FLAKY CREAM CHEESE PIE CRUST, ADAPTED

Here’s the recipe I used for my Chicken Pot Pies. I’m also going to use this pie crust recipe for my Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. What I especially like about this recipe is the fact that the dough is firm and doesn’t shrink. The flavor is good, and the crust is flaky and tender. It probably would have been more so had I used all bleached flour. I opted to use half unbleached all-purpose. It was great for chicken pot pies, and I suspect it will also be great for my pumpkin pie. I’ll let you know.

Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust (for 9” pie shell) Adapted from epicurious.com, “The Pie and Pastry Bible,” 1998 Cordon Rose, Inc. Rating: 10 out of 10 PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS: 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cold 1 cup + 1 Tbsp. pastry flour or 1 cup (dip & sweep) bleached all-purpose flour (I used 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose & 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp. White Lily all-purpose) 1/8 tsp. salt (1/4 tsp. for savory recipes) 1/8 tsp. baking powder 1/4 cup cream cheese, cold 1 Tbsp. ice water 1-1/2 tsp. cider vinegar Cut the butter into 1/2” cubes. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze about 30 minutes. Place the flour, salt and baking powder in a reclosable plastic sandwich bag and freeze about 30 minutes. (I also put the work bowl and metal blade of my food processor in the freezer.) In the work bowl of a food processor with the metal blade, pulse flour mixture a few times to combine. (Save the sandwich bag for the finished dough.) Cut cream cheese into 3 or 4 pieces and add to flour. Process for about 20 seconds, or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add frozen butter cubes and pulse until none of the butter is larger than the size of a pea. (Toss with a fork to see it better.) Remove the cover and add vinegar and water. (I actually added about 3 Tbsp. water, as 1 Tbsp. just didn’t do it.) Pulse until most of the butter is reduced to the size of small peas. The mixture will be in particles and will not hold together. Spoon it into the plastic bag. Holding both ends of the bag opening with your fingers, knead the mixture by alternately pressing it, from the outside of the bag with the knuckles and heels of your hands until the mixture holds together in one piece and feels slightly stretchy when pulled. Flatten into a disc, reseal the bag and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes, preferably overnight. Can be refrigerated up to 2 days; frozen, up to 3 months.