Okay, can someone tell me why this pie crust has baking powder in it?

[marilynfl]

One Ingredient Makes This the Best Apple Pie You've Ever Had

Pairing apple pie and cheddar cheese is an American tradition that began with English colonists and persists today in the Northeast and Midwest. This towering, golden pie balances sweet and savory with sharp cheddar in the pastry and topping.

www.bhg.com

I made this crust with the idea of making apple hand pies with it along with my regular butter crust. But my arms gave out before then and so the dough sat in the refrigerator for a few days.

Searching the freezer, I found the leftover beef filling from that "hot water crust" pie experiment and proceeded to make a single pie with the cheddar crust and the beef. I added a jar of my caramelized onion and sauteed carrots disks to bulk up the filling.

But while I was rolling out the dough, I noticed odd white-ish spots and realized it must be the baking powder. I blind-baked the base, added the filling, rolled out the top crust and baked the entire thing. The crust tastes great, but is no different from other crusts that do not have baking powder.

Does anyone have an idea why this was added?

 

[Marg CDN]

Interesting. But what a spectacular flake in that crust! I think I'll try it. Perhaps the weight of the cheese asks for a little leavening. What could it hurt? That really is a beautiful crust.

 

[mariadnoca]

My only thought was to get a bit of a rise to create a flaky crust in a different way?