All-Butter Pastry Dough

Makes enough for a double-crust 9-inch pie

Olga Massov, Sassy Radish; adapted from Gourmet, July 2009

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Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour		2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 teaspoons sugar		1/3 cup plus 1 to 4 tablespoons ice water
3/4 teaspoon salt

Total:

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1
Whisk together flour, sugar and salt in a bowl (or pulse in a food processor). Blend in butter with your fingertips or pastry blender (or pulse) just until most of the mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle 1/3 cup ice water over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated.
2
Squeeze a small handful of dough. If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just incorporated, then test again. Do not overwork dough or pastry will be tough.
3
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 portions. With the heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute the fat. Gather dough together, with a pastry scraper if you have one, and press into a ball. Divide in half and form into 2 disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
4
Notes: Dough can be chilled up to 1 day. Let stand at room temperature 20 minutes before rolling out. Recipe can be halved if making a single-crust pie. Use a rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt and start with 3 tablespoons water.

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