Perfect Your Pies with Fat & Hydration | Happy Baking with Erin Jeanne McDowell

We're going back to Pie School! In this episode of Happy Baking, I'm diving into TWO essential pieces to making perfect pie dough:
☺️ FAT (you know...the thing that makes it taste good)
☺️ HYDRATION - the trickiest part of the process!

Understanding how fat works in pastry doughs will open up a whole new world of textures and flavors. Diving into hydration will help you understand how to make a dough with perfect texture after baking. Of course, I'll also share troubleshooting tips for the times things go awry. Get ready to nerd out with me - because this episode is essential to upping your pie crust game! #happybaking #pieschool

Don't miss my step by step tutorial featuring my Favorite Pie Dough:
   • Erin's Favorite Pie Dough | Happy Bak...  

►► THE RECIPE ☺️
All Buttah Pie Dough
Makes one 9 inch / 23 cm pie crust

INGREDIENTS
151 grams / 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
113 grams / 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch / 13 mm cubes
60 grams / 1/4 cup ice water, plus more as needed

THE STEPS
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the cubed butter, tossing the cubes through the flour until each individual piece is well coated. ‘Cut’ the butter into the flour by pressing the pieces between your fingers, flattening the cubes into big shards. As you work, continue to toss the butter through the flour, re-coating the shingled pieces.
2. For a flaky crust, continue cutting the butter into the flour just until the pieces of butter are about the size of walnut halves. Or, for a mealy crust, continue to work the mixture together until the pieces of butter are about the size of peas.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the amount of ice water listed in the recipe to the well, but have more on hand. Use a tossing motion with your hands to start to mix the two together (this begins to combine them without creating too much gluten). As it begins to become hydrated, you can start to use more of a kneading motion – but don’t overdo it: this will make the dough tough. Add more water about 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is properly hydrated: it should be uniformly combined and hold together easily, but it won’t look totally smooth. Dough that is too dry may have sort of a “dusty” appearance, or pockets of un-hydrated flour. It will not hold together and will appear crumbly. Dough that is too wet will feel sticky or tacky to the touch, and is often smoother and/or lighter in color.
4. Form the dough into an even disk (or into another shape if directed by the recipe – or if you are multiplying the recipe to make multiple crusts, divide the dough appropriately). Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes-1 hour.
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about ½ inch/1 cm thick (the exact shape and size doesn’t matter here, just the thickness). Brush away any excess flour from the surface of the dough, and fold it in half horizontally. Then, fold the dough in half again (you’ve now folded it into quarters).
6. If the dough feels sticky or soft to the touch, re-wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for 30 minutes before proceeding. If it doesn’t, repeat step 5.
7. Tuck the ends of your folded dough under itself to create a round disk of dough. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days before using.

Make Ahead and Storage: The tightly wrapped disk of dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Wrapped in a layer of plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil, the dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before using.

► ►ERIN'S BOOKS 📚: https://amzn.to/3UA16np

►► ERIN'S BAKING ESSENTIALS 🍰: https://amzn.to/3wBgo3d

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►► CHAPTERS
00:00 How fast can Erin name all these pie doughs?
00:24 Intro
01:24 Fat Fat Fat Fat Fat
03:36 Which type of dough is right for you?
07:58 Water you talking about?
10:59 Outro

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►► VIDEO CREDITS 🎥
☺️ Producer/Director: Gabriella Mangino
☺️ DP: Faki Malik
☺️ Editor: Josh Dion
☺️ Graphic Design: Tart NYC
☺️ Motion: Joe Ruffa