Pie dough for fruit fillings

Olson says this is her favourite overall pie dough. As the pie bakes, the butter melts and the water within the butter turns to steam, pushing up the flour layers around it, making the pastry flaky.

Olson’s other trick is to remove the butter from the refrigerator half an hour before she wants to work with it.

“Think about it. You take icecold butter, it shatters and cracks unevenly and you risk overworking your dough. If it’s slightly softened, it just comes together.”

She also pulls the dough out of the fridge about 30 minutes prior to rolling it so it’s not ice-cold.

“It could be the best pie dough on the planet, (but) it’s going to crack if the butter’s cold. But if it’s out for half an hour you’ll find it’s a lot easier and then you’re not overworking the glutens because it’s rolling faster.”

MAKES ENOUGH FOR ONE DOUBLE-CRUST PIE

2½ cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 teaspoon salt 3 tbsp vegetable oil 1 cup cool unsalted butter, cut into pieces 1/4 cup cool water 2 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar

Prep time: 15 minutes plus chilling In a bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir flour, sugar and salt together. Add oil and cut it in using a pastry cutter (or blend on low speed) until flour looks evenly crumbly in texture. Add butter and cut in (or blend) again until rough and crumbly but small pieces of butter are still visible.

Stir water with lemon juice and add to flour mixture all at once, mixing just until dough comes together. Shape dough into two discs (unless otherwise directed by pie recipe you are following), wrap in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least two hours.

The dough can be made up to two days ahead and stored in the fridge.

Alternatively, it can be frozen for up to three months and thawed in the fridge before rolling.

Source: “Bake with Anna Olson: More than 125 Simple, Scrumptious and Sensational Recipes to Make You a Better Baker” by Anna Olson (Appetite by Random House, 2016).