How to Make Flakey Pastry Crust Recipe
This recipe makes enough dough for a top and bottom crust,
or for two bottom crusts. You can easily halve the recipe if you only
want to make one bottom crust.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (400 g) all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
- 1 Tbsp of sugar (for sweet recipes, otherwise skip)
- 3 sticks unsalted butter (1 1/2 cups, 12 ounces, 340 g) cubed
- 3/4 cup (175 ml) sour cream (full fat, NOT light sour cream)
Method
1 Place the cubed unsalted butter in a bowl and put in a warm spot to take the chill off.
2 In a large bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, salt (omit if using salted butter), and sugar (if using).
3 Sprinkled the cubes of butter over the flour. Use
your clean hands to squish the flour and butter together with your
thumbs and fingers. Work the butter into the dough until you have what
resembles a coarse meal with some chunks of butter.
4 Add the sour cream to the flour butter mixture. Use a fork to incorporate into the mixture.
5 Use your hands to gather the pastry dough together
into a large ball. Use a knife to cut the ball in half. Form into
disks. Sprinkle all over with a little flour. Wrap tightly with plastic
wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to a
day ahead. If you want to freeze for future use, wrap again, this time
with aluminum foil and freeze (leave in refrigerator overnight to thaw
before using).
6 If dough has been in the refrigerator for more
than 2 hours, let it sit for 5-10 minutes at room temperature to become
more malleable before rolling out. To roll out, sprinkle a clean, flat
surface with a little flour. As you roll the dough, check to make sure
the bottom is not sticking. If it is, lift it up and sprinkle a little
flour underneath. Roll out to 12 to 14 inches wide, to an even
thickness.
You can use this pastry dough for unstructured rustic pies or
galettes, or single or double crusted traditional pies. It can also be
used for a savory pot pie. Whether you use the dough for a galette or a
double crust pie, it will be prettier with a light egg wash. Just whisk
one egg in a small bowl, add a teaspoon of water, and brush lightly over
the exposed crust with a pastry brush, right before baking.
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