Active Time

　　15 min

　　Total Time

　　1 1/4 hr (includes chilling)

　　Buttery, flaky, quick—this dough has it all. See cooks' note, if you need to halve the recipe to make the plum-blackberry streusel pie .

　　

Ingredients

Makes enough for a double-crust 9-inch pie

　　2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

　　2 teaspoons sugar

　　3/4 teaspoon salt

　　2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

　　1/3 cup plus 1 to 4 tablespoons ice water

　　

Step 1

Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl (or pulse in a food processor). Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle 1/3 cup ice water over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated.

　　

Squeeze a small handful of dough:

Step 2

If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just incorporated, then test again. Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.

　　

Step 3

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together, with a pastry scraper if you have one, and press into a ball. Divide in half and form into 2 disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.

　　Cooks' notes:

　　•Dough can be chilled up to 1 day. Let stand at room temperature 20 minutes before rolling out.

　　•Recipe can be halved if making a single-crust pie. Use a rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt and start with 3 tablespoons water.

　　•If making both pies in this menu, make 2 separate batches of dough.