Yield: Two 9-inch crusts; enough for 1 double-crust pie, or 2 single-crust pies
| INGREDIENTS | METRIC (GRAMS) | VOLUMETRIC (APPROXIMATE) |
| All-purpose flour | 300 | 2½ cups |
| Salt, fine | 3 | ½ teaspoon |
| Butter, unsalted | 200 | ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (14 tablespoons) |
| Water, iced and strained | 80 to 100 | 6 to 7 tablespoons |
PREPARE
Measure and combine the flour and salt, and chill until use.
Cut the butter into ⅛-inch-thick slices. Chill until use.
MIX
Add the cold butter to the dry ingredients and toss to coat with the flour mixture. Then press the butter slices between your thumb and forefinger into small flat pieces or “leaves.”
Rub this mixture briefly between your palms and fingers, 10 to 15 seconds. It should be the texture of cornmeal with many larger pieces of flattened butter still intact in some places.
Add ice water, a tablespoon at a time, tossing to combine. Stop adding ice water as the mixture comes together but before it is a homogeneous mass. A handful of the pie dough should hold its shape when squeezed together, with a few dry bits in the bottom of the bowl.
Transfer the dough onto a work surface and knead gently to combine, just until the mixture comes together. The dough should be flecked with visible pieces of butter.
Divide the dough into 2 pieces and shape each into a disk about ¾ inch thick. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes, or up to 24 hours, before rolling. You may freeze one for later use.
SHAPE
Remove a disk of dough from the refrigerator and allow it to soften slightly before rolling, 10 to 15 minutes.
On a lightly dusted surface with a sheen of flour on the top of the dough, roll from the center out, working in all directions until the crust is 10 to 11 inches in diameter for a 9-inch pan. If the dough sticks, use a bench knife to release it, and also push some bench flour under the dough. You may invert your pie pan over the dough to check the diameter; add an extra inch all around to allow for a crimped edge.
The rolled crust can be crimped and placed in a standard 9-inch pie pan and chilled, covered, until use, up to 24 hours. The unbaked crust can be well wrapped and frozen for up to 1 month.
