A great pie starts with an amazing pie crust. This is my go to recipe, it is tender, flaky, and so easy to make!
My friend Julia taught me how to make this pie dough. It is quick to make and over the many years has never failed me. You can use just shortening (Crisco) or a mix shortening and half butter to produce a tender, flaky pie crust that just can’t be beat!
How to roll the crust:
When you are ready to bake your pie, remove the pie dough from the refrigerator and let rest on the counter until it reaches room temperature (15-20 minutes). Dough at room temperature is softer and easier to roll out.
Here is an easy to follow instruction video for rolling pie crusts. First you place the dough on a floured work surface and use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough into a circle. It works best to start rolling the dough from the center, outwards. Flip the dough over after it is 6” inches in diameter. Continue rolling until it measures 2-3 inches larger than the pie plate. Crimp the outside edge to form the crust. Here is a video on five ways to crimp a pie crust.
Tips:
Water: Add the ice water a few spoonfuls at a time. Use just enough water for the dough to come together without being crumbly. This recipe can be used for both single, and double crust pies.
Cold Ingredients: Always use cold butter and ice cold water when making pie crust. It’s normal to see little spots of butter scattered throughout the dough. It’s these bits of butter that make the dough flaky during baking.
Use a shield, if you don’t have one you can make a shield with tin foil.
Storage – Store the unbaked in the refrigerator, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap for up to 4 days.
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Pie Crust
Equipment
- 1 pie plate
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cup shortening i.e. Crisco (or mix half & half Crisco and butter) The shortening makes a flaky crust whereas butter adds flavor
- 6 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons, ice cold water
Instructions
- Mix the dry ingredient together (flour & salt). Add the shortening that should be in small pieces. Mix with a hand held electric mixer until it resembles bread crumbs.This step does not take long.
- Sprinkle in the cold water, then mix with electric mixer only until incorporated…Do not over mix, shut mixer off as soon as it comes together.
- Divide the dough mixture in two, use your hands and form each half into a disc, form just enough to hold the dough together without cracks. Do not over handle the dough as it develops gluten that will toughen the final crust and also makes the dough harder to roll out.
- Roll out one disc with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 11-12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. Flip dough after it is about 5" and dust underneath with a little more flour. Add flour to your rolling pin as well as this will help it from sticking to the pastry dough. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Let the extra fall over the side until you place the second pastry shell on top.
- Roll out second disc of dough, as before. Gently place it on the top of the pie filling.Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together.Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork. To trim off any excess dough just use the palms of both hands and gentle press into the outside rim of the pie plate and any overhang should fall off easily.Score the top of the pie with 2-3 1-inch long cuts, so that the steam can escape. Bake as pie recipe directs.
