Nick Malgieri’s Flaky Pie Dough

INGREDIENTS FOR A TWO-CRUST
-PIE
2 1/2 c All purpose bleached flour
1/2 ts Salt
1/4 ts Baking powder
16 tb Cold unsalted butter
4 tb Cold water; (up to 6)

To mix dough by hand, combine flour, salt and baking powder in a medium
mixing bowl and stir well to mix. Cut butter into 1 tablespoon pieces and
add to dry ingredients. Toss once or twice to coat pieces of butter. Using
your hands or a pastry blender, rub the butter into the dry ingredients by
breaking it into tiny pieces, continuously pinching and squeezing it into
the dry ingredients. Be careful to keep the mixture uniform by occasionally
reaching down to the bottom of the bowl and mixing all the ingredients
evenly together. Continue rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients until
the mixture resembles a coarse ground cornmeal and no large pieces of
butter remain visible. Scatter the smaller amount of water on the butter
and flour mixture and stir gently with a fork – the dough should begin
holding together. If the mixture still appears dry and crumbly, add the
remaining water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the dough holds together
easily.

To mix the dough in the food processor, combine flour, salt and baking
powder in work bowl fitted with metal blade. Pulse 3 times at 1-second
intervals to mix. Cut butter into 1-tablespoon pieces and add to work bowl.
Process, pulsing repeatedly at 1-second intervals, until the mixture is
fine and powdery, resembles a coarse ground cornmeal and no large pieces of
butter remain visible, about 15 pulses in all. Scatter the smaller amount
of water on the butter and flour mixture and pulse 5 or 6 times -the dough
should begin holding together. If the mixture still appears dry and
crumbly, add the remaining water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the dough
holds together easily.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a disk
(two equal disks for the larger amount of dough). Sandwich the disk of
dough between two pieces of plastic wrap and press it into a 6-inch disk.
Refrigerate the dough until firm, or until you are ready to use it, at
least 1 hour.

Notes: Recipe courtesy of Nick Malgieri