Skip to main content

All-Butter Pastry Dough

5.0

(1)

Buttery, flaky, quick—this dough has it all. See cooks' note, if you need to halve the recipe to make the plum-blackberry streusel pie .

Cooks' notes:

•Dough can be chilled up to 1 day. Let stand at room temperature 20 minutes before rolling out.
•Recipe can be halved if making a single-crust pie. Use a rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt and start with 3 tablespoons water.
•If making both pies in this menu, make 2 separate batches of dough.

Recipe information

  • Total Time

    1 1/4 hr (includes chilling)

  • Yield

    Makes enough for a double-crust 9-inch pie

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/3 cup plus 1 to 4 tablespoons ice water

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl (or pulse in a food processor). Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle 1/3 cup ice water over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated.

  2. Squeeze a small handful of dough:

    Step 2

    If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just incorporated, then test again. Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.

    Step 3

    Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together, with a pastry scraper if you have one, and press into a ball. Divide in half and form into 2 disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.

Read More
Like no-brainer corn salad and Spanish frittata.
The secret to juicy grilled chicken, a sheet-cake swap for banana pudding, and more reasons to light up the grill and have people over all summer long.
Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.
Filberts, goobers, scaly bark nuts: Explore the world beyond almonds in this guide.
Like swordfish steaks with tomatoes and Peruvian-style tofu.
Our go-to banana bread recipe is moist, nutty, and incredibly easy to make.
Lime juice, fish sauce, peanuts, and plenty of herbs.
Use the beer, not the can, for this citrusy take on a classic that nods to mojo criollo.