Vodka Pie Crust is easy as Pie

Vodka Pie crust is an easy recipe, and a very flakey crust that I think will hopefully convince many of you to make your own. Yes, even I, when pressed for time, will use the premade versions that you can roll out. They work. But do they really have any flavor, or are they very flakey? If you have a food processor, or just a bowl and a pastry blender, like this one I use from Amazon. You can make your own delicious crust and have that flakey tender crust that everyone will love. (I get a very small percentage of the price which help to fund my page if you want to use the link) It really doesn’t take very much effort, and the dough comes together very quickly.

The secret here is to use vodka in the crust. Yes, I said vodka. A vodka pie crust will be flakey and delicious. The alcohol all bakes off, helping to keep this crust flakey and making this crust recipe very successful. For this recipe (actually any pie crust recipe, but I digress), you want to make sure and not work the dough too much. The pieces of butter that get rolled out thinly as you shape your pie crust are what make all the flakey layers in a beautiful pie crust. So when you are making the dough, it is essential to just cut the butter and shortening into the flour just until there are still peas sized pieces of butter still visible. A light touch is critical.

If you want more of a stable pie crust, I have included a second version that will still give you some flakey tender crust. But this version will be better for delicate shaped decorative pie crusts. I usually make the flakey version as I love a very flakey pie and am not worried about how perfect the crust looks. It’s all about the tender, flakey layers. I used to want all butter for my pie crust. I love the flavor of butter, but I never seemed to bet my crust as flakey as I would have liked. I have found that if I use a bit of shortening in this recipe,  I get better results, so I have started to use part shortening as well as mostly butter for the flavor.

I am going to argue that you can use a flavored vodka to give this crust recipe some depth of flavor. I have seen several recipes for using vodka but always say to use unflavored vodka. In this version, I went out on a limb and used this green chili vodka from California. When I made this Blackberry Pie The result was just the hint of a spicy, savory note to the crust. It worked perfectly. I have used a vanilla vodka in this crust, which was also tasty. I bet if you use Spring44’s honey vodka, it would be fantastic. Or a citrus vodka that would be delicious.

I hope you make some pies this holiday season and try out using vodka in your recipe. This vodka Pie Crust is very easy to make. You will discover that homemade pie crust is a better alternative to any store-bought crust you can find. Let me know in the comments below if you make this crust and what flavored vodka you have experimented with.

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Vodka Pie Crust

Using Vodka in the crust helps create all the flakey tender layers, and makes for a delicious crust

Course: Appetizer, Baking, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: honey vodka, pie, pie crust, pie pie crust, tea-infused vodka

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• ½ cup solid vegetable shortening cut into 4 pieces
• ¼ cup vodka. Plain or flavored I’ve used green chili and vanilla both
• 2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour 12 1/2 ounces
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ¼ cup ice cold water

Instructions

1. About 1 hour before you plan on making the dough. Place the vodka, butter, and the shortening in the freezer.

Version 1 very flakey and but will not hold delicate shapes.

1. In a food processor or if using a hand pastry blender in a medium bowl. Pulse or stir the 2 ½ cups of flour together with the salt and sugar.
2. Add in the ice-cold butter and shortening.
3. Pulse in the food processor only until there are still pea-sized pieces of butter. Or if using a pastry blender, work the butter and shortening only until there are pea-sized pieces. You want the pieces to give it it’s flakiness.
4. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and sprinkle the water and the vodka over the mixture. Toss with a fork and stir until just combined. You may need to get your hands in there to get it to come together. That is ok but try not to work the dough very much. There should still be pieces of butter visible. Form 2 even balls and flatten into disks.

Version 2, more stable, but slightly less flakey:

1. Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses.
2. Add butter and shortening, process until the dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds, and there should be no uncoated flour).
3. Scrape bowl with a rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade.
4. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into a medium bowl.
5. Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With a fork, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together.
6. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into a disk.
7. For either version:
8. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days. You can freeze this dough, and it will keep for 6 months

Recipe Notes

You can use many different flavors of vodka in this dough. I used green chili to give the crust a bit of a savory note. But I have used vanilla flavored vodka for a fantastic hint of vanilla. I bet citrus-flavored vodka would work fantastic too. Try different flavors.