Perfect Pie Shell for Pecan Pie
Submitted by scuba
Flaky, buttery pie shell built for pecan pie filling, with a sturdy bottom that holds up to sticky filling. Made with butter, shortening, and an egg-white wash for golden crispness.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
25 minREADY
40 minA pecan pie is only as good as its crust, and this one is the workhorse you want underneath all that gooey filling. The combo of cold butter and a touch of shortening is the secret: butter delivers flavor and flaky layers, shortening keeps the dough tender and easy to roll. Pulsed in the food processor until it looks like coarse cornmeal, the fat stays in pebbly bits that steam in the oven and lift the dough into proper flake.
The egg-white-and-ice-water bind keeps the dough cool and dry, which is what you want for a crisp bottom. After resting, rolling, fluting, and a long chill, the shell gets blind-baked with foil pressed snug against the dough. A final brush of egg yolk seals the surface so pecan pie filling cannot soak in and soggify your hard work.
Pro Tips
- Keep everything cold. Butter, shortening, water, even the flour can go in the freezer for 15 minutes before mixing.
- Stop pulsing when the largest bits of fat are pea-sized. Smaller and you lose the flake.
- Do not stretch the dough into the pan. Stretched dough shrinks back during baking and exposes the filling.
- Dock the chilled shell well with a fork before lining with foil. This stops puffing on the bottom.
- The egg yolk glaze at the end is what waterproofs the crust. Do not skip it for wet fillings like pecan or pumpkin.
Variations
- Sweet shortcrust: bump the powdered sugar to ¼ cup for a cookie-like base, great for tart shells.
- All-butter: swap the shortening for an extra 2 tablespoons of butter for richer flavor with slightly less tenderness.
- Nutty crust: replace ¼ cup of the flour with finely ground pecans for a toasty edge that doubles down on pie filling.
Ingredients
Directions
Mix flour, sugar, and salt in food processor fitted with steel Scatter butter and shortening over dry ingredients and pulse until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, 10 to 15 seconds. Turn mixture into medium bowl.
Sprinkle egg white mixture over flour mixture and, with blade of rubber spatula use folding motion to mix. Press down on dough with broad side of spatula until dough sticks together.
Shape dough into ball with hands, then flatten into 4-inch disk.
Dust dough lightly with flour, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
- Roll dough on lightly floured surface into 13-inch circle and Press dough into corners and sides of pan, being careful not to stretch dough. Trim edges of dough to make ½-inch overhang.
Tuck overhanging dough under so that folded edge is flush with rim of pan.
Flute edge.
- Chill shell until firm, about 1 hour.
Prick sides and bottom with fork and line entire shell with heavy-duty aluminum foil, pressing foil firmly against shell and extending it over fluted rim.
Prick foil with fork and return shell to refrigerator while oven is heating.
- Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 400 bake, pressing once or twice with mitt-protected hands, if necessary, to flatten any puffing, until crust is firmly set, about 15 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake until bottom begins to color, about 10 minutes longer.
Remove from oven, brush sides and bottom with egg yolk, and return to oven until yolk glazes over, about 1 minute longer.
Note: The same recipe can be also made into mini pecan tarts or mini pecan pies.
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