Name: Julia Child's Pastry Dough, Pie Crust Recipes
Prep time: 10 min
Ingredients: 2 c all-purpose flour; 1 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp sugar; 1 1/2 sticks chilled butter cut into 1/2″ slices; 4 tbs chilled shortening; a scant half cup of iced water, plus droplets more if needed

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Looking for the best homemade pie crust recipe? Julia Child’s pastry dough recipe is the best for homemade pies, turnovers and flaky pizza crust!

Whenever there is something that I need a recipe for I look in my Julia Child cookbooks. Without fail there is always a recipe with the best explanation of how to make it. Out of all of the cookbooks that I own, hers is the very best. She not only provides recipes, but teaches you techniques and tips along the way. I, along with many others, refer to her cookbooks as The Bible of Cooking. It’s like having your own personal chef instructor in the kitchen with you! Amazing!

As I mentioned yesterday, Little Finch and I made Pastry Dough for our Calzone Wanna-Be’s. This recipe for Pastry Dough is from Julia Child’s “Mastering The Art of French Cooking” Volume I. My little girlie and I had a lot of fun making this!

Everything you need to make the perfect pie crust!

Let’s Make It Together!

Place 2 c all-purpose flour in a bowl
Add 1 tsp salt
Add 1/4 tsp sugar
Slice 1 1/2 sticks of butter into 1/2″ slices
Add to flour mixture
Add 4 Tbs chilled shortening
Start chilling a glass full of water with ice and set aside (you won’t use the ice)
Rub flour, butter and shortening together rapidly between the tips of your fingers until the fat is broken into pieces the size of oatmeal flakes. Do not overdo
Remove ice and keep 1/2 c of water
Add water and blend quickly with one hand, fingers held together and slightly cupped, as you rapidly gather the dough into a mass
Form into a ball
Place dough on a lightly floured surface
With the heel of one hand, not the palm which is too warm, rapidly press the pastry by two-spoonful bits down on the board and away from you in a firm, quick smear of about 6 inches. This continues the final blending of fat and flour
Smear out about 6″
Gather the dough again into a mass
Knead it briefly into a fairly smooth round ball
Sprinkle lightly with flour and wrap in waxed paper. Either place the dough in the freezer for 1 hour or until firm or refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight (we put ours in the freezer)

And there you have it! Once you are ready to use the dough, roll out with rolling pin and use to your hearts desire! This dough was the perfect combination of flakey and moist (sounds oxymoron I know, but it’s true!)

Decorative Pie Crust

Once you’ve rolled out your pie crust, it’s time to decorate! My favorite tools for creating beautiful pie crust shapes are with the pastry wheel roller and plunger cookie cutters!

Pie Dishes and Plates

One thing to consider when buying beautiful pie dishes is the depth of the pie dish. The very first pie dish I owed was a glass Pyrex pie dish that is pretty shallow. I like this pie dish for pies that I don’t want to be super thick/deep or if I don’t have a ton of filling, and need it to be a smaller pie.

On the flip side, I have a beautiful 9″ Emile Henry pie dish that I use a lot, but it is very deep – and store-bought pie crust doesn’t fill the entire dish to the edges, as you can see here in my quiche recipe. When I use this particular pie dish with homemade pie crust, I adjust the size of my crust by making it larger in diameter).

Kitchen Memories

I first shared this recipe on Gathered In The Kitchen in 2011 – this little guy was such a cute little helper. I miss the days of my kiddos sitting in Bumbo seats helping me cook! I hope that your kitchens are full of memory making with those you love!