My grandmother supported her family during the Depression by baking. This is her recipe for pie crust.  I use this often as I am a pie baker.  The trick to good pie crust is to be gentle and treat it very lightly.

Pie Crust IV

vegetable shortening

all-purpose flour

salt

water

Mix shortening, flour, and salt together with a fork or a pastry blender until very crumbly.  Add as much water as needed to hold together, and mix lightly with a fork.


Roll gently on a floured pastry cloth to about an inch larger than pie plate. Fold carefully in half, lift to pie plate, and unfold.  Press into pan.  For a single-crust pie, trim with a small knife to about 1/2 inch beyond rim.  Fold up, and pinch so edge of pie is raised from rim.


fantastic pie crust!  not too greasy, very easy to work with and very, very flaky. one quick note from past experiences, add the ice water one tablespoon at a time and toss with a fork after each addition.

I have now used this recipe in the following recipes: Apple Pie by Grandma Ople (from this website), Perfect Pumpkin Pie (from this website), a broccoli quiche (my mom's recipe), and a spinach and mushroom quiche (also my mom's recipe). This pie crust has been perfect every time, and makes whatever dish it is in a hundred times better. I have adopted this recipe as my everything pie crust recipe.

Good also if you substitute shortening with butter or margarin.

Very good! I added a couple tsp. of white sugar to give it a little extra sweetness. They say the sugar makes the dough stickier and harder to work with and to add confectioners sugar instead, but it seemed to work out fine for me. I used tips from this site and froze the shortening (use butter flavored...great taste!) before cutting it into the flour (it doesn't freeze, it just gets very cold) and I used ICE water. I then refrigerated for 30 minutes prior to rolling out. After I rolled it and placed it in the pan, I refrigerated another 30 minutes before putting my filling in (pumpkin..YUM!). This resulted in a good tasting, flaky crust.

A great pie crust!  I use 1/4 c. shortening and 1/4 c. butter. I also use ice water, one tablespoon at a time.  For a no-bake pie (such as my favorite, fresh strawberry), bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.  For a pie which isn't as sweet, I would also add about 1 tablespoon of sugar to the flour.

This is the first pie crust recipe that I've used where I got consistent results.  I didn't do anything special.  I didn't refrigerate the fat to get it super cold...none of that.  I just followed the recipe word for word and my crust was perfectly flaky.  Thanks!

Wonderful crust! Easy to work with and has a delicious taste. I mixed my dough together then threw it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to allow it to cool. It makes it easier to roll out and keeps it from shrinking when you're trying to make it into a pie shape. This will be my usual pie recipe from now on. Oh, and in case it wasn't clear for you either (maybe it's just me) this makes dough for 1 pie, but not a double crust. If you need a top for apple pie, etc., make a double batch.

Incredible. The only thing I changed is I used unsalted butter instead of shortening. Was a breeze and was so good.

Use iced water to make a better pie crust! I also put it into the fridge for 30 mins after making it to make the pastry easier to work with.

This was too greasy and almost TOO tender for me - the crust was falling apart in the finished product! I will use 1/3 cup shortening next time and up the water by a couple of Tbsp.

This flaky pie crust works well with sweet as well as savory fillings.

pie crust iv

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total: 10 minutes

Servings: 1

Cost: $12.07 /serving

Author : Jan Bittner

Ingredients

Instructions

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