Flaky Laminated Pie Crust Dough (with spelt flour!)
This pie crust dough gets extra flaky layers from 2 methods: fraisage and lamination. Made with spelt flour (or whole wheat flour) for extra rich flavor and a tender crumb!
Prep Time: 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 30 minutesminutes
1 hourhour10 minutesminutes
Total: 2 hourshours
Servings: 12servings (2 single crust pies, or 1 double crust pie).
Ingredients
1 ½cupsall-purpose flour(7 1/2 ounces)
1cupwhole spelt (or whole wheat pastry) flour(4 1/2 ounces)
2teaspoonssugar
1teaspoonfine sea or kosher salt
8ouncescold, unsalted butter, sliced 1/4" thick and chilled(16 tablespoons/2 sticks)
¼cupwell-shaken buttermilk(2 ounces)
¼cupice water, more as needed(2 ounces)
Instructions
Make the crust:
In a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), stir together the flours, sugar and salt to combine. Scatter the butter slices over the flour, and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles sand with lots of pea- and almond-sized butter chunks. Stir together the buttermilk and ice water. Drizzle this mixture over the flour mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a rubber spatula, until the dough will hold together when you give it a squeeze, adding more ice water by the teaspoon directly to the dry bits as needed.
You can call it here, or you can do either or both of the steps below for extra flake:
Option 1 - fraisage:
Dump the dough out onto a counter, divide it roughly into 12 portions, and fraisage by dragging a portion of dough across the counter using the heel of your hand. Scrape up the dough (a metal bench scraper works well here), gently press it into a ball and flatten into a disc. Slip it into a plastic bag, and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days.
Option 2 - roll, fold, roll:
On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough out into a rough square that is about 1/4" thick. Fold it in thirds like you're folding a letter, then roll up from a skinny end into a loose spiral. Gently press to flatten it slightly, and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Remove the dough from the fridge, unwrap, and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough into a 12" circle, dusting the dough lightly with flour as needed, rotating and flipping it to prevent it from sticking. Ease the dough into a 9" glass pie plate, fit it into the corners, and trim it to a 1" overhang.
If making a double-crust pie, stop here and consult your recipe. For a single crust pie, proceed as directed.
Fold the overhang of the crust under, and flute the crust by pressing it between the thumb of one hand and the index finger and thumb of the other hand.
Chill the crust for 20 minutes, then freeze it for at least 20 minutes, until solid.
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 400º. Remove all other racks from the oven. If you have a baking stone, put it on the rack.
Place the frozen crust on a rimmed baking sheet. Line it with a piece of parchment paper, and fill to the top with pie weights, dry beans, or clean pennies, pressing the weights into the sides and corners of the crust.
Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes, until the dough will hold its shape when you lift off the parchment, then carefully remove the weights and parchment and bake until the bottom is dry and lightly golden, about 5 minutes longer (for a parbaked crusor until deeply golden, 10-15 minutes (for a fully baked crust).
Notes
With inspiration drawn from Smitten Kitchen, Martha Stewart, Baking Illustrated, and Heidi Swanson.If you lack buttermilk, substitute sour cream, plain yogurt, or just more ice water.You can make the pie dough in a stand mixer, with a paddle attachment, on low speed if you prefer. If only making a single crust pie, keep the extra portion of dough double-wrapped in the freezer for up to a couple of months. (Defrost in the fridge overnight, then roll it out and proceed with any single-crust pie recipe.)I use a glass pie pan, and the baking times here are for glass. Metal pans will likely have shorter baking times, as metal conducts heat better than glass, so keep an eye on your pie if using a metal pan.I haven't braved gluten-free pie dough yet, but these are two recipes that look like good ones to try.Nutritional values are based on one of twelve servings.