Pie crust is easy to make. It has few ingredients, but there is some finesse involved in making a light, flaky pie crust.
There are no special tools needed, but a pastry cutter is nice (You can use a whisk instead, or your bare hands).
This is the pie crust recipe that I use. I know it by heart and I make it frequently. It’s great for sweet pies like pumpkin, or savory meat pies like chicken pot pie (that recipe is coming later this week).
This recipe makes 1 pie crust for an 8 or 9-inch pie plate, if you need two (top and bottom), double it.
Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon AP Flour
- 1/3 cup shortening OR unsalted butter -It needs to be cold butter or room temp shortening. This part is SUPER IMPORTANT.
- 1/4 cup ice-cold water (You may need an extra tablespoon or so if the weather is very dry).
Directions:
- In a mixing bowl, add flour and fat.
- Using a whisk, pastry cutter, or your hands, mix flour and fat until incorporated into little (pea-sized or smaller) pieces.
- Slowly add water and combine to form a large dough ball. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This will help ensure that your crust is flaky.
- Flour a clean, flat surface, and roll the dough out into a large circle. Do not over roll it or manhandle the dough- this will make it heavy and flat.
- If you are making a bottom crust, press it into a pie plate, and trim the edges.
- Pierce the bottom of the crust with a fork a few times to keep it from bubbling.
- If you are making a pie that will be filled and baked again like pumpkin or quiche, bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Cool completely before filling and baking a second time.
- If you will be using the pie crust as a top only (no bottom crust), once the crust is rolled out, fill your baking dish with whatever you are cooking, top it with the uncooked crust, pierce it a few times (to vent the steam), and bake per the directions of the recipe.
Substitutions:
If you are vegan, use shortening. Do not use spread/oleo/margarine. They contain water and will make your crust turn out funky. Butter flavored shortening is great.
If you are gluten free, use 1 for 1 AP flour.
Talk Back: What kind of pie do you like?
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