Mastering pie dough from scratch can seem like a scary, time-consuming task that always seems to end with flour all over the kitchen, dough stuck to the rolling pin, and pie that's more "rustic" than Instagram-ready. Instead of going through all that effort, you might as well just pick up a pre-made crust from the store, right? Well, not so fast. Carla Lalli Music, food director of Bon Appétit, shares her foolproof method that requires only four ingredients, no special equipment (fine, you'll need a bench scraper for ideal results), and takes a mere 10 minutes.
Here's how she does it:
You'll need 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, 1 tsp. sugar, and 1/2 tsp. kosher salt. Toss 'em all together with your hands in a large bowl. See? Not so bad.
Cut 1 stick of really cold butter and into any-size pieces (forget what you've been taught before; the size of the pieces doesn't matter). Using your hands, toss the butter into the dry ingredients until it's evenly coated. Transfer it all to a work surface and start rolling out with a rolling pin; at this point, you can tell if your butter is properly cold if it's hard to press into shapes. Roll out the butter into long, thin sheets. Don't freak out if any sticks to the pin; just scrape it off as you go.
Scoop all those strips of butter it back into the bowl. You don't want the butter to melt, so try to work as fast as you can. Add 3 Tbsp. ice water and toss together until it's distributed; you should also be able to see big and small pieces of butter in the batter.
This is where the fun really begins, and if everything looks like a hot mess at this point, that's okay. As you're rolling, if the rolling pin starts to stick, just sprinkle with more flour. Scrape underneath the dough with your bench scraper to flip it over. Try not to overwork the flour, which results in a tough crust. Trust in your pin!
After the first couple rolls, you'll see that the middle will have formed pockets of buttery goodness, while the outside will look more dry. Keep turning and rolling out only one or two more times until the dough is a uniform texture, though it's okay if some larger pieces of butter are still visible.
You're almost done! Wrap your dough in plastic wrap, then shape it into a round. The dough will actually rehydrate in the fridge, so it's important that you don't use it right away. Chill at least 30 minutes, or you can be super-ambitious and leave it in the freezer for up to 3 months.