Tender, buttery, and easy to make, my Grandma’s perfect pie crust is everything you need this Thanksgiving. It’s so foolproof, you won’t ever use store-bought pie crusts again!
Tips and Tricks
Making a pie crust from scratch is both tasty and impressive! Here are a few simple tips and tricks to make your crust bakery-worthy. You’re going to love how it turns out!
Use Chilled Ingredients: The secret to a flaky crust is to use refrigerated ingredients. Warm ingredients can make your dough tough and dense.
Don’t Overmix: As with other homemade pastries, don’t overwork your dough. It can cause gluten to develop and make your crust chewy and hard. You only want to mix your dough until it sticks together, and you can start shaping it into a ball.
Add Water as You Go: Add too much water, and your dough might be hard to salvage. Add too little water, and it will be dry and crack. To avoid these extremes, add a little bit of water at a time and mix gently until you have reached your desired consistency.
Use a Food Processor: Instead of using a pastry blender to cut ingredients together, you can pop your mixture in a food processor and blend for short intervals. Once it is blended smoothly, you can remove it and begin adding water to moisten it.
Adding Flavors: One tip that is often overlooked is that you can flavor your dough! Whether it be a hint of pumpkin spice, fresh herbs, lemon zest, vanilla, almond extract, or sugar and cocoa powder, it can really take your pie up a notch! You’ve got a flavorful filling- why not add flavor to your crust, too?
Pie dough being rolled out with a wooden roller.
Make it Ahead of Time
You can easily store your pie crust and use it later if you’re not ready to bake! It will be just as flaky and delicious as the day you prepared it!
In the Refrigerator: Wrap a ball of uncooked dough in plastic wrap and store it in an airtight container. It will stay good for up to 3 days. Let it come to room temperature before rolling out, or it may crack.
In the Freezer: Pie crusts are great for freezing and using later. I recommend shaping your dough into a pie pan before freezing. This way, you don’t need to thaw it, and it can go straight into the oven. If you’ve frozen a ball of dough, allow it to thaw overnight and then come to room temperature before rolling out. Both shaped crusts and balls of dough need to be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap before freeze.
PREP TIME:5mins
TOTAL TIME:5mins
SERVINGS:8 Slices
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup shortening
- 4 to 5 Tablespoons cold water
INSTRUCTIONS:
- In a medium bowl stir together flour and salt.
- With a pastry blender cut in shortening till pea-sized.
- Sprinkle water on one tablespoon at a time tossing with a fork.
- Push moistened dough to the side.
- Mix till all flour is moistened.
- Don’t mix too much or the crust will be hard.
- Form into a ball and roll out on the floured surface.
- Turn and flour the dough a few times till it’s the size you need.
NOTES:
To double the crust:
add 1 more cup flour
1 more 1/2 t salt
Double the shortening
Double the cold water
NUTRITIONAL INFO:
Calories: 147kcal
Carbohydrates: 15g
Protein: 2g
Fat: 9g
Saturated Fat: 2g
Sodium: 73mg
Potassium: 21mg
Fiber: 1g
Sugar: 1g
Calcium: 3mg
Iron: 1mg