Single-Crust Pie Dough

The prebaked crust was an unsolved mystery. Either the dough was dry and hard to roll out (but less apt to shrinking in the oven), or it rolled out fine, only to slump during prebaking. No amount of fiddling with the usual suspects — the type and amount of fat, flour and liquid — or the addition of strange ingredients such as vinegar, vodka and baking powder were going to get us to the finish line. We needed a fresh start. Inspired by a Japanese technique called tangzhong (in which a flour-and-boiling-water paste hydrates the dough while retarding gluten formation), we found that using a cornstarch gel made for a tender dough that came together effortlessly in a food processor. Another surprise kitchen staple — sour cream — turned out to weaken the gluten even more, resulting in even less slumping. The result was a bombproof pie dough that is simple to mix, rolls out easily, stands up to handling, bakes up light and flaky, and doesn’t slump or shrink when prebaked. This is the master piecrust we’ve all been searching for.