Foolproof Piecrust

[hennypenny9]

4 cups flour
1 3/4 cup shortening
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 Teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 egg
1/2 cup water

Mix together first 4 ingredients. Beat remaining ingredients separately. Combine until moistened. Mold into ball. Chill at least 15 minutes. Dough can be stored in fridge 3 days or frozen.

Makes 2 9" double crust pies and 1 9" shell.

The less you mess with the dough, the better. I like this one because then you have left overs to freeze so you don't have to make it as often. Also, it was my grandma's recipe. My mom dead refuses to eat store-bought crust, she uses this recipe only.

 

[Alaska Animal Lover]

I'll give it a try! I have some apples I canned last fall just waiting for a shell.

 

[Blackbird]

Henny, I'm pretty positive this is the same recipe my mom uses for her pie crust, I like it and would recommend it, but its all I've had aside from store bought (yuck!) on rare occasion so I might be biased.

 

[2dream]

Thanks for the recipe. But I have questions. (I always have
questions when it comes to pies).

Is the dough a different texture after it freezes and thaws out? Anything special you have to do if you freeze it?

Oh wait, maybe I can just go ahead and roll it out and put it in pie tins and freeze them that way. Any thoughts on that idea?

 

[freemotion]

You can make the whole pie and freeze it raw if you'd like, just allow extra cooking time (put it in the oven frozen) and use a shield for the edges for part of the cooking time, either a storebought shield or some strips of tinfoil.

Or you can make the shells and freeze them. In my experience, you have to be very careful with them when they are frozen, because they break easily. So I think it is easier to just make the dough and keep it in the fridge. It will keep for several days well-wrapped in plastic, until you are ready to use it.

I've never frozen the dough plain, just in a ball, though, so I can't comment on that.

I use a similar recipe with freshly ground whole wheat flour. I find that adding the egg makes the whole wheat dough stick together better and roll out more easily.

I skip the sugar, though, and use lard instead of shortening. Shortening gives you a big dose of trans fats (hydrogenated fats) which are very poisonous. Not sure why they are still on the market. Oh, yes I am. Huge money-making industry....

 

[Hiedi]

I have been watching some videos on YouTube about how to make a pie crust. Apparently, many people use food processors. I don't have one of those so I will have to learn the old-fashioned way. I did find a few videos that demonstrated some techniques for getting the job done by hand without working the dough too much.

 

[hennypenny9]

I don't have a food processor either. My mom has this spiffy cloth with rings on it, so when you roll out the dough you know how big. It has different rings for different sizes of pies. Then I don't mess up as much because I get the size right the first time.

I have to admit that I haven't frozen the dough, just refrigerated it. For some reason pie crust scares some people... Let me tell you about the first time I made a pie. It was an apple pie. While it was cooling, my dad says "lets go over to my friends, bring the pie!" I had never tasted it, and his friends served it for dessert. It was okay, but I was so nervous! My dad couldn't understand why. (MEN. ) They had strangers over, too! And honestly, most people are so used to sad, cardboard, store bought crusts, that ANY real crust (even a slightly overworked one) will taste good.

 

[jambunny]

I will have to try that crust. I am always looking for a good recipe.

 

[freemotion]

It is actually harder to make a good crust in a food processor if you aren't experienced with it.

Have all the ingredients as cold as possible, especially the lard and the liquids. You want to leave the lard in pieces about the size of peas. This is what creates the flakiness. If you completely pulverize the lard, as you can in seconds in a food processor, it won't be so tender.

Let the dough rest for five minutes before rolling it out. It will be less likely to crack. If it does, not to worry, just trim off a bit from an edge that is too big and make a patch by wetting your finger and wetting both edges, and "glue" the patch in place.

My favorite tool for mixing the ingredients is a pastry blender, which is a hand tool with a handle and either half a dozen "blades" or wires that cut in the lard. For years, I used two butter knives and crossed them like scissors to cut in the lard.

You can practice your technique by making pie crust, not for pie, but for treats. Roll out the dough and cut it into squares or strips and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and bake it until golden......mmmmmm! Or sprinkle it and roll it up and cut it crosswise to make little pinwheels, and bake those. Double mmmmmm!

 

[Hiedi]

I made a pie crust! It turned out really well. I used the crust to make quiche, instead of pie. I did not have any shortening so I found a recipe on YouTube that uses butter and vegetable oil instead. This person's technique using plastic wrap was really simple. I transcribed the recipe and directions from the video. The only thing that I might do differently next time is maybe add a little bit of sugar.


How to make a pie crust without shortening

Pie Crust

1 cup of (unsifted) all-purpose flour
teaspoon salt
1 tablespoons butter (cut into pieces)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons cold water


Mix flour and salt. Add butter, cut butter into small pieces. Sprinkle in vegetable oil. Cut butter and oil into flour mixture with a pastry blender, until it has the grain of cornmeal. The color looks darker when the oil is distributed evenly. Sprinkle cold water evenly in mixture. You can cut dough with a fork to mix in moisture. Spread a sheet of plastic wrap on counter. Put dough in middle of the plastic. Wrap dough into a tidy ball. Chill the dough for 30 minutes. Place a piece of plastic wrap two inches bigger than pie pan on counter. Lightly sprinkle with flour. Place dough in center. Cover with another sheet of plastic wrap, lightly sprinkled with flour. Tap the dough down with a rolling pin into an even circle. Roll the dough to 1/8-inch thickness and one inch bigger than pie pan. Remove top plastic wrap. Place pie pan upside down on dough. Place one hand under the wrap on counter and hold the center of the pie pan with other hand. Quickly flip over. Position the dough on pan. Remove plastic wrap slowly. Tuck in extended edges. Handling the dough less will make the crust more flaky and tender. Fold under lightly, pressing dough more than necessary will make a harder crust. Make edges evenly thick, and then form edges. The dough does not have to look perfectly smooth. It will eventually become smooth during baking. Press dough lightly to make sure there are no air bubbles underneath. If the crust is to be baked without filling, prick or make a few cuts in bottom. Cover and chill for 1-12 hours before baking. This will keep the crust from shrinking during baking. To bake without filling, bake in a preheated oven 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 15-18 minutes or until edge and bottom are nicely brown. Makes one 9-inch pie crust.