Buttermilk Maple Pie

To make the crust, start by cutting the butter into ¼ inch squares. Put all of the butter in a small bowl and place in the freezer until needed.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, salt, and sugar; mix just to combine. Add in the butter and cut it in until the butter pieces are the size of small peas and the mixture resembles coarse meal. Some butter pieces may not break down. If this happens, use your hands to squeeze the mixture together to break up the larger pieces.

With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add in the very cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Stop adding water when the mixture comes together and is in wet clumps. Be sure to not add too much water – you don’t want to dough to be extremely wet. You might not use all 5 tablespoons, or you might need to use more.

Pour out all the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Form the dough into a disc. Flour all sides of the dough, and wrap the disc in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

When the dough is done chilling, remove from the refrigerator, and place the disc onto a floured surface. Dust the top of the dough with flour and, using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a 12-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick. While you are rolling out the dough, be sure to check the bottom of the dough to make sure it is not sticking. If it starts to stick, add more flour to the work surface.

Carefully roll the dough up onto the rolling pin and transfer it to a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan. Trim the excess dough hanging off the sides of the pan. Using your forefinger and thumb, crimp the sides of the dough. Place the pie pan in the refrigerator while making the filling.

To make the buttermilk maple filling, whisk together egg yolks, flour, and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in the maple syrup until incorporated. Add the buttermilk, vanilla extract, and salt and whisk until smooth.

Remove the pie pan from the refrigerator and pour the filling into the center of the pan. Place the pie in the preheated oven to bake until the filling has set completely, and the crust is golden brown, about 1 hour.

Allow the pie to cool completely on a cooling rack. Slice, serve, and enjoy!

This pie can be kept covered in a refrigerator for up to one week.

Pie dough recipe adapted from Baking Illustrated and Simply Recipes. Maple Buttermilk filling from 101 Cookbooks.