Surprise Pie Dough Recipes

AUTUMN SURPRISE PIE

Steps:

• Mix the first 4 ingredients; cut in butter until crumbly. Mix milk and vinegar; add gradually to crumb mixture, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed. Divide dough into 2 portions, 1 slightly larger than the other. Shape each into a disk; cover and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight., Preheat oven to 425°. On a lightly floured surface, roll larger portion of dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a greased 9-in. pie plate. Trim crust even with rim. Refrigerate while preparing filling., Mix the first 5 filling ingredients. Place apples, pears and raisins in a large bowl. Add sugar mixture and extract; toss to combine. Spoon into crust., Roll out remaining dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; cut into 3/4-in.-wide strips. Arrange over filling in a lattice pattern. Trim and seal strips to edge of bottom crust; flute edge. Brush lattice with beaten egg. Sprinkle with coarse sugar., Bake pie on a lower oven rack 15 minutes. Reduce oven setting to 350°. Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 30-35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

PERFECT PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Cut each stick of butter into 8 pieces, and refrigerate until needed. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl, and mix to combine.
• Add the chilled butter. Using a pastry blender, incorporate the butter into the flour mixture; the mixture should resemble coarse meal with small pieces of butter, the size of small peas, remaining visible.
• Drizzle 2 tablespoons ice water over the flour-butter mixture, and blend. Repeat with an additional 2 tablespoons water. At this point, you may have to add more water: When a handful of dough squeezed together just holds its shape, you've added enough; if the dough crumbles, continue incorporating water, 1 tablespoon at a time, checking the consistency after each additional tablespoon.
• Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface. Divide into two equal pieces, and place on two separate sheets of plastic wrap. Flatten, and form two disks. Wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Lightly dust a clean, dry work surface with flour. Place the chilled dough in the center of the work surface, and dust the dough as well as the rolling pin with flour. Position the rolling pin on the center of the disk, and begin rolling the dough away from you. Give the disk a quarter turn, and roll again. Continue turning and rolling until you have an even 1/8-inch thickness. Turning the dough as you roll will prevent it from sticking to the work surface. A dry pastry brush is handy to remove any excess flour during and after the rolling process.
• Lightly butter the pie plate. To minimize stretching when moving the dough, roll it around the pin, lift up, and unroll over the buttered pie plate. Using your fingers, gently pat the dough into place. Trim any excess dough with a paring knife or kitchen shears, leaving a 1-inch overhang; then fold dough under to reinforce the edge.

PERFECT PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Cut the dough in half. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan. Repeat with the top crust.

BEST EVER PIE CRUST

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water until mixture forms a ball. Divide dough in half, and shape into balls. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
• Roll out dough on a floured counter. Don't over work it. Use as directed in pie recipe.

BUTTER FLAKY PIE CRUST

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture forms a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
• Roll dough out to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Place crust in pie plate. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate.

PUMPKIN SURPRISE PIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Fit 1 pie crust into a 9" pie plate and crimp edges. Refrigerate until ready to fill. Unroll second crust. Using a 1" star cookie cutter, cut out 50 stars; place on baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Cream cheese layer: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg until smooth. Spread evenly into bottom of pie crust.
• Pumpkin layer: In a large bowl, beat pumpkin puree, milk, brown sugar, eggs, pie spice and salt until smooth. Using a ladle, gently spoon pumpkin mixture over cream cheese mixture.
• Brush edge of pie with egg-water was. Overlap pastry stars around edge. Brush stars lightly with egg-water wash. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Cover edges with foil, reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for and additional 45 minutes.
• Cool pie completely on rack. Refrigerate until completely chilled. Before slicing, leave out for 30 minutes.