martha stewart’s pate brisee has long been my favorite, with a little tweak: the addition of apple cider vinegar. i fill a small glass with ice water, add the acv and stir it together. the vinegar helps inhibit the gluten formation when the water hits the flour/butter crust mixture, resulting in the flakiest possible crust.

| ingredients |
yield : 2 pie crusts

2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter cut into cubes
6 tablespoons ice water
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

| method |

i use a small food processor, so i divide the recipe above in half and work on one crust at a time.

add 1 1/4 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to the bowl of your food processor. pulse a few times until combined. add your cold, cubed butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal (with butter pieces about the size of peas.)

fill a small glass with ice water and stir in your tablespoon of acv. using a tablespoon measure, add the ice water one tablespoon at a time, pulsing your dough after each addition, use as little water as possible - up to 3 tablespoons per crust. stop adding water when your dough is wet enough to come together and form a shaggy dough.

turn out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, form into a disk and wrap, letting the dough rest in the fridge for 30 minutes before using. let come to room temperature 5 minutes before rolling out.

if you are making a second crust, stick your acv/ice water cup in the fridge while you prepare the second batch of pie dough to keep it cold, removing it when you’re ready for the water. repeat all other steps as written above.