Magic Melted Butter Pie Dough

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Here you’ll find easy-peasy sweet and savory treats (thanks to my new cookbook Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Crispy Snackable Bakes) These are recipes with pantry-friendly ingredients and short instructions, that can be assembled in 20 minutes or less, with nothing more than a bowl, a whisk and a spatula.

In short, this newsletter (delivered monthly) is always filled with easy-peasy delicious treats that anyone can make.

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Now let’s get snackable.

Happy belated Mother’s Day to all those who celebrate. I actually didn’t receive the flowers pictured above this year, but I received some equally gorgeous ones from my husband, courtesy of my friend Pom (she sells them - check out her website here) but neglected to shoot a pic. Boo hoo. But they were springy and lovely and I was extremely appreciative that Pom encouraged Matt to buy me some, and that he followed her direction (ha ha). Things have been a tad chaotic since last we letter’ed, as we moved out of our house in Brooklyn - where our kids grew up, etc. - and it was a lot. It is kind of behind us now - still a few more boxes to unpack - but not many - but all the feelings about the move are still swirling around. I didn’t do a great job of thinking about the emotional ramifications of the move, until I was right in the middle of it, but that is just my way. So, I am doing so (ish) now.

And to add insult to injury (or just feelings on top of feelings), my older son is graduating from college this month, and this is also giving me all the feels. But, again, I have not been terribly focused on this momentous event either. Not sure if all of this “not really thinking about it” stuff is the secret to my sunny disposition (ha ha) or not, but I will circle back next month when these big events are less new, and let you know. Oh, and did I mention that I had emergency back surgery in mid April? Well, I did and I am recovering and doing loads of PT and all that fun stuff. But enough about me, how about something for YOU, like a viral recipe for a melted butter pie dough that could not be easier or more delicious?

This recipe first appeared in Snackable Bakes and then again in Salty Cheesy. But it really took off (as the viral sensation that it is today) when I posted a video of me making it on Instagram around Thanksgiving of last year. The technique could not be easier - you pour melted butter and warm milk into a mixture of flour, baking powder (for flaky-layer-insurance), salt and a little sugar and voila: the dough is done. If you are making a galette, you roll it out between two pieces of parchment paper and transfer it to your baking sheet. If you are making a pie, you press it into your pie plate. Easy-peasy, as they (okay, as I) say.

So, the recipe is below, but before you peruse it, I did want to mention that the second quarter of the new season of my Cherry Bombe baking podcast, She’s My Cherry Pie, just dropped at the end of April; and lately I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing the infamous and wonderful Apollonia Poilane of Paris’ Poilane bakery (we discussed her fascinating personal and professional journey, her books, and more); the pie and baking wizard, Nicole Rucker (we discussed her FANTASTIC new book with a game-changing technique she calls the “cold butter method” that you MUST start using when making cookies and pies); and Pooja Bavishsi, the founder and owner of Malai Ice Cream (with stores in Brooklyn and beyond) and we chatted about her debut book and her recipe for Drumsticks (aka ice cream-filled cones coated in peanuts and chocolate magic shell). Please check the pod out if you have not already done so, as it is kind of a very good listen, if you are into baking.

Some notes about the recipe. Despite the fact that everyone asks if the crust can be par or pre-baked, I have not been able to figure out how to do so with this dough. Despite my pie-weights, etc., I have found that the dough gets very dark and is quite brittle. Pre and par-baking are important steps when making pies with no-bake fillings and those with fillings that bake quickly, like a quiche (i.e. more quickly than it takes to properly bake a pie crust). And this pie dough would be such a game changer with said types of pie, but as of this writing, I have not yet figured out how to make it work. Suggestions? Please comment below!

But if you are wondering what pie fillings DO work with this pie dough, might I suggest my Raspberry Crumb-Topped Pie or my blueberry one?

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Magic Melted Butter Pie Dough

Melted butter pie dough is quite literally my everything. It is a breeze to assemble: there is no rolling and no resting and no chilling and no nothing. Moreover it is delicious and buttery; more crisp than flaky, but super-flavorful and such a dream to work with that you may never go back to the world of cold butter again.

For galettes and mini-pies:

2 cups all-purpose flour 260 grams

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ cup unsalted butter, cubed 113 grams

¼ cup whole milk 60 grams

For hand pies:

3 cups all-purpose flour 390 grams

1 teaspoon kosher salt rounded

1 ½ teaspoon granulated sugar

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¾ cup unsalted butter, cubed 170 grams

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk 90 grams

For single crust 9-inch pies

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 228 grams

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¾ teaspoon granulated sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ cup unsalted butter, cubed 113 grams

3 tablespoons whole milk

Instructions

To make the dough, whisk the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.

Heat the butter and milk in either a 2-cup glass measuring cup, if you have one, or a glass bowl in the microwave on high, in three, 30-second bursts, stirring in between each, or in a small saucepan on the stovetop over medium-high heat, until the butter is melted and the milk is steaming hot—the mixture doesn’t need to boil.

Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork until the mixture holds together when squeezed. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead a few times until smooth. Use immediately. The dough dries out quickly, so you want to shape it as soon as you finish assembling it. And if you are making mini-pies or hand pies, cover the dough while you are assembling each individual pie, so it does not dry out.

The dough can easily be pressed into a pie plate or a muffin tin, if making a regular pie or mini-pies. If making a galette, roll the dough out between two pieces of parchment paper. And if making hand pies, roll the dough out directly on your work surface – and you likely won't need to flour it first.

Bake all of your magic melted butter treats at 400 degrees, but the time that it takes to bake your pie, galette, hand pies, etc. will depend on your filling. Pie can take an hour, a galette more like 45 minutes and mini-pies and hand pies around 30 minutes. Basically you want the crust to be golden brown. And NOTE WELL: the crust cannot be par-baked.

» You can print a copy of the recipe or save the link here.

Alrighty, happy melted butter pie dough making. And please think of the conundrum that is trying to par (or pre) bake this dough and get back to me with all your brilliant suggestions!! See you in June.

P.S. Speaking of easy-peasy bakes…

❤️ Meet my new cookbook Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Crispy Snackable Bakes

It’s filled with easy-peasy crackers, quick breads, hand-pies, brunch, lunch and dinner items and my viral magic melted pie dough.

Order on: Amazon | Oblong Books | Kitchen Arts & Letters | Bookshop

And if you have already ordered a copy, thank you!!! I would be so terrifically grateful if you would leave a review on Amazon, here. Even if you did not buy the book on Amazon, you can still leave a review and it really helps the book get into lots of people’s hands.