A couple of weeks ago I took a pie making class at High 5 Pie in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood with a good friend.  In two hours we learned the tricks and basic technique to make an all-butter pie crust.  Please hold onto your arteries, because the recipe calls for two {count them, TWO} sticks of butter.   Let’s just take a deep breath and realize that we don’t eat pie everyday and it is ok to indulge every once in a while.  This crust is flaky and delicious.  And if you are like me, the crust is the best part of the pie!

The High 5 Pie All-Butter Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

8 0z unsalted butter

3/4 cup ICE COLD water

You will also need a few tools. A pitcher for ice cold water, a counter scraper for chopping butter, a rolling pin, and a pastry cutter if you are going to make a lattice top crust.

Our instructor gave us great tips.  In a nutshell, keep everything as cold as possible. Chop the butter with a counter scraper into small cubes and freeze it ahead of time.  Add ICE cold water gradually until dough comes together and refrigerate before rolling.  Roll a perfect circle by rolling and making many small turns.  Refrigerate the rolled crust in the pan for at least 2 hours before baking.  Before adding your filling, coat the crust with an egg wash.  This prevents the crust from getting to soggy {Brilliant, right?}.  Place the pie pan on a cookie sheet before placing in the oven.  This helps to catch the butter that will spill over while baking.

I loved this class because we also got tips on how to crimp the bottom crust and how to make a lattice top crust.  Skills that are much easier to learn when there is someone showing you how to do it and providing feedback as you try it out yourself!  I highly recommend this class if you live in the Seattle area.  We left with an entire pie ready to bake and dough ready to roll and make another at home.  Since my husband couldn’t help me eat it and my kids are not yet pie fans {not sure how that is possible}, I baked the pie and had one piece.  The rest I boxed up and took to the teachers at the boys’ elementary school.  Nothing better than apple pie with your morning coffee!

Photos by Where is June?