White Chocolate Butterscotch Pie

1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour, plus more for dusting the surface

9 tablespoons (1 stick + 1 tbsp.) Unsalted Butter, Cold

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 tablespoon Sugar

5 tablespoons Water (Very Cold)

1 ¼ cups Light Brown Sugar

5 tablespoons Corn Starch

½ teaspoon Salt

2 ½ cups Milk

2 Egg Yolks

1 tablespoon Unsalted Butter

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

While Chocolate, for Drizzling

To make the crust, start by cutting the butter into ¼ inch squares.  Put all 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 beat 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 350 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 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 fore-finger and thumb, crimp the sides of the dough.

Place a piece of foil over the entire surface of the dough.  Gently press the foil into the center of the pie.  Fill the pie with pie weights.  If you don’t have pie weights you can use dry beans.

Place the pie pan into the oven and bake until the crust is a light golden brown color, about 30 minutes.  To check the pie while baking, carefully lift up the sides of the foil to check the color of the crust.

While the pie crust is cooking, make the butterscotch filling.  In a medium saucepan, whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, and milk.  Place the pan over medium heat and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens.

Whisk in the egg yolks, and continue to stir until the mixture is very thick.  It will be like a custard/pudding consistency.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.  Cover and let sit until ready to pour into baked crust.

When the crust is done baking, remove it from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.  Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.

Quickly whisk the butterscotch filling and then pour it into the pie crust.  Bake the pie for 10 minutes, just until it is set and has lightly browned on top.

Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool completely.  Once cooled, melt the white chocolate and drizzle over the top of the pie.  Let the white chocolate harden and let slice, serve, and enjoy!

Pie dough recipe adapted from Baking Illustrated and Simply Recipes. Butterscotch filling adapted from All Recipes.