About Pastry Dough

• A combination of flour, fat and liquid, pastry dough is much more than the sum of its parts. While many recipes rely solely on butter, the addition of cream cheese gives pastry dough and pie crusts an extra-flaky texture. Keeping the fat cold is essential for creating a flaky dough, so freezing the dough before using seems like a no-brainer. Even if you don't freeze the dough, you should allow it to rest in the refrigerator for one hour before using so the fat stays cold and the flour can adequately absorb the liquid.

Freezing Discs

• After making the pastry dough, form it into a disc. If you've made a double batch of pastry dough, divide it in half before forming it into discs. Wrap the dough tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap or wax paper, then place the dough in a freezer-safe zip-top plastic bag. Label the plastic bag with the date. Put the dough in the freezer.

Freezing Shells

• You can cut down on prep time in the future by freezing your dough in the pie plate. Prepare the dough as you would normally, then roll it out and line the pie plate. Wrap the dough and plate in a layer of plastic wrap, followed by a layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil. If you don't have heavy-duty aluminum foil, use two layers of regular aluminum foil. Label the foil with the date and put it in the freezer.

Thawing

• Always thaw pastry dough in the refrigerator to ensure quality. For discs, simply transfer the dough in its wrapping to the refrigerator a few hours before you plan to bake. Pastry shells can be baked from frozen and don't require thawing. When baking with frozen shells, add about three minutes to the total baking time.