Old Style Raisin Pie

It smells amazing in here! I have tried so many pie crust recipes, and nothing was ‘just right’. This recipe for pie dough so far had checked all my boxes. It was easy (EASY) to work with, it looks flaky and it held my crimping all the way through backing. It looks flakey. I’m tired of testing pie dough, this is number 6… hope it’s the new keeper!

2 cups pastry flour
pinch salt
5 ounces (10 TBSP butter) I used salted butter. Cube it in 1/2 inch pieces.
2 egg yolks with 4 extremely cold TBSP water and 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar

Put flour and salt in bowl. Mix to combine. Add butter, mix to coat cubes in flour. Using finger tips, squish butter into flour, keep tossing it up with your finger tips to make  sure all cubes of butter have been squished. Take your pastry cutter and continue combining flour and butter until the size of peas.
Add egg yolk mixture. (I used all of it)
Bring together with fork until it starts to come together and when you squeeze a bit it holds without crumbing.
Turn out onto counter and bring together into a flat ball, divide it, not exactly equal as the bottom needs more than the top.
I rolled out on floured linen pastry cloth. (Game changer, works fantastic!)
Put bottom in pie plate (Chef cast iron pan)
Add filling that has been cooled slightly.
Put top on and pinch top and bottom crust to seal, then crimp. Add sprinkles of sugar. (I didn’t brush with egg wash)
Bake at 425 for 30 minutes. I put tin foil around edges half way though. I also put a cookie sheet on the bottom rack just in case, but it didn’t leak. At 30 minutes the filling was just starting to bubble up.

FILLING ( From cookiescakespiesohmy.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/old-fashioned-raisin-pie)

4 cups raisins
4 cups water
1 cup brown sugar
5 TBSP cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon juice
3 TBSP butter
1 tsp vanilla

Combine raisins and water in saucepan, bring to boil and cook for 5 minutes. Blend brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt together, slowly stir into hot raisins. Cook and stir until thick and syrup is clear. Remove from heat, and stir in lemon juice, butter, and vanilla. Cool slightly. (Stays hot a long time!!)

Preheat oven to 425°. Line 9″ deep dish pie plate with bottom pastry. Pour raisin filling into pastry. Cover with top crust, seal, and cut a couple slits to vent. Bake 30-35 minutes, cover with foil if necessary during baking if crust gets too brown. Cool before serving. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.