Cream Cheese Pie Crust

 

Okay, I know this probably isn’t the prettiest pie crust you’ve ever seen, however, you know what makes this one so interesting? It IS the first one that you’ve ever seen that was made by me! Yes, you are looking at my first attempt at making a homemade pie crust. What do I think after all this? That making the crust took twice as long as making the whole rest of the pie, including the baking & cooling time. However, I can’t recall ever eating a flakier pie crust in my life, so for me, this was worth the extra time and effort.

If you’re debating on whether you should take on such an endeavor yourself there are a couple things to consider. If you’re looking for a recipe that is quick and easy, I wouldn’t put this on my “to do” list. However, if you’re aiming for highest-quality possible, then homemade pie crust is the only way to go.

This particular recipe was stolen from Martha Stewart, which can be both a blessing and a curse. When taking something from MS, there is a certain amount of trust that you have in the quality of the recipe. However, attempting to recreate the beautiful fluted edges that appear in the magazine and that they make sound impossibly simple in the accompanying directions left me with a slight sense of failure when the end result turned out like my above photo.

You know what though? Even with dough that appears to have been made by a 5-year old, this was some really tasty crust. And if you make sure to fill it with something distractingly delicious, no one will notice those uneven edges. I’m not going to tell you what my next post will fill this with, but here’s a sneak peak:

 

*Updated* Check out my Chocolate Chip Pecan

Cream Cheese Pie Crust

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living

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The name of the game in making crust is “cold.” It is absolutely critical that you keep the butter and cream cheese cold, even once it’s kneaded into the dough. If you start to over-handle the dough and the butter begins to soften and melt, stick it in the fridge and leave for an hour before continuing on. This ensures that when your crust goes into a hot oven, the bits of butter will evaporate and form those beautiful flaky layers.

3 teaspoons cold water
1 teaspoon cold apple cider vinegar
1 ½ cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
½ teaspoon salt
4 oz cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
4 oz cold cream cheese, cut into small pieces

Mix together the water & vinegar in a small bowl. In another bowl, combine flour and salt. Using your fingers, knead the butter and cream cheese into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add the water & vinegar to the dough and mix together until the dough begins to hold together. You can also pulse the mixture in a food processor just until everything combines.

Turn the dough onto plastic wrap and wrap well. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a disc and refrigerate until firm. (I actually did this twice, removing the dough from the fridge, rolling it back into a ball and then rolling it back down with the rolling pin) From this point, you can actually freeze the dough up to one month to be used later. If you freeze it, be sure to thaw it in the refrigerator before using.

Roll dough into a 12-inch round circle on a lightly floured surface. Fit the dough over a greased 9-inch pie dish. Trim the edges, leaving a 1-inch over hang. Using your knuckles, flute the edges. Take it from me, if these flutes don’t look pretty the taste of the crust won’t be affected. Refrigerate the dough for another 15 minutes, and then fill with something tasty.

Tagged as: Cream Cheese