The Perfect Pie Crust made with Freshly Ground Flour

Certain recipes and have just eluded me since switching over to freshly ground flour, and pie crusts are one of them. This last week, though, I made a really fabulous pie crust – with 100% fresh whole wheat. It was flaky and declicious. I couldn’t tell much a difference between it and pie crusts I have made in the past with unbleached flour. You can bet I won’t be returning to commercial flour.

If you’re looking for a recipe to make the perfect pie crust out of 100% freshly ground flour {yes! it is possible!!}, look no further!

I adapted this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, November 2007 issue. The secret ingredient is vodka {don’t tell anyone – it cooks out!}. The big challenge with using freshly ground flour is that the flour/liquid ratio changes for a reason that I do not understand. I added more flour to even things out and thought it still turned out great.

Here’s the original recipe and my alterations are in { }.

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour – {I used freshly ground soft white wheat and I had to double the amount of flour to get the composition right}
1 tsp salt
2 TBS sugar
1 and 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into small bits {I used organic palm shortening that I cooled beforehand}
1/4 cup cold vodka
1/4 cup cold water

The original recipe yields a double pie crust for a 9″ pie. Since I doubled the flour, I got quite a lot more, enough for 4 small pie crusts or 3 larger crusts.

Here’s the technique:

Gather ingredients. Please don’t judge the super cheapo vodka I’ve got there…there are just enough dregs of it left for a few more pie crusts! It’s not good for much else.

Put the flour, salt, sugar in a food processor and pulse quickly until combined. Add the butter chunks and the shortening and pulse until the flour resembles little peas – this is the tricky part. The original recipe says to start with 1 1/2 cups of flour. But using that amount never yields consistency of little peas! Add the rest of the flour to get a crumbly dough. Pour the dough into a bowl and add the cold liquid. Combine until dough is tacky.

Form dough into dough balls – 4 small or 3 larger.

Flatten dough balls into 4 inch rounds, and either wrap in plastic or separate with waxed paper. If you use the waxed paper, put the dough balls in a plastic bag. Refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to two days.

Roll your cooled dough out on a floured work area.

Carefully arrange the prepared pie crust in a pie dish, fill with your favorite ingredients and bake.