Recipe: "All the Things" Pie Dough

Recipe by Elizebett Rocha Bento Eslinger

I teach this recipe in my GBBO-inspired pastry class, and it's been a student favorite! Buttery, flaky, and easy to put together (and roll out): this is my "go-to" for lots of savory and sweet pastry treats including double-crust pies, mini pies, custard pies, savory pies and pasties, queijadas, and more.

You'll end up with 2 rounds of dough that you can use immediately or wrap up well and freeze for up to 3 months (then allow to thaw in the fridge before using).

Note: you can also use a food processor to mix together the ingredients in steps 1-3. You’ll then need to transfer the flour/butter mixture to a bowl for step 4.

Ingredients

• 325 g (~2 ½ cups) all-purpose unbleached flour (with extra for rolling out dough)
• 30 g (~2 tbsp) granulated sugar
• ¾ tsp table salt
• 50 g (~4 tbsp) cold vegetable shortening, cubed
• 113 g (~8 tbsp) cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 6 to 10 tbsp ice cold water

Directions - Making the Dough

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Add the cubed shortening to the flour mixture, and then use a pastry cutter (or your fingertips) to cut down the shortening pieces to pea-sized.
3. Add the unsalted butter to the flour mixture, and continue to use a pastry cutter (or your fingertips) to cut down the butter, until you see a good variety of sandy mix and different-sized bits of shortening and butter throughout the mixture (largest pieces are pea-sized).
4. Add 4 tbsp of the ice water and mix the dough to start to bring it together. If it doesn’t come together, add more ice water, 1 tbsp at a time, until the dough starts to come together. Using your fingertips, bring the dough together into a ball.
5. Cut the dough in half (about 320 g per half) and press each half into a 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

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