Linda, I'm so glad to hear you had success! I omit the sugar when making a savory pie with it too.

You are just in time for Apple Pie season, it's almost here.

Nancy

Good for you Linda! When I tried it I thought why have I been buying frozen crusts?? It really helped seeing Nancy give us a "clinic" at PFPP.

Cathy

Oh that's so cruel! Linda you leave me hanging wanting the recipe, and figuring out which Nancy owns it! :-)

Would you or Nancy mind posting the recipe?

Here ya go Jasdip.
The trick to this pie crust is the inclusion of vodka. Eighty-proof vodka, which is 60 percent water and 40 percent alcohol, adds moistness to the dough without aiding in gluten formation since gluten doesn't form in ethanol. Although the recipe includes 8 tablespoons of liquid, the alcohol vaporizes during baking, resulting in a tender crust that only contains 6 1/2 tablespoons of water. Because of the extra liquid, the dough will be moister than most standard pie doughs and will require up to 1/4 cup more flour. I use plenty of flour when rolling the dough out...and a light touch.

Foolproof Pie Dough
Cook's Illustrated

- makes one 9-inch double-crust pie -

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup cold vodka
1/4 cup cold water

Procedure
1. Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.

2. Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

Nancy

I've used Nancy's pie crust recipe many times and I agree - it is great. Only difference is, I usually double the vodka, half for the crust the other half for me! LOLOLOL!

Alexa

Enough vodka and you won't care what the pie looks like. (grin)

Linda, I'm glad you took the plunge, even if the refrigerated stuff isn't bad, it's not as good as homemade crust.

Annie

Thanks Nancy!
I've heard of that one, have never tried it. Now I see I'm going to have to give it a go.

I know I've read here at some point that Nathan's is also a good recipe.

Ann keeps trying to convince me I can make pie crust without the vodka but I'm not taking any chances! The vodka works for me. I haven't tried Nathan's.

I really never cared for the refrigerated stuff, but it was my only option until now.

Pie crust and I have never really gotten along. For some reason I could never get the dough to a state where it was actually pliable!

This recipe is a Godsend. Super easy even tho there's a lot of "chilling" of stuff! LOL

I have two pints of blueberries in the fridge.....Hmmmm...

Linda

I make your pie crust recipe all the time! It is the BEST!

jasdip, I make the Nathan's No Fail pie crust pretty much exclusively because I never have any vodka. It's a dream to handle, even at room temperature. I don't chill ingredients or the dough, just mix it up and start rolling!

Thanks to SharonCB, whom I miss here.

Annie

I used the Foolproof Pie Dough recipe and in the end it came out great....really light, flavorful and flaky. However....I had a *horrible* time working with it. It seemed like the right consistency before I ever added the vodka and the water. After the liquid was added, it was VERY sticky and wet. I'm sure I followed the directions and did everything correctly....I weighed the flour and was careful with my measurements. I tried rolling it between parchment paper first and that was a disaster. I got out the other half and rolled it using tons of flour to keep it from sticking and tearing so badly. It would soften after about 2 minutes outside the refrigerator/freezer. After returning it to the freezer several times, I was finally able to coax it into something that looked like a pie shell (I made a chocolate pie with meringue). I put it in the freezer until it got solid again, put it in the oven frozen with parchment and pie weights and it did finally come out beautifully. My question is this...did anyone else have a devil of a time with it? Can I cut the amount of vodka and water in half? Any help appreciated. And...thank you for the recipe, the final result was awesome...I did want to throw it all out for a brief period of time, though.

I had a problem too! It was in July when I was making a fresh blueberry pie.

I think that you have to take the weather into consideration. When it's humid, flour contain more water and weighs more. When it's hot in the kitchen, even a FP will be warmer. Cold ingredients will also warm up faster.
In my case I reasoned that I should have not added all the water and vodka at once. Add about 3/4 of the liquid and add more as needed to make a soft but not sticky dough.

August rolled around (hehe) and fresh peaches were calling me. It was still hot out and humid. But I remembered that the liquid might be still too much and so I adjusted and the crust turned out perfect. I also worked as fast at making the dough as I could, butter can soften up quick in hot weather. One key is to not over process the dough in the FP. When I roll out the dough I can see butter pieces and those pieces are what make for a very flaky crust.

Nancy

I've been meaning to try this recipe sometime, but I hate vodka and would have to buy it just for this. Pfmastin's question made me re-read the recipe above. I guess I never read it carefully before, because I assumed it's like any other pie crust recipe, and would say to add only as much liquid as you need. That's how I was thinking of it.
As Nancy said, flours change in dry and humid weather. The protein content of the flour matters more, though, and the same brand doesn't have to be consistent from bag to bag.
Most recipes would say a lot less than a half-cup of liquid for that much flour. I do usually end up having to add more water than recipes suggest, but you have to play it by eye (and hand).

I feel much better now. :) I will use this recipe again but definitely cut back on the liquids. Thanks!