Double Pie Crust

Ingredients

2.5 cups flour (not wholemeal)

1.5 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

226 grams (2 sticks) butter, chilled(not frozen) cubed.

Mix water and apple cider vinegar 5:1 and put it in freezer to cool. About a cup or so.

Directions

Mix the dry ingredients together with hand or a wooden spoon.

Add the butter.

Cut in the butter to pea sized pieces with a pastry blender or a fork. If you use a food processor you have to be very careful and use the pulse button until you have pea sized butter balls, over mixed (sandy) dough won't work.

Start adding your iced water vinegar mixture in tablespoons, 3-4 at first, more as you work it with a wooden spoon. Hands or a metal spoon won't work. Food processor will ruin the dough and break down the butter pieces. You may not use food processor at this step.

Mix until the the dough comes together, adding the water in tablespoons when necessary.

Based on humidity and flour type, you may need 6 tbsp or 10. Don't add it all at once or the dough is ruined.

Once you have some dry bits remaining and the dough has come together but doesn't look exactly homogeneous like a bread dough; stop.

Collect the dry bits with your dough, divide in half, form into a disks, wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or two.

Don't start rolling it out when it is still cold, it will need anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes to soften up. But it will roll flawlessly, without breaking at the edges or the center.

To transfer the dough to the pie dish, fold in four, place in the dish and unfold, it will be very easy to work with and crimp . It won't break apart at all.

Notes

You may replace half a cup of flour with half a cup of cocoa powder for cocoa crust but the dough will be prone to cracking and breaking.

Still tastes good though.

Make enough dough for 5-6 pies and freeze the disks to save on time and cleaning effort.

Use a food processor to powder ginger snaps and walnuts and cover the bottom of your pie with it prior to baking custard based pies like pumpkin. The bottom will be flaky and not soggy this way.

When crimping single crust; fold the edges inside, stick to the inner perimeter, crimp this double thickness edge (standing maybe half or one inch above the edges of the dish)

When crimping double crust or lattice crust, fold the upper crust underneath the bottom at the edges, roll and fold Over the the edge of the dish and crimp. Don't waste any dough.

Vinegar adds a tang flavor and balances the sugar and the salt. Not too much, but just a tiny bit.

Frozen pie dough and baked pies will have to be defrosted overnight in the refrigerator;

10-12 hours while still wrapped with film. Then take the dough disk out for 20-30 minutes to soften (check if it bends without cracking, if not, wait more)