Yes, my aunt used to make the best homemade biscuits and pies. They were to die for, but only I didn’t want to die. I just wanted to eat more. (LOL)
They would be so good, you could hardly wait until they were done. What I didn’t like was the mess and all of the clean-up that came with it. Thank goodness for the progress.
Making a pie crust has come a long way. It is the last thing I thought that I could do with a food processor. If you have been following the blogs, you should know I’m in love with that appliance and apparently, my food processor loves me, too.
It makes quick and easy work for me in the kitchen. It shreds my cheese and chops my vegetables. With the ability to help me with pastries and pizza dough, I’m even more excited about this fabulous machine. I bet if you tried it, you would not go back to the old-fashioned way of doing things either.
Not only is it a time-saver, but it also helps to keep the other ingredients at their coldest. I don’t know if you know it or not, but the key to making the best pie crust is having cold ingredients. With that in mind, let’s go over this recipe so I can show you how to make pie crust and pizza dough using the food processor.
How to Make a Flaky Pie Crust in a Processor
Ingredients:
- 2 ⅔ cups of all-purpose white flour
- 1 cup of unsalted and cold butter (make 1-inch squares)
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- ⅓ to ½ cup of cold water
The Instructions
1) With the metal blade in place, choose the pulse button to mesh together with the flour and salt. Then add your butter and work with it until the mix is coarse. It should take about 10 seconds, maybe slightly less.
2) Drain a little amount of ice water, about a tablespoon or so into the flour, butter, and salt mixture while the processor is on. Let it drizzle until the flour dough starts to clump up together. Don’t let it form a ball though. Turn the machine off and do a test.
Squeeze a tiny bit of the dough with your fingers. If the flour mixture stays put, it’s good to use. However, if it falls apart, you need to add more water, but just a little. You don’t want to overdo it.
3) Once you determine it’s good, gather your dough and the scrapings and move to a surface that is clean and smooth. Form these two into even balls. Next, work the balls into a flat circle and put them into separate Saran (plastic wrap) wraps for refrigeration. Let it sit for an hour.
4) After the time has elapsed, go back and get your wraps. You should have a surface that is lightly floured to work on. Roll each potential pie crust around in a circle.
Take your (pie or tart) pan and press the dough into it. This time you won’t need your spare dough. Trim it off the edges and put it off to the side or throw it away. But don’t cut so much off the edge you can’t fold under.
Pinch the pie crust so that it looks like it came from a professional and make your stamp by sticking the bottom of the pie crust with your fork.
Tricks and Tips
If you are going to make a great dough, always select pulse and not process. The pulse setting is a lot gentler to use. It’s almost as though it has a human hand. Also, you can avoid overdoing it better as it’s a gradual sensation.
Always divide into small sections even if you are using the food processor. Use the bottom of your hand, otherwise called the heel, to press out the dough in little forward movements. I know some people don’t even think about mentioning it, but it helps to spread the fat.
Letting your pie dough chill in the fridge is a tremendous help. It’s much easier when you when you’re rolling it out. The dough should stay refrigerated for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Keep it away from other foods that may have odors as it will smell just like that item. And I’m sorry… I don’t think I want a cobbler that smells like seafood or onion. It’s not appetizing… it’s not!
Just think what would be going through your mother-in-law’s mind if she got a whiff of it. So you may want to double wrap it if this is the case.
But otherwise, it improves elasticity and firms the fat so you don’t need that much flour to roll your dough. Too much flour can make the dough hard to manage.
You can freeze your own pie crust for up to three months. Let the pie crust defrost for a day before using them.
I like to pre-bake my pie crust just to give it that ump. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Cover pie with parchment paper, pour rice or dry beans to cover it, and bake for about 10-12 minutes.
Remove from the oven and take paper and beans or rice off and bake for another six minutes, unless it browns before that. Remove, turn the oven off, and cool.
And that is how to make a pie crust and pizza dough using the food processor. How did I do? Did I leave anything out? Drop me a line and let me know how you do it. It’ll give me a reason to use the processor one more time!