Welcome to the Free Recipe of the Month!
Each month I feature a free recipe for visitors and regular subscribers. Once the month has passed, the recipe is retired into the BB Recipe Archives. So bake while the oven's hot! These recipes are only here and free for four short weeks!
Pie Pastry for a double piecrust (see recipe below)
Filling
1 cup, raisins (optional)
1 cup hot water
4 eggs
2 ½ cups golden brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup corn syrup
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Divide the pastry in 1/3 cup portions or so and press the pastry into the wells of a tart of muffin tin. Place this on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 15 minutes.
For the filling, whisk everything together or whiz in a food processor. Pour into each pastry line muffin or tart well. Bake 30-35 minutes until just set.
Chill 2-3 hours before serving and keep refrigerated.
Makes 24-30 butter tarts, depending on size
All Butter Pie Pastry © Marcy Goldman Betterbaking.com
If you want a dough that is a joy to work with, this all-butter, freezes-like-a-charm pie dough is a must. The recipe yields a large batch of easy-to-work with pie dough - flaky but trouble free rolling and handling. Lemon juice tenderizes the dough and negates the gluten from forming. If you are willing to forgo flavour and want to try a pie dough with shortening, you can substitute ¼ of the butter for shortening but it’s not really necessary. This is a perfect pastry for almost any filling, from apple pie, to pumpkin pie to quiche. It handles like a dream. Makes enough dough for 2 9 inch double pie crusts plus one 8-9 inch single crust pies. Use half the recipe right away and freeze the other half in flattened discs, wrapped first in parchment or wax paper and then in Ziplock bags.
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups unsalted butter
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 3/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup ice water or a bit more as needed
This can be made in a large food processor if you have one (14 cup capacity); otherwise it is easily made by hand in a big bowl. Alternatively you can half the recipe for the butter-in-flour procedure and once you have the flour/butter crumbs, place that in the large bowl and continue on. To be honest, this is best made by hand so you get big, chunky pieces of butter in the mix. It makes for a flakier pie dough later.
Place the flour in a large mixing bowl. Cut in the butter until mixture is crumbly - a not so even mixture of little and larger lumps of flour covered fat. Stir together egg, sugar, and salt, and lemon juice. Make a well in center of flour mixture.
Stir or drizzle in most of ice water. Using a fork or fingers, toss mixture together to moisten flour. Stir to make a soft mass and pat into a dough. Add remaining (or additional) ice water as required to make sure dough sticks together.
Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead very briefly into a smooth dough. Divide dough in 2 portions (for two double crusts) or 4-5 portions (for 4-5 single crusts) and wrap each section well by wrapping first in plastic wrap and then insert into a ziplock bag. Refrigerate the dough at least one hour or up to two days (or freeze). Dough freezese for 3-4 months.
Makes enough dough for 2 9 inch double pie crusts plus one 8-9 inch single crust pies.
