Stand mixer pie crust

Oftentimes pie crust recipes will give directions for a food processor but the stand mixer is forgotten. I’ll admit it’s not my first thought when I need to make a crust, but stand mixers do a fine job and some prefer it for crust making; it is easy to overwork the dough in a processor until one gets the hang of it.

In this country, the brand name KitchenAid is synonymous with heavy-duty stand mixers. I once heard Julia Child say the flat beater (some call it a paddle) of KitchenAid stand mixers was designed for pastry. I asked an instructor at pastry school if she’d ever heard that and she had.

The mixer is capable of making a very flaky crust but the key is to make the dough entirely on Stir Speed, which mimics stirring by hand. Depending on the size of your shortening and butter cubes going into the bowl, it could take longer than the recipe suggests, but with this method more time at the slowest speed will produce better results than a shorter time at a higher speed.

This is the recipe that comes with every KitchenAid stand mixer; some of the directions have changed over the years to be more specific but the formula remains the same. I wanted an extremely flaky crust — which I got, see my family’s Chess Pie — and used all Crisco shortening (now that it’s reformulated with respect to trans fat) to achieve that.

I had to leave it on Stir Speed for longer than a minute to reach the small pea stage. This is where it was after 45 seconds:

The top photo shows the dough when it was done. If you look at the big piece of smooth dough I parked on the beater you’ll see that it held together without cracking when pressed. Once I turned the dough out onto the work surface it took only a few quick, gentle kneads to get a smooth ball of dough ready for its rest in the fridge. As always, I weighed my ingredients and, as it was a dry day, I needed the full amount of water. If you use measuring cups, lightly spoon the flour into the cup and level it off to approximate the weight given.

KitchenAid Pie Pastry

2 1/4  cups/270g all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp  salt
1/2 cup/90g  shortening, well chilled
2 TB/30g butter or margarine, well chilled
5 -6 TB cold water

Put flour and salt into bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater. Turn to Stir Speed and mix about 15 seconds. Cut shortening and butter into pieces and add. Turn to Stir Speed and and mix 30 to 45 seconds, until particles are size of small peas.

Continuing on Stir Speed, add water, a tablespoon at a time, until all particles are moistened and dough begins to hold together.

Divide dough in half. Pat into smooth balls, flatten slightly and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator 15 minutes.

Roll to 1/8 inch thickness between waxed paper. Fold pastry into quarters; ease into plate and unfold, pressing firmly against bottom and sides. Trim and crimp edges. Fill and bake as desired.

Yield: Two 8 or 9-inch single crusts or one 8 or 9-inch double crust.

For baked pastry shell: Prick sides and bottom with fork. Bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes until light brown. Cool completely before filling.

Related post: Stand Mixer Bread Dough