dough Archives - Wood & Spoon

Salted Maple Pie

33 Comments / Pies and Tarts, Uncategorized

I can’t claim the recipe for this salted maple pie as my own, but I love it so much that it feels like my child. This pie, straight from a brand-spanking new book called “Sister Pie” is a winning treat that your falls need. Trust me.

Something I’ve been learning about over the last five or so years of my life is how to celebrate others. There was a period of time in my life where my own insecurity prevented me from whole-heartedly cheering on the people around me. I guess I thought that if someone else was successful, hitting milestones faster than me, or achieving things I wanted in my own life it would somehow diminish my own gifts and the good things in my life. Like someone else’s advancement meant I was stuck behind. Obviously that type of mentality was gross and damaging for a number of reasons, but I think the thing I missed out on most was the opportunity to share in the joy of someone else’s successes.

One of my favorite things about life in a small town is how friends, neighbors, and even complete strangers can come to feel like family. In the confines of a tiny city, it’s easy to recognize how closely your life is knitted to the people around you and wanting the best for them becomes an absolute no brainer. Their struggles become your struggles, their joys become your joys, and the triumphs and blessings in their lives will eventually trickle down to affect yours in a positive way too.

When one person succeeds in a small town, everyone eventually shares in that reward, and I’ve found that taking part in their stories, investing passion and love into the things that are important to them, almost always feels like a shared victory in the end. This way of living, this crazy love and support for the people around you, is is one of the most heart-filling things I’ve ever experienced in my life, and if you’ve felt it too, I bet you’d agree.

Sister Pie

This notion of sharing with and loving your community is all over the “Sister Pie” cookbook. Reading the book, you’ll know that these gals are all about taking care of the people (and bellies) around them. The stories are great, but the recipes are crazy good, so much so that I knew I had to share one with you. The salted maple pie was my first bake from the book, and I have a feeling it’s one I’ll be making for years to come.

Salted Maple Pie

With it’s rich, almost chess pie-like filling, equals parts sweet from maple syrup and salty from finishing salt, this salted maple pie satisfies my dessert cravings on so many levels. There’s the buttery crust, the gooey (think Crack Pie from Milkbar) filling, and those perfect crunches of salt. I shared this pie with a group at our church and I literally had someone come up to hug me because it was so good. If you think food can’t bless the pants off of someone, think again.

Making the Pie

To make it, we start with Sister Pie’s crust. Their classic all-butter pie dough utilizes European style butter which has a higher fat percentage and less water. This means more flake and more flavor in your pie. The crust blind-bakes until set and starting to turn golden. In the meanwhile you can prep your filling. Just like with my favorite chocolate chess pie, this pie gets whipped up in a single bowl. Eggs, butter, maple syrup, cream, and a few other ingredients are stirred together until the crust is finished. Pour the filling in and complete the baking process until the filling it barely puffed and only jiggles a little. Allow the pie to cool on the counter, about 4 hours, until set. Finish with a sprinkle (or two) of salt.

This salted maple pie is like a gooey autumnal hug. The flavors are cozy and complex, an extremely satisfying ending to any meal. I hope you’ll give it a try and check out the new “Sister Pie” cookbook! There’s loads of inspiration, both sweet and savory, within its pages; I think it’s one you’ll reach for for years to come. Happy reading, happy baking, and happy Wednesday!

If you like this salted maple pie you should check out:

Maple Apple Cake

Brown Sugar Cheesecake with Oatmeal Cookie Crust and Butterscotch

Mocha Hazelnut Cream Pie

Strawberry Pretzel Tart

Cookie Butter Pretzel Mousse

Salted Maple Pie

Print Recipe

From the author:

The Salted Maple Pie is our signature flavor at Sister Pie because it is an homage to the bakeries where I got my professional chops: Momofuku Milk Bar in Manhattan and Four & Twenty Blackbirds in Brooklyn. It is reminiscent of the addictive quality of both Milk Bar’s Crack Pie and Four & Twenty’s Salty Honey Pie. We created our own version of a classic chess filling with robust Grade B maple syrup from Imlay City, Michigan and highlighted with local heavy cream, eggs, stone-ground yellow cornmeal, and light brown sugar. On Saturdays at the shop, we’ll buy applewood-smoked bacon from the market to crisp up in the oven right before opening. It’s a match made in pancake breakfast heaven.

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 60
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 9
Category: Dessert

Ingredients

1⁄2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1⁄4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup Grade B maple syrup
3⁄4 cup packed light brown sugar
1⁄4 cup fine yellow cornmeal
Heaping 1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
3⁄4 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
1–1⁄4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
One 9-inch crust made with All-Butter Pie Dough, blind baked and cooled (see below)
1 large egg, beaten
Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling top

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Make the filling: In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter and maple syrup. Whisk in the brown sugar, cornmeal, and kosher salt.
Crack the eggs and yolk into another medium bowl. Add the cream and vanilla and whisk until combined.
Slowly pour the egg mixture into the maple mixture and whisk just until combined.
Place the blind-baked shell on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush the crimped edge with the beaten egg. Pour the maple filling into the pie shell until it reaches the bottom of the crimps.
Transfer the baking sheet with the pie on it to the oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the edges are puffed and the center jiggles only slightly when shaken. It will continue to set as it cools.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the pie to a wire rack to cool for 4 to 6 hours. Once fully cooled and at room temperature, sprinkle generously with flaky sea salt, slice into 6 to 8 pieces, and serve.
Store leftover pie, well wrapped in plastic wrap or under a pie dome, at room temperature for up to 3 days.

All-Butter Pie Dough

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From the author:

This is our go-to dough, and it’s how each pie begins. Every pie baker, professional or at home, seems to have an opinion on the best combination of fats for the flakiest crust—is it lard, shortening, butter, or a mix? Our basic dough is a pure and simple ode to unsalted butter and all-purpose flour—we think it produces the best-tasting, lightest, flakiest pie crust.

Author: Kate
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 60
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 1
Category: Dessert

Ingredients

2–1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted European-style butter, straight from the fridge
1⁄2 cup ice-cold water-vinegar mixture (see below), or more if needed

Instructions

In a large stainless steel bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt and stir to mix well. Place the sticks of butter in the bowl and coat on all sides with the flour mixture. Using a bench scraper, cut the butter into 1⁄2-inch cubes. Work quickly to separate the cubes with your hands until they are all lightly coated in flour. Grab that bench scraper once again and cut each cube in half. I always tell my pie dough students that it’s unnecessary to actually cut each cube perfectly in half, but it’s a good idea to break up the butter enough so that you can be super-efficient when it’s pastry blender time.

It’s pastry blender time! Switch to the pastry blender and begin to cut in the butter with one hand while turning the bowl with the other. It’s important not to aim for the same spot at the bottom of the bowl with each stroke of the pastry blender, but to actually slice through butter every time to maximize efficiency. When the pastry blender clogs up, carefully clean it out with your fingers (watch out, it bites!) or a butter knife and use your hands to toss the ingredients a bit. Continue to blend and turn until the largest pieces are the size and shape of peas and the rest of the mixture feels and looks freakishly similar to canned Parmesan cheese.

At this point, add the water-vinegar mixture all at once, and switch back to the bench scraper. Scrape as much of the mixture as you can from one side of the bowl to the other, until you can’t see visible pools of liquid anymore. Now it’s hand time. Scoop up as much of the mixture as you can, and use the tips of your fingers (and a whole lot of pressure) to press it back down onto the rest of the ingredients. Rotate the bowl a quarter-turn and repeat. Scoop, press, and turn. With each fold, your intention is to be quickly forming the mixture into one cohesive mass. Remember

to incorporate any dry, floury bits that have congregated at the bottom of the bowl, and once those are completely gone and the dough is formed, it’s time to stop.

Remove the dough from the bowl, place it on a lightly floured counter, and use your bench scraper to divide it into two equal pieces. Gently pat each into a 2-inch-thick disc, working quickly to seal any broken edges before wrapping them tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap. If you’re portioning for a lattice-topped pie, shape one half into a 2-inch-thick disc and the other half into a 6 by 3-inch rectangle. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours or, ideally, overnight. When you go to roll out the crust, you want the discs to feel as hard and cold as the butter did when you removed it from the fridge to make the dough. This will make the roll-out way easier.

You can keep the pie dough in the fridge for a few days or in the freezer for up to 1 year. If frozen, remove the dough and place it in the refrigerator to thaw one full day before you intend to use it. If you’re planning to make only one single-crust pie, wrap the discs separately and place one in the freezer.

To Blind-Bake:

Preheat your oven to 450°F with the rack on the lowest level. Remove the pie crust from the freezer, tear off a square of aluminum foil that is slightly larger than the pie shell, and gently fit it into the frozen crust. Fill the crust with the dried beans (they should come all the way up to the crimps) and place the pie pan on a baking sheet. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 25 to 27 minutes. Check for doneness by peeling up a piece of foil—the crimps should be light golden brown. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. After 6 minutes, carefully remove the foil and beans. You did it! You are now ready to fill the pie.

Notes

For the water/vinegar mixture, fill a 1-cup liquid measuring cup about halfway with ice, then add water and 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar.

Cherry Lime Hand Pies

2 Comments / Pies and Tarts

Everyone cue the candles and the birthday serenades. Today is my old man’s birthday and we’re celebrating with these cherry lime hand pies!

I read something in a book recently that struck a chord. In “Cold Tangerines,” the author, Shauna Niequist, talks about how we often think of our stories as being chiseled in stone- permanent and defined. Shauna suggests that instead, we ought to embrace the art of writing in pencil, living with a willingness to not plan our futures to death. Living in freedom because our story’s uncertainty is one of the few things we get to be certain of.

Once Upon a Time

Growing up, I wasn’t a serial dater or anything, but I certainly had my fair share of romances. In middle school, I had a boyfriend who I never actually spoke words to. We’d pass notes in Pre-Algebra and I’d clutch that sweaty piece of notebook paper in my hands until the gel ink bled and the paper curled to the shape of my palm. No amount of writing “Mrs. Katie SanPedro” on the cover of my spiral notebook could have validated that joke of a relationship, but for 12 year old me, that was it.

Later, at 17, I fell for the bad boy. I planned my lip piercing and changed my hair, all in an effort to become his girlfriend/groupie/MySpace profile picture. Thick eyeliner and a new playlist on my iPod wasn’t enough to lock him in, and it finally fizzled when I found out he made out with a girl at his high school prom (HINT: it wasn’t me). I’m kind of embarrassed for that girl now, but what she learned that year helped write the script for the years that followed.

Over the next 6 years, I fell in love twice and sold out entirely to the idea of being in love. I gave my heart away and planned my future with men who, deep down, I knew would never be my husband. I thought, “If I try harder or loosen up or love more fiercely, maybe it will work this time. Maybe he will be the one.”

Thankful for Being Wrong.

Thank God I was wrong.

I met Brett at an unassuming time in my life and something clicked. He wasn’t perfect. He looked, talked, and walked different from any guy I ever would have cast to play the role of “mine.” And he came with a past, a ledger of heartache and broken years, but he carried them with a sincerity that was raw and beautiful. His strength and self-assuredness allowed me the room to be vulnerable, the space to trust and feel hopeful again. I can remember thinking, “Ok, this is it. Now my life is beginning. This is when it starts.”

Marriage is… Work?

Now, 4 years into marriage and a few breaths away from a new decade, my life is still far from what I planned. Getting married, moving to a new town, and living with a man and two tiny humans that call you “Mama” is enough of a change of pace to trick you into thinking that you know where life is taking you. But amazingly, I’m still feeling my way through the dark at times. Bills, tired eyeballs, and a hell of a lot more work than 26 year old me thought she was marrying into are enough to assure myself that I am far from being able to begin writing in ink. I’m the leading lady of a story that will continue to be scribbled in pencil, the ending forever unknown, at least on this side of heaven.

But I’m starting to be okay with the unknown, or at least I’m trying to be. Each chapter I live makes me smile knowingly at the pages that came before it, as if I’m telling those former versions of myself, “Buckle up. You’re in for a ride, and you’re gonna want to stick around for the ending. Also, quit stressing. It’ll be okay.” I’m thankful that 12, 17, or 22 year old me didn’t plan my 29 year old today. I’m finally thankful for this pencil-written story.

Cherry Lime Hand Pies

To be honest, these cherry lime hand pies have zero to do with Brett’s birthday. He’s already requested mint chocolate sandwich cookies for his special day, but I’m sharing this recipe with you today because these little pies remind me of my bowl of cherries life that I live with him- different from how we both imagined it would be, but sweet and beautiful none the less. He’s proof that it’s okay to write in pencil and to trust in something bigger to jot out your endings. So happy birthday, you old man. These pies are for you.

I was inspired to make these cherry lime hand pies because of a certain sparkling beverage at America’s favorite chain drive-in. Cherry limeade will forever be the one non-alcoholic, non-milkshake beverage that I am willing to spend calories on, because, let’s be honest- it’s delicious. When summer’s bounty of cherries rolls through, I’m tempted to throw them all in a pie and be done with it, but these cherry lime hand pies are a cheeky and fun way to celebrate those juicy reds. So let’s dive in!

How to Make Hand Pies

To start, we need a perfect pie crust. No ordinary pie crust will do, so obviously we will make my favorite, perfect every time pie crust. You can make this ahead of time and freeze, if desired, or just make it a couple of hours in advance so that the dough can chill well. Next, we move on to the filling. Fresh cherries, lime zest, and a bit of cornstarch and sugar round out the majority of the ingredients. They all cook, popping and bubbling, on the stovetop until the whole lot of it becomes thick, rich, and syrupy sweet. Allow the mixture to cool in the fridge completely before you start to assemble your pies.

Filling Hand Pies

When you’re reading to start shaping and filling your cherry lime hand pies, roll out the dough to a thin sheet. Use a large biscuit cutter or a sharp rim of a glass to trim out rounds of dough. Plop a scoop of cherry lime filling right in the middle, and fold the dough over itself, crimping and sealing the edges as you go along. I use a rotary pastry cutter like this to crimp and seal my pies. Give each pie a brush of egg wash and a sprinkle of sugar for color and crunch and then bake them away in a super hot oven.

Baking the Hand Pies

Once baked and slightly cooled, these cherry lime hand pies are flaky, buttery, and full of super sweet juicy fruit. The lime isn’t the star of the show here, so don’t expect a tart hand pie. Instead, you’ll find that subtle lime flavor, cozied up in the background of those syrupy cherries, taking the edge off of what would otherwise be an ultra sweet dessert. Each bite of fruit is surrounded on both sides by flaky pastry, so you can celebrate that extra measure of buttery, flaky goodness. Who doesn’t love the crust the most anyways? So do yourselves a favor- skip the pies and jump straight to the hand pies. Personal dessert, no sharing, extra crust, summer fruit, everyone wins… you get the picture.

If you want an alternative to those summer fruit pies, I hope you’ll give these cherry lime hand pies a try. Make them for your next summer picnic or backyard shindig and think of me when you dive into all that ripe summer deliciousness. Oh, and don’t forget that there is still time to nominate blogs for the legendary Saveur Blog Awards. If you love the recipes, photos, and TMI life stories that you find on this site, I hope you’ll consider nominating moi. Love you guys times a million, always.

If you like these cherry lime hand pies, check out:

Cranberry Pear Mini Pop-Tarts

Berry Almond Streusel Pie

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Peach Berry Pie

No-Churn Cherry Chip Ice Cream

Black Forest Ice Cream Cake

Cherry Lime Hand Pies

Print Recipe

These cherry lime hand pies are flaky, golden pastries filled with juicy cherries and tart lime zest. The perfect personal dessert!

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 45
Cook Time: 30
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 7

Ingredients

1 Recipe Pie Dough (See Notes)
¾ Pound Sweet Cherries, stemmed, cored, and quartered
Juice of 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons)
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Zest of 1 lime (about 1–1/2 teaspoons)
1 egg
Turbinado or sparkling sugar (optional)

Instructions

Add the cherries and lime juice to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes until the cherries have softened and the juices have released.
In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and lime zest. Add the sugar mixture to the cherry mixture and whisk to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Remove to a heat safe dish and allow to cool completely to room temperature on the counter or in the fridge.
Once the cherries are cooled, roll out the pie dough until it is 1/8” thick. Use a 4” biscuit cutter (see notes) to cut out flat circles of dough for the hand pies. Combine the scraps and, avoiding overworking the dough, re-roll it and continue cutting circles. Place the circles on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Work quickly so that your dough stay chilled. If it gets too warm, put the sheet pan in the freezer or fridge briefly.
In a small bowl, whisk the egg with 1 tablespoon of water. Use a pastry brush to paint the perimeter of each dough circle. This will help your edges to stick and crimp together nicely. Spoon out 1 tablespoon of cherry lime filling into the center of each circle and fold them in half, pinching the edge of each half circle to seal. You can use a pastry cutter or the back of a fork to crimp the edges to further seal. Place the sheet pan of hand pies in the freezer to firm up for 2 hours or until well frozen.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush the hand pies with the egg and water mixture and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar if desired. Using a paring knife, cut three small slits in the bottom half of each pie to vent the filling. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the pies are golden and well baked. Allow to cool briefly before enjoying.

Notes

See my blog archives for my favorite pie dough. You will need ½ of that recipe. You can save the remaining half in the freezer wrapped in plastic wrap and aluminum foil.
If you don’t have a 4” biscuit cutter, you can use a glass or a bowl with a 4-4-1/2” diameter as your stencil and cut the circles out with a knife. I used a rim of a martini glass for my stencil! Do not use a smaller cutter or stencil, as you will not have enough room to put adequate filling in your pies.

Peach Berry Pie

32 Comments / Pies and Tarts

In the few short days since summer began, we have been home resting, taking in the warm air, and baking up treats like the peach berry pie I’m going to share with you all today. I’m making a new effort to slow down in these moments that I have these summer months with my husband and darling babies.

Slowing Down

Aimee seems to run everywhere these days, jumping, dancing, or racing; walking is simply not an option. She sings and answers questions with logic, and with each passing day, I realize more and more how smart she’s becoming. We play and pretend, and she’s finally even gotten to the point where she will laugh at my jokes or a silly part in a movie.

In the quieter moments, she whispers to friends who aren’t there. She giggles with her brother and tries to put shoes on his chubby feet. She pats and soothes her babydolls, tenderly mothering them, even providing them with discipline, praise, and instruction. Now, more so than ever, I see so much of myself in her. The way she coos at George. When she tells me that I look beautiful like a princess. How she cheers for Brett when he finishes his supper. She’s a little lady in the making.

But there’s also the ugly… the parts of myself I see in her that make me cringe. She can be quick to frustration. Stubborn. Full of opinions. Contrary, at times, for no apparent reason… Just grouchy, just because.

I want to give Aimee all of the sweetness. Skills and manners and a sense of identity. I want her to have any goodness that I have to share and lock away the access to the parts of me that don’t bring life. I want to keep her good.

Learning from Our Kids

At the same time, I’m beginning to figure out that this tiny person might have a few things of her own that she could teach me- things that I need more of. I want to dance without embarrassment and not feel so serious all of the time. Or make time for quiet and daydreaming and whispering to the unseen. I want to take pleasure in small things like warm slices of fresh bread and the sound of the rain.

I wonder… what would it feel like to exist without the weightiness of adulthood? To be content and confident and willing to pop right up after falling flat on my face. What would it feel like to shrug off the small stuff and to allow myself time to take in the present? To quit busying myself with busyness. To loosen my grip on the need to control, to produce.

Aimee will continue to learn from me. She’ll pick up on habits and phrases and jokes. We’ll have silly moments and she’ll learn to count to 100 and before you know it, she’ll be grown. But for the time being, I want to try to be a little more like her. I don’t think we’re too grown up to change or to be someone different, and I refuse to believe it’s too late to be a better version of myself.

Someday I’ll teach Aimee to make pies. She’ll crawl up on the edge of the counter and steal sugared berries. I’ll teach her to cut fat into flour, quickly and methodically, just like my Mimi taught me. With four hands, we’ll wrestle the dough moving the rolling pin back and forth, using the leftover bits to cut out decorative flowers or stars. I’ll have to bite my tongue from correcting her too much, because deep down inside, I know that her small mistakes are more memorable than perfection. And we’ll sit cross-legged in front of the oven, watching it bubble and spill over, before sharing oversized slices from our seats in the kitchen.

Peach Berry Pie

Today’s recipe is a simple peach berry pie. No crazy ingredients or exaggerated methods. Just unadulterated pie.

Making the Pie

To make this peach berry pie, we need a solid, double-crusted pie dough. My favorite, no-fail, ultra-buttery and flaky recipe is yours for the taking if you don’t already have a fave of your own. A few simple ingredients, including butter and salt for flavor and shortening for unmatched flakiness, make up the crust. The filling for this peach berry pie is equally simple. Sliced peaches and several handfuls of berries mix with cornstarch and sugar to create the quintessential summer pie- juicy, yet thick enough to stand up on its own.

You can adapt the filling to your berry preferences. I love to use raspberries and strawberries with the peaches, but I had some leftover blueberries in the fridge that made it into the pie as well. As long as your berries are ripe, there is no need to adjust the sugar content of the pie. I used a lattice with a simple braid to top my peach berry pie, but you can skip that design if you’d like. Just slap the second half of dough on top, crimp the edges, and pop it in the oven for a golden, double-crusted peach berry pie that is sure to make your heart sing.

There’s some really neat recipes and tutorials coming up in the next few weeks, so if you haven’t already signed up to receive blog posts straight to your inbox, you can to do that in the side bar of this site’s homepage. Have a great weekend and please give this pie a try! If you do, be sure to snap a photo of it and share it with me here or on Instagram. Cheers!

If you like this peach berry pie, be sure to try:

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Berry Almond Streusel Pie

Strawberry Pretzel Tart

Cranberry Pear Pop-Tarts

Banana Coconut Chocolate Cream Pie

Peach Berry Pie

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

This peach berry pie is a double crusted pie with a sweet and gooey strawberry, raspberry and peach filling.

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 30
Cook Time: 60
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Yield: 9

Ingredients

1 double pie crust, prepared and chilled in fridge (see notes or link above)
2 pounds of peeled and sliced peaches
2 cups of mixed berries, sliced into ½” pieces (I used raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon water

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. I also like to place a layer of heavy duty aluminum foil on the bottom rack of my oven to prevent any bubbling pie filling from dirtying up my oven, but this is optional.
In a large bowl, combine the peaches and berries. In a small bowl, toss together the brown sugar, the sugar, corn starch, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the fruit and toss to combine. Set aside while you roll out your pie dough.
On a floured surface, roll out one half of the chilled pie dough to a 12” round. Lay carefully in the bottom a deep dish pie pan and gently press into the bottom of the pan. Leave about 1” of dough extending outside the perimeter of the dish and trim off any excess.
Spoon the fruitmixture into the pie dish, discarding any exorbitant excess of juices that may have formed. Arrange the top half of pie dough on top of the filling in any manner you please. If you plan to make a lattice or any detailed pie top, work quickly so that your bottom of pie dough doesn’t get soggy with juices from the fruit. If you roll out the pie dough flat on your filling, be sure to vent the top with a couple of slits from your knife. Crimp the edges once finished.
In a small both, whisk together the egg yolk and water and use a pastry brush to paint a thin layer of the egg wash on the top of the pie crust. Place the pie in the oven and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Decrease the heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional hour and fifteen minutes/ hour and thirty minutes, or until the middle of the pie has bubbling juices underneath and the top of the pie crust is golden brown. Allow the pie to cool on a cooling rack completely, or overnight. Cutting into the pie too soon can cause the pie to be too runny, but if this doesn’t bother you, you can cut into it as soon as it is a manageable and safe temperature. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream!

Notes

I like to prepare any lattice strips or braids ahead of time and keep the in the fridge while I am prepping my filling and pie pan.
Use any berries you’d like! Just make sure any large berries are cut into manageable pieces.
If your peaches aren’t ripe enough and are tart to the taste, consider adding an additional tablespoon of sugar.

Pie Crust

17 Comments / Pies and Tarts

You Need to Know: How to Make Pie Dough. This is a step by step tutorial with photos and videos of how to make, bake, and work with homemade butter pie dough. Learn what fat to use in pie crust, how to make an egg wash, how to crimp a pie crust, how to braid a pie crust lattice, and more tips that make homemade desserts easy. Find all the tips and tricks for great pie crust here on thewoodandspoon.com

Edit: If you’re new to pie dough, be sure to check out my new tutorial here!

Let’s get one thing clear. I don’t do pie. Or pie crust.

Before I moved to Florida, dessert in our house meant one thing: Kone King. Our suburban neighborhood in Upstate New York didn’t have much to boast in the way of food but they definitely knew good soft serve ice cream. I can remember begging my parents to take me to Kone King after supper on warm summer evenings (read: any night of the year that they were open) where we would make bets on what the flavor of the day would be. Orange and vanilla swirl with sprinkles for me and black raspberry swirl for my parents. Twenty years later, I still think of Kone King just before I take my first bite of a new frozen treat. Will it measure up? Will this be the bite I’ve been waiting for? Usually, no, although there have been a few worthy contenders over the years.

Ice Cream > Pie

That was a long way of saying that frozen dairy is my thing. It’s my jam. It’s the butter to my bread and the frosting to my cake. I know ice cream and am crazy about it in a weird way that would probably make most people feel a little uncomfortable. My husband even orders extra yogurt when we go out and I dig in to his once I’ve polished off mine. I’m not embarrassed about it; that’s just part of our routine and 75% of the reason why I’ve decided to spend my life with him.

When I married Brett, I didn’t understand why he didn’t like ice cream as much as I did. That first time, in fact, that he let me finish his yogurt, I remember thinking that it was a really sweet gesture. But alas, Brett was not being generous. He was simply sparing his stomach from the internal apocalypse that was imminent upon finishing his cup of frozen bliss. God bless the people who have dairy intolerance. Let’s have a moment of silence for them.

So what was I supposed to serve my dairy-hating man friend? I posed this question to him one day. His response? Pie.

Ok. I can work with pie. But… But, how? I had never made pie crust from scratch in my life. Isn’t that why they make that delicious processed pastry in a box at the grocery store? Or that perfectly patted out graham cracker crumble in a tin? My future husband, the man I so desired to please and serve well, liked a dessert that I really had no idea how to go about making.

Learning Pie Crust

So I set out to learn. I started small with crumb based crusts and along the way I ground and patted my way to sweet Oreo glory and buttery Biscoff bliss. My Mimi gave me a lesson on pies at Thanksgiving and after six sticks of Crisco were sacrificed on behalf of my apple and pumpkin pies, I scarfed down more than my share of pie with little hesitation (or dignity).

There were a few not-so-glamourous moments too including an apple crumb pie with a doughy center (???) and a banana cream pie that never really set up (but thank goodness, we’ve since resolved that). Even after the lesson from my grandmother, there were still times I found myself covered in flour and wanting to dump my pie in the trash.
That is, until it happened. The day that me, my deep dish pie pan, and a few stalks of rhubarb walked the hall of victors to the glorious podium of success. A pie crust equal parts buttery and flaky, lightly golden, and perfectly baked around a tart and juicy filling of berries and rhubarb. Perfectly set slices of pie were shared with friends and it was agreed that this was a recipe for the books.

So this recipe for pie crust is for my husband. Yes, it’s just the crust, but it’s the product of hours in the kitchen and it’s a gesture that says, “Honey, I respect that you don’t know crap about ice cream and that you prefer pie. So here, this is yours.”

Try this recipe next time you’re looking to make a pie. Trust me one this one. And stay tuned for another recipe later on this week. (HINT: it’s a pie!)

Pie Crust

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

A pie crust equal parts buttery and flaky, lightly golden, and perfectly baked- this is the only recipe for a double pie crust that you’ll ever need.

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 15
Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

3 ½ cups (420 gm) all purpose flour
3 teaspoons (12 gm) sugar
3/4 teaspoon (4 gm) salt
2/3 cup (135 gm) chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
3/4 cup (1–1/2 sticks, 170 gm) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
10 tablespoons (approximately) ice water

Instructions

Give the dry ingredients a whiz in the food processor to combine.
Pulse in the shortening and butter, just until barely evenly dispersed.
Begin adding ice water, 2 tablespoons at a time until moist clumps begin to form.
Remove dough from food processor and separate in two round disks. Wrap in Saran wrap and chill for at least two hours prior to use.
When ready to use, roll out to 1/4″ thickness and line the bottom of a 9″ pie pan. This is enough dough to fill a deep dish pan as well. Prior to baking, brush with an egg wash, if desired. This is done by whisking 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of water and lightly brushing crust prior to use.

Notes

This recipe makes a double crust. If you want extra dough for decorating the top, I recommend doubling the recipe and saving leftover crust for a future pie! The dough freezes nicely when wrapped well.
Chilling the dough is essential. If your dough gets too warm while you are rolling it out or decorating the top, you may not get as flakey of a crust as you might desire. So work swiftly!
Patch up holes or tears in the crust with leftover dough. Even small holes on the bottom of the pie plate can make a burned and sticky mess of your pie and you’re not going to want to waste a drop of this deliciousness!
You can easily substitute the shortening for butter and visa versa, however I cannot vouch for any other substitutions. Unless you’re super anti-shortening or anti-butter, I strongly recommend this combination for a buttery, flaky crust.

Recipe Adapted From: Bon Appetit

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