This is an all-butter pie dough and yields two 9-inch/23 cm single crusts or one double crust. You can use it for savoury and sweet pies – it is flaky, flavourful and irresistibly delicious. You can make it in a food processor – it’s my favourite method – or with a hand pastry blender. You must measure flour correctly – scoop and slice it with a knife.
2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more to dust
½ tbsp granulated sugar
½ tsp kosher salt
½ lb/8 oz COLD unsalted butter, (1 cup or 2 sticks) diced into ¼-inch/5 mm pieces
7 to 8 tbsp ice water
Place flour, sugar and salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.
Add cold diced butter and pulse the mixture until coarse crumbs form with some pea-sized pieces then stop mixing. Mixture should remain dry and powdery.
Add 7 Tbsp ice water and pulse just until moist clumps or small balls form. Press a piece of dough between your finger tips and if the dough sticks together, you have added enough water. If not, add more water a teaspoon full at a time. Be careful not to add too much water or the dough will be sticky and difficult to roll out.
Transfer dough to a clean work surface, and gather dough together into a ball (it should not be smooth and DO NOT knead the dough). Divide dough in half and flatten to form 2 disks. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour before using in recipes that call for pie crust.