-
Place the butter and shortening in the freezer to firm up for 20 to 30 minutes.
-
Meanwhile, place the flour and salt in the bowl of your food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Pulse for 5 seconds to mix the dry ingredients.
-
Add the chilled butter and shortening and pulse for 2 seconds. Repeat three times.
-
Sprinkle the vinegar and 1/4 cup (57g) of water over the dough. Pulse for 1 second. The dough will be crumbly.
-
Transfer the dough to a mixing bowl or lightly floured work surface, pushing it down gently; you want it slightly flattened, not in a round ball. Chunks of butter should still be visible in the shaggy mass, which should be almost moist enough to hold together.
-
Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of water at a time over the dough, gently kneading until it can be squeezed into a ball. Don’t work the dough any more than necessary; handling it gently at this point will help prevent a tough crust.
-
Divide the dough into two pieces and form each into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to overnight.
-
When you're ready to bake a pie, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or until it's still cool but soft enough to roll easily, without cracking.
-
For complete details on making pie (including rolling the pastry, transferring it to the pan, adding filling and top crust, and baking), please see our Pie Baking Guide.