Basic Pie Dough

Preparation

Dough

1. Cut butter into the flour until it is reduced to pea size pieces mixed evenly into the flour. This is most easily done by pulsing the two ingredients in a food processor. However, you can also use a pastry blender or two butter knives (basic scissor cut method).
2. Dump the crumbly mixture into a mixing bowl and make a well in the center.
3. Dissolve salt in the ice cold water and pour into the well. Combine by hand until the mixture has come together to form a dough. (Don’t worry if the dough is a bit ugly and still has a few loose crumbles. That means you’re doing it right!)
4. Form the dough into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Put it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (up to a day) to chill before using. You can also freeze the dough for future use.

Rolling and forming

1. Roll the dough out on a floured surface.
2. Since the dough will be cold from being chilled, it will likely crack a bit while being rolled out. That's fine, just push it back together and continue to roll it into a circle that's two inches greater in diameter than your pie pan.
3. When transferring your dough to a pie or tart pan, either roll the dough loosely onto your rolling pin and then unroll it over your pan, or gently fold your circle of dough into quarters (in half, then half again to form a triangular shape, set it in your pan and then unfold it.
4. When forming your dough into pie or tart pans, do not pull or stretch the dough to fit into corners or crevices. The dough will shrink during the baking process, leaving you with a large gap between your pan and the baked crust. Instead, push the dough from the edges down into the corners of the pan.
5. Trim any overhanging crust to 1/2", fold excess crust under itself and pinch with fingertips to create a fluted edge.