No Fail, Sour Cream Pastry Crust

Move aside food processor! Be gone tough pie crusts! I hath found the holy grail of pastry doughs.

It is flaky, it is buttery, it is un-fussy, and it needs no difficult-to-clean equipment, just your clean hands and a large bowl. The secret?

Sour cream. No added water, instead you add sour cream. I’m not kidding. This method works and it couldn’t be easier.

The recipe comes from my friend, former Zuni Cafe chef Kathi Riley, who has been using it as her go-to pastry crust recipe for 25 years and who graciously shared it with me to share with you. Enjoy!

No Fail, Sour Cream Pastry Crust Recipe

This recipe makes enough dough for a top and bottom crust for a 9-inch pie.

Kathi's basic ratio is 1 cup flour: 1 stick butter: 1/4 cup sour cream: 1/2 teaspoon salt: 1 teaspoon sugar. These are the amounts for a single-crust 9-inch pie.

If you are making a 10-inch pie, use 2 1/2 cups flour, 2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces, 1  1/4 cup) butter, 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp sour cream for a double crust, or 1 1/4 cups flour, 1 1/4 sticks (5 ounces) butter, 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp sour cream for a single crust.

Do NOT use this recipe if you need to pre-bake a crust. This pastry crust recipe does not pre-bake well.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (260 g) all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt (skip if using salted butter)
• 2 teaspoons of sugar (for sweet recipes, otherwise skip)
• 2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cups, 8 ounces, 225 g) cubed
• 1/2 cup (115 ml) sour cream (full fat, NOT light sour cream)

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