Easy Pie Crust and Maple Walnut Pie
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Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
For the Crust:
  • 6 ounces all purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 4 ounces butter, frozen and cut into ½ inch cubes
  • 2 ounces cold cold water
For the filling:
  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
  • ¾ c plus 2 Tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons molasses
  • ¾ cup Grade B pure maple syrup
  • 6 Tablespoons butter, melted
  • ¼ cup brewed black tea
  • 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
For the Crust:
  1. In the food processor, combine the flour and the salt. Throw in the butter, and pulse 9 times -- the mixture should look like uneven crumbs. Add the water all at once and pulse a few more times until it's incorporated. The mixture should resemble dough at this point, but a semi-pebbly dough rather than a homogenous mass.
  2. Dump the entire mixture out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, fold up the sides of the plastic to mush it all together so it is a homogeneous mass. Shape it into a thick disc, and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment until it's about a 12-14 inch circle. Peel off one sheet of parchment and transfer, dough side down, to your 9 inch pie plate. Lay the dough on top. Peel off the second sheet of parchment and press the pastry down into the pie plate. Trim the edges until there's about a ½ inch overhang, then fold that under and pinch it to the pie plate to crimp (the crimping is not just decorative- it helps keep the crust from shrinking down the side of the plate). Use the trimmings to fill in any holes or divots in the dough.
  4. Line the pie crust with foil, then fill with pie weights or dried beans and bake for about 20 minutes. Let cool.
For the Filling:
  1. Toast the walnuts (I use a toaster oven) then roughly roughly chop them.
  2. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, add the sugar, molasses, maple syrup, melted butter, tea, vinegar and salt and whisk until combined. Add the walnuts and stir.
  3. Set the prebaked pie shell onto a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Pour the walnut mixture into the pie crust.
  4. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, or until the center has just a slightl slight wobble. (Watch the top in the last 10-15 minutes of baking - if it seems to be getting too browned, cover with foil.)
  5. Let cool to room temperature and add to your groaning pie board.
Notes
Filling Adapted from Classic Home Desserts by Richard Sax
Recipe by The Domestic Front at https://www.thedomesticfront.com/easy-pie-crust-and-maple-walnut-pie/