Recipe: The Best Pie Crust Ever

I discovered this recipe years ago and have not even thought about using another one for pie crust since. And probably never will. It figures that Smitten Kitchen would write such a classic and perfect pie crust recipe. Throw away your pie crust recipes people, this is all you’ll ever need.

Smitten Kitchen’s Pie Crust Recipe (original recipe here)
2.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
16 tbsp./2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup sour cream
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup ice water

Not only is this recipe super simple, it’s extremely quick to make in a stand mixer.

Combine the flour and salt quickly in your mixer.

Make sure the butter is super cold and cut into small cubes. Combine with the dry ingredients in your mixer until the texture looks like parmesan cheese.

Next, mix in the sour cream. This will start to bring everything together.

However, the texture will still be a bit dry. Add in as much ice water as your dough needs until it starts to pull together in a ball.

When you have a semi-uniform dough/it is no longer crumbly, turn the dough out on to the counter and knead out any lumps of flour or butter. Divide the dough into separate discs depending on what recipes you have in mind for them. I planned to use the dough for two different Thanksgiving desserts (recipes coming soon!). Wrap the discs tightly in plastic wrap.

You can store your wrapped dough in the fridge for up to a week and in the freezer for up to a month. This is a great make ahead. Having the dough on hand and ready to go made my holiday desserts this year so much easier to manage. Not to mention that working with chilled dough yields a much better result than room temperature or over-handled dough.

The reason this dough is so perfect is trifold:

1. The butter. Butter makes everything better.
2. It always comes out the most perfect golden brown I have ever seen. It’s somehow incapable of overcooking, drying out, or burning. It’s foolproof.
3. The secret/most genius ingredient ever: sour cream. It adds a subtle richness, a depth without being heavy, and a savory flavor that is heavenly. This is fancy pastry bakery tasting stuff but made at home.

Stay tuned for the recipes where I used this dough!