Christopher Kimball’s Foolproof Pie Dough

Vodka is essential to the texture of the crust and imparts no flavor — do not substitute. This dough will be moister and more supple than most standard pie doughs and will require more flour to roll out (up to 1/4 cup).

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into 1/4-inch slices
• ½ cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
• ¼ cup vodka, cold
• ¼ cup cold water

• Nutritional Information

  • Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

    539 calories; 33 grams fat; 17 grams saturated fat; 2 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 49 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 61 milligrams cholesterol; 392 milligrams sodium

  Note: Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available data.
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Preparation

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.

• Correction: December 9, 2012 Because of an editing error, a headline for a recipe that accompanied an article on Oct. 14 about Christopher Kimball, the host of the TV show ‘‘America’s Test Kitchen,’’ referred imprecisely to the discoverer of ‘‘Foolproof Pie Dough.’’ It was developed by a test-kitchen team led by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, not by Kimball.