or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the water -- a few tablespoons at a time as necessary -- and mix until just combined.
• Gather dough into a ball and flatten into 2 equal-size disks. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours or overnight. Roll out as directed by recipe.

BASIC PASTRY DOUGH

Steps:

• In a food processor, pulse flour and salt to combine. Add cold butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Sprinkle with ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed (if necessary, add up to 3 tablespoons more water, 1 tablespoon at a time). Do not overmix. Form dough into a 1-inch-thick disk, wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (or up to 3 days).

PASTRY DOUGH

Steps:

• Blend together flour, butter, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps.
• Drizzle 3 tablespoons ice water evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in processor) until incorporated.
• Squeeze a small handful: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until incorporated, then test again. Do not overwork dough or pastry will be tough.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together, with a pastry scraper if you have one, and press into a 5-inch disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.

BASIC FOOD PROCESSOR PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Insert metal blade into your food processor.
• Add flour, butter and salt and process until mixture is like coarse meal; it takes about 8 to 10 seconds.
• Add ice water and pulse, not process, until dough begins to clump together; don't let it form a ball.
• Remove dough from processor and place in a freezer-size plastic storage zippie bag.
• Work through the bag to press dough together into a ball; then press into a flat disc.
• Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.
• When you need it, roll dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
• Makes enough dough for a single 9 or 10-inch pie shell.
• Note that this is the recipe provided by Cuisinart; I am not quite as fussy and it always works for me; the key is the ice-cold butter, the ice-cold water, and not letting it process too long.

EASY VEGAN PIE CRUST

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the cold cubed vegan butter and cold water. Knead with your hands until the dough starts to clump together (or use a food processor). Then transfer to a working surface and continue kneading until a smooth dough forms.
• Form the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic foil and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• After the chill time, roll out the dough between two sheets of cling wrap or parchment paper a little larger than your pan (see step-by-step photos in the blog post). Then use the foil or parchment to lift it into a 10-inch (25,5cm) tart pan (or 9-inch pie dish). Remove foil and press the bottom and sides firmly to form an evenly tart shell. (If your baking pan has a different size, you can adjust the quantities of ingredients using my cake pan conversion converter).
• Cover the pie crust and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use or continue immediately with the desired recipe. (You can make the dough up to 5 days ahead of time or freeze it, *see recipe notes).
• Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
• Prick the bottom a few times with a fork, then line the crust with parchment paper and top with pie weights (such as dry rice, beans, or chickpeas, *see tip/note below).
• Blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove tart from the oven and carefully lift out the parchment paper with the weights. Return the tart to the oven and bake until the bottom crust is golden brown, about 10 minutes longer.
• Let the baked crust cool completely before adding the filling. Enjoy!

EASY SWEET PASTRY DOUGH

Steps:

• Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt (if using) into a bowl.
• Toss butter into flour mixture to coat pieces. Using fingertips, rub butter into flour, working it until you have created a coarse meal with a few pea-size pieces.
• In a small bowl, combine egg and vanilla. Whisk together, then add gradually to flour mixture, stirring with a fork. Mix with hands until dough forms a ball.
• Knead the dough to make it smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
• Roll out dough and shape to pie pan or cut out rounds for tarts.

EASY PUFF PASTRY PIE DOUGH

Steps:

• In a food processor, add flour, sugar, salt and cubed butter. Pulse mix on and off for 1 minute, until the flour mixture turns into a small breadcrumb-like consistency.
• Drizzle ice water into the mixture (ice water is the key here). Close the lid and continue to pulse mix on and off for another 1 minute. If you squeeze the crumbs together and they stick together, that means the crumbs are good to go.
• Transfer the crumb-like dough into a large ziploc bag. Squeeze with your hands to bring all the loose crumbs together until it turns into a nice and smooth dough ball. Using disposable gloves will help prevent the butter from melting too quickly, as handling the pie dough directly with bare hands will cause the butter in the dough to melt much more quickly, making the dough sticky.
• Divide the dough ball in half. Place one in the refrigerator, and take the other and place it in between two pieces of large parchment paper or cling wrap. Flatten it with a rolling pin. Transfer to the refrigerator and repeat with the second ball of dough. You will have 2 equal discs. (Whenever you are not working with one of the dough pieces, place in the refrigerator).
• Take one dough disc at a time, and fold it in half. Turn the dough 90 degrees and fold it again to roughly form a square. Roll each dough out with a rolling pin into a 12-inch circle. Repeat this step one more time (folding and rolling). This creates the laminated puff pastry dough which is made up of many layers of alternating dough and butter.
• Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap or keep it in between parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using to make a pie.

QUICK AND EASY FLAKY PASTRY

Steps:

• Mix the sieved flour and salt in a bowl. (add sugar if using)
• Weigh out the butter and divide into 4 amounts.
• Add one portion of the butter to the flour and using a round bladed knife, incorporate the butter and flour, whilst slowly adding enough cold water until the mixture comes together to form an elastic dough.
• Dust the rolling surface with flour, and turn the dough out. Roll out the dough into a rectangle shape (see photo) and keep rolling, adding more flour if necessary to stop from sticking, until the dough is about 4 mm thickness.
• Rub any excess flour from the surface and using the next portion of butter, dot the butter (about 1 cm dots) on two thirds of the rolled out pastry evenly. (see photo).
• Fold the pastry into three portions, bringing the end without butter to the centre, then folding down the other third. (see photo)
• Press together pastry edges with your fingers, give the pastry half a turn and roll out lightly again until the pastry is 4 mm thick (same size before you dotted with butter).
• Repeat steps 5 - 7 twice more, then fold into three, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

FOOLPROOF SHORTCRUST PASTRY (FOOD PROCESSOR METHOD)

Steps:

• Cut the butter into small cubes and arrange on a small plate. Freeze for 20 minutes.
• Add the flour and salt to a food processor, then pulse to combine. Add the butter and process for 10 continuous seconds, until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs.
• Add the egg and process for 5 seconds. Add the ice water and process for 20 seconds. The dough should now start clumping together. Turn the mixture out onto a work surface. The mixture will easily hold together when pressed. Using your hands, gather the dough into a ball then flatten into a disk, kneading it as lightly as possible.
• If you're making shortcrust pastry right before you need to use it, gather it into a disk, set it on a lightly floured surface, and roll it out to the required size. Ease into a pie or tart pan, lay flat on a baking sheet, or cut out and fit into muffin pans if making tartlets. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour. Use as instructed by the recipe.
• You can alternatively wrap the ball of shortcrust pastry in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 3 days, or freeze for 1 month.
• Bring refrigerated shortcrust pastry back to room temperature at least 30 minutes before rolling. Thaw frozen shortcrust pastry overnight in the refrigerator, then bring back to room temperature at least 30 minutes before rolling.

HOW TO MAKE PERFECT PIE CRUST IN A BLENDER

Steps:

• Add flour, salt, sugar, and butter to the Twister jar of your Blendtec blender. Place and hold Twister lid on jar, then press "Pulse" 10-12 times until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Add water and vinegar. Replace Twister lid and hold, pressing "Pulse 8-10 times until dough is formed, turning Twister lid counterclockwise during blending. Do not overblend.
• Remove dough and pat into a smooth disc. Wrap disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours before rolling out dough.

EASY PIE CRUST

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the flour and salt; cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle with vinegar. Gradually add the milk, tossing with a fork until a ball is formed. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until easy to handle. , For a single crust, roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface to fit a 9-in. or 10-in. pie plate. Transfer pastry to pie plate. Trim pastry 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate; flute edges. Fill or bake shell according to recipe directions., For a double crust, divide pastry in two portions so that one ball is slightly larger than the other. Roll out larger ball on a lightly floured surface to fit a 9-in. or 10-in. pie plate. Transfer pastry to pie plate. Trim pastry even with edge of plate. Add filling. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie; place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edges. Cut slits in top. Bake according to recipe directions.

EASY PASTRY DOUGH

Steps:

• Blend first 4 ingredients in processor 10 seconds. Add shortening; process just until very coarse meal forms. Beat egg with 2 tablespoons water; add to processor. Blend until large moist clumps form, adding more water if dry. Gather dough into ball; divide in half. Flatten each piece into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill at least 1 hour. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly before rolling out.)

ALL-BUTTER EASY PIE DOUGH

Steps:

• In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, pulse together the flour, salt, sugar and butter until the mixture resembles cornmeal with some pea-size pieces of butter remaining.
• In a small bowl, stir together the ice water and the lemon juice. Slowly add the liquid to the flour mixture, pulsing, until the dough just comes together. Squeeze a small piece of dough between your thumb and index finger to make sure it holds its shape.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it in half. Gently turn over each piece of dough a few times so that any dry bits are incorporated. Form each piece into a loose disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

ALL-BUTTER PASTRY DOUGH RECIPE

Steps:

• Cut the butter into small pieces then place into the freezer along with the food processor bowl and blade for about 10 minutes.
• Once the food processor bowl and blade are chilled, add the flour, sugar and salt; pulse a few times to combine.
• Add the chilled pieces of butter and pulse for 1 second about 8 times until it looks crumbly and the butter is the size of peas and the mixture crumbly.
• Use a tablespoon measure to add 3 tablespoons of cold water to the dough, pulse for 1 second; repeat this process until the dough begins to come away from the sides of the bowl and comes together.
• Place the dough on a floured work surface and use your hands to bring it together into a ball, do not knead. Work the dough just enough to form a ball. Cut ball in half then form each half into discs. Wrap each disc with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months (just thaw it overnight in the fridge before using).