Flaky Pie Pastry

This pie dough packs in a generous amount of butter, resulting in rich flavor, but remains workable and holds its shape when baked without a filling. One of the tricks is incorporating the butter in two stages. First, about a third is processed into the dry ingredients until very well combined, then the remainder is pulsed in until the pieces are reduced to pea-sized pieces. This ensures good integration of fat for better workability and tenderness, but leaves enough bits for flaky layers in the baked pastry. After emptying the dough mixture onto the counter, we form it into a rectangle that we cut into thirds, then stack the pieces on top of each other. This builds layers for even more flakiness. A metal bench scraper is a handy tool when working with the dough, but a wide metal spatula works, too. For prebaking, you will need to line the dough-lined pie plate with foil and fill it with pie weights. Ceramic or metal weights work best. Otherwise, use at least 2 cups dried beans or rice, and plan to bake on the longer end of the time ranges. This dough can be doubled for a double-crust pie or to make enough dough for two 9-inch single-crust pies; see the instructions below.