Everyone loves pies! And today I am going to teach you a simple way to bake a crunchy and delicious pie crust so that your dessert is nothing less that perfection.

Winters are here and for me it is the time to indulge myself. Do you know what makes for an ideal sweet treat in this weather? I believe it’s a mouthwatering pie! There is just something about the smell of a sweet fruity pie, fresh out of the oven, that makes you smile; and there is a reason why every festive meal is incomplete without a pie in the west.
While many of my friends are deeply fond of savoury, I like them sweet and contrary to what most think, it is fairly easy to make them.

However, the secret to making any one of these – sweet or savoury, is the perfect pie crust. While baking it can seem a bit scary at first, once you master the art of making a good pie crust, you can make uncountable desserts, with any flavour of your choosing. All you need is 5 ingredients: flour, caster sugar, cold butter, cold water and a little bit of salt to balance it out.

Pie making is an art more than anything, a it does sound daunting but trust me, it is anything but. If you take care of these five things you’re on your way to baking the best pies in the world.

Cold ingredients: Number one tip that I can give you when making pies is to make sure that all your ingredients are super cold. Chilled butter, chilled water and preferably chilled flour. For a super flaky crust, it’s important that your ingredients are cold, most people overlook this and end up with a lumpy soggy pie.
Just enough water: while my recipe mentions that you need 1/2 cup of water to make this pie, you may not need all of it. Add just enough water to get your ingredients together in a dough, once you have a smooth non-sticky dough, you won’t need anymore.
Do not over-knead: Make sure you don’t over-knead your dough, this could result in developing gluten which in turn will make your pie crust tough. Knead just enough to get the dough together, if you see streaks of butter, leave it be. It is normal to have a couple of small chunks of butter here and there.
Chill the dough: Do not skip this. Chilling the dough ensures that whatever heat was generated from kneading the dough is neutralised. Your dough must be chilled for atleast an hour before you start rolling it out.
Make a disc: Again an important step that is often over-looked. Make sure you shape the dough in the shape of a disc before refrigerating. This will make it a lot easier for you to roll it out later.

So follow these tips for a super flaky pie crust and get started!

Best Ever Pie Crust

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Prep time

20 mins

Total time

20 mins

Everyone loves pies! And today I am going to teach you a simple way to bake a crunchy and delicious pie crust so that your dessert is nothing less that perfection.

Author: Radhika

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour (maida), 3 cups
Caster Sugar, 6 tablespoons
Salt, ½ teaspoon
Chilled Butter, 1 cup (cubed)
Chilled Water, ½ cup

Method

In a bowl, mix together flour, caster sugar and salt.
Next, add in the chilled butter cubes. Make sure the butter is really chilled, this helps in getting a flaky crust. Now, start rubbing the butter through the flour mix using the tips of your fingers. This will take a bit of work especially when the butter is cold but is very essential.
Once you've achieved a grainy mixture of butter and flour add in the chilled water little by little only until you form a dough. You may not need all of the water so add in a little and then knead a bit to see if you need more.
Knead dough lightly on a floured surface until you form a nice smooth dough. Shape it in the form of a disc and wrap it in cling film.
Refrigerate it for at least an hour before using. Your dough will be ready to use as the recipe demands.
You can keep this dough frozen for a few months. Just defrost it overnight and use the next day as directed.