Cream Cheese Pie Crust

The Washington Post, November 20, 2005

• • Cuisine: American
• • Course: Dessert
• • Features: Holiday (Thanksgiving)

Summary:

An electric stand mixer makes quick work of this crust, and a hand-held electric mixer will do a fine job. The dough can be refrigerated overnight, but it will have to sit at room temperature until it is soft enough to roll.

Makes enough crust for one 9-inch pie pan or a 91/2-inch tart pan

Ingredients:

• • 1 cup flour
• • 1/4 teaspoon salt
• • 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• • 3 ounces cold cream cheese, cut into 3 pieces

Directions:

In a small bowl, sift the flour and salt and set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, combine the butter and cream cheese until smooth, about 45 seconds. Mix in the flour mixture until the dough holds together and forms large clumps that come away from the sides of the bowl, about 30 seconds.

Form the dough into a smooth ball, flatten into a 6-inch disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or overnight. The dough is now ready to roll.

Recipe Source:

Adapted from cookbook author Elinor Klivans.

Ingredients are too varied for a meaningful analysis.