Cornmeal Pie Dough

Nov 18

Written By Erin McDowell

MAKES

One 9 inch / 23 cm pie crust

TAKES

Prep time: 1 hour 15 minutes (includes chilling times)
Cook time: 1 hour
Total: 3 hours

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✻ ABOUT THIS RECIPE

This golden dough is tender, easy to make, and versatile (try it with both sweet and savory pies). Best of all, it’s shorter, “mealier” texture holds detail especially well - making it a perfect choice for more detailed pie decor options like cutouts, ruffles, braids, or twists. Watch the full episode on YouTube for guidance on making and using this dough in lots of creative ways!

INGREDIENTS

one recipe Extra Flaky All Buttah Pie Dough, prepared and well-chilled

226 g / 4 large eggs

43 g / 2 large egg yolks

99 g / ½ cup granulated sugar

56 g / ¼ cup light brown sugar

288 g / 1 ¼ cups whole milk

177 g / ¾ cup heavy cream

7 g / 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla bean paste or extract

3 g / 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 g / 1 teaspoon ground cardamom

2 g / ½ teaspoon ground ginger

1 g / ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

> 1 g / ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 g / ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

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METHOD

To Make the Dough by Hand:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, and salt together to combine. Add the cubed butter, breaking up the cubes as you add them to the bowl and tossing them to make sure each individual piece is well coated. ‘Cut’ the butter into the flour by pressing the pieces between your fingers, flattening the cubes into big shards. As you work, continue to toss the butter through the flour, re-coating the shingled pieces.

2. Continue to work the mixture together until the butter is nearly entirely incorporated into the flour mixture - with no larger visible pieces of butter throughout.

3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the amount of ice water listed in the recipe to the well, but have more on hand. Use a tossing motion with your hands to start to mix the two together. As it begins to become hydrated, you can start to use more of a kneading motion to bring the mixture together.

4. Add more water about 15 g / 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is properly hydrated: it should be uniformly combined and hold together easily, but it won’t look totally smooth. Dough that is too dry may have sort of a “dusty” appearance, or pockets of un-hydrated flour. It will not hold together and will appear crumbly. Dough that is too wet will feel sticky or tacky to the touch, and is often smoother and/or lighter in color.

5. Form the dough into an even disk about ½ inch / 1 cm thick. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days before using.

To Make the Dough in the Food Processor:

1. Pulse the flour, cornmeal, and salt to combine, 15-30 seconds. Add the cubed butter, breaking up the cubes when you add them to the food processor bowl.

2. Pulse the mixture to combine, continuing to pulse until the mixture forms a coarse meal and the butter is almost completely incorporated, and no longer visible as individual pieces.

3. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the amount of ice water listed in the recipe to the well, but have more on hand. Use a tossing motion with your hands to start to mix the two together. As it begins to become hydrated, you can start to use more of a kneading motion to bring the dough together. Add more water about 15 g / 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is properly hydrated: it should be uniformly combined and hold together easily, but it won’t look totally smooth. Dough that is too dry may have sort of a “dusty” appearance, or pockets of un-hydrated flour. It will not hold together and will appear crumbly. Dough that is too wet will feel sticky or tacky to the touch, and is often smoother and/or lighter in color.

4. Form the dough into an even disk about ½ inch / 1 cm thick. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days before using.

Variation:

Polenta Pie Dough: Replace the cornmeal with 80 g / 1/2 cup polenta. This crust has more texture because polenta is more coarsely ground - this also means it will require additional hydration to come together. I find it’s still helpful to start with 77 g / ⅓ cup water listed in the recipe, then continue to add 15 g / 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together.

Note:

If you want to use a medium or coarsely ground cornmeal in this recipe, you can - just remember that the dough will likely require additional hydration!
To Roll Out the Dough: Lightly dust a work surface with flour, and lightly dust a rolling pin, if desired. Roll out the dough to about ¼ inch / 6 mm thick, rotating it as you work to help prevent it from sticking. To transfer the dough to the pan, gently roll it up, wrapping it around the pin, then unfurl it into the pie plate.
To Prepare the Edge for Crimping: On a single crust pie, use scissors to trim away the excess dough, leaving about ½ inch excess all the way around the outside edge of the pie plate. Tuck this excess dough under, pressing gently to make it flush with the edge of the pie plate. On a double crust pie, gently press the top and bottom crust together to flatten the dough slightly, then trim the excess and tuck under as directed for a single crust pie.
To Par-Bake the Dough: (To partially bake the crust , before filling and baking again - best for single crust pies like fruit pies or baked custard pies.) Dock the crimped single crust pie dough with a fork and chill well (at least 30 minutes). Cut a square of parchment paper slightly larger than the diameter of a pie plate, and press it into the base of the pie plate. Fill with pie weights to the top inner rim of the pie plate. Bake in a 425°F oven until the edges begin to lightly brown, 15-17 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and pie weights, and return to the oven until the lower portion of the crust appears dry and set, 2-3 minutes more. Cool completely before filling.
To Blind-Bake the Dough: (To fully bake the crust, prior to adding a filling that doesn’t require baking - best for cream and cold-set pies.) Follow the instructions for par-baking, but bake until it is fully golden brown. After removing the pie weights, bake for 5-7 minutes. Cool completely before filling.