Moms Flaky Pie Crust Originally From Grandma Alices Craftiness Recipes

PERFECT PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Place flour, salt, butter and shortening in bowl.
• Use your hands to combine ingredients until small pebbles form
• Add cold water a teaspoon at a time until the dough begins to hold together and form a ball.
• Do not over handle the dough. Dough should be soft, moist but not wet.
• Divide dough in half.
• Place ball of dough onto wax paper and flatten. Place another piece of wax paper over the top and roll out the pastry into a circle. If your pie pan is 9 inch make sure your circle is bigger than 9 inches so you have enough for the edging..
• Remove the top layer of wax paper and place pastry into pie tin. Remove other piece of wax paper and press pastry into pan. Use your fingers to crimp the edge of the crust.
• Freeze for 30 minutes to firm up the pastry. This helps prevent pastry from shrinking during baking.
• Prick the bottom of crust to prevent bubbling during baking.
• If pie calls for a baked crust bake at 400 degrees. For the first 10-12 minutes keep the edges of pie covered with foil and then remove for the last 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown.
• Recipe makes two 9" pie crusts

FLAKY PIE CRUST RECIPE

Steps:

• Prepare the ingredients for the recipe.
• Combine flour together with salt. Using a cheese grater, grate butter into the flour mixture, toss with a spatula once in a while to prevent butter from stiking together.
• Add water to the ingredients, work the dough with your hands just enough for it all to stick together. The dough will turn out hard.
• Seal tight with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight.

MY MOM'S FLAKY PIE CRUST

Steps:

• 1. Pour 2 cups flour into a mixing bowl. Add sugar and salt and stir. Add 1 cup shortening. With pastry cutter, cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles sand.
• 2. Add 1/4 cup of milk at first. Sometimes you will use the full 1/2 cup of milk and sometimes not depending on time of year and humidity, etc. With a large fork (I like to use a large serving fork for example) stir until it "comes together" and STOP! Over mixing is what causes a tough dough. With floured hands, form a dough ball then flatten a bit into a "disc". Wrap in plastic wrap and set in fridge for about 20-30 minutes to rest and allow the dough to relax, making it easier to roll.
• 3. During the last 10 minutes of resting, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. When ready, on a well floured surface (you can use less flour if you have one of those pastry discs with a pastry cover on it) roll dough out to whatever shape you need it for the pan or pie plate you are using. "Dock" the crust (poke holes in it with a fork, toothpick or other utensil to make small steam release holes) before baking, usually bakes for about 25 minutes if you are using for a no-bake pie filling to add in afterwards. For crusts that bake with the filling, follow your recipe's instructions.
• 4. This recipe makes enough dough for a double crust pie but I love crust so much that I sometimes use 3/4 of the dough for a thicker crust then roll out the remaining dough, cut into strips and sprinkle with cinnamon & sugar and bake, making YUMMY treats!
• 5. Why not butter? Butter gives good flavor but makes crust hard/crunchy not light & flaky. Shortening really is the key. I've known people to combine both like: 3/4 shortening to 1/4 butter but I stick with mom's success! I suppose butter flavor shortening would work.

MOM'S PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Combine flour and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer. Cut butter into tablespoon pieces; add it to the flour and butter. Use the paddle beater to cut the butter and flour together. Alternatively, this can be done by hand with a pastry blender.
• With the mixer on low speed , or while stirring the mixture with a fork, pour in the cold water. When the dough starts to clump, and before it turns into a ball, stop stirring.
• Lightly knead dough in the bowl until it forms a ball. Divide dough into two parts. Flatten each part into a disk, and chill for about 30 minutes before rolling.

RUTH'S GRANDMA'S PIE CRUST

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, shortening, sugar, and salt. Blend together with a pastry cutter until crumbly.
• In a small bowl, mix egg with water. Blend into flour mixture. Chill in refrigerator until ready to use.

MOM'S PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Mix flour and salt in medium size bowl.
• Cut in shortening with pastry blender until uniform with pieces no larger than a pea.
• Break egg into measuring cup and beat.
• Add milk to egg to just over 1/2 cup (about 1/2 cup plus a table spoon total milk and egg) stir well.
• Blend egg and milk mixture into flour mixture with a fork until liquid is no longer present.
• Very lightly knead dough and form into a ball (Over working the dough is the most common reason for pie crust failure!).
• Cut Dough in half.
• Roll out and use with your favorite filling. Makes a top and bottom crust. divide recipe in half for a single crust pie.

MOM'S FLAKY PIE CRUST (ORIGINALLY FROM GRANDMA ALICE’S CRAFTINESS)

Steps:

• 1. Use pastry blender to blend all ingredients until it has a texture like fine beads or little grains, smaller than pea size 2. Prepare an ice water mixture 3. Use 3 Tbsp. of ice water 4. Use hands to incorporate water. Clump together with palms manipulating dough as little as possible. It should basically be 1 ball, a few straggling crumbs are fine 5. If the dough won't clump together easily add more water 1 tsp at a time. Be careful, if you add too much water there will be no way to save the dough Note-Do not work dough. It'll make the dough bake hard and cracker-like and will not be delicious. Just get it to be all 1 ball and leave it alone 6. On a large working surface, put down 1 sheet of waxed paper, put half the dough in the center of that sheet and press another sheet of waxed paper over that 7. Begin to roll dough between the waxed paper rolling from center to edge, flipping crust and waxed papers over together and roll on other side 8. If you get creases in your crust from the waxed paper, carefully lift one sheet and place it back on after rotating it-so the wrinkles won't be in the same spot-and keep rolling until it is about 1/8" thick 9. When it is 1/8" thick, remove one sheet of waxed paper, place the pie crust in a clean pie dish and carefully mold it to the dish with the waxed paper still on the inside (side that will be against the filling) IMPORTANT: Make sure there are no bubbles between dough and dish! Otherwise, when baking the air within will expand and explode ruining it 10. Finally peel away waxed paper and trim edge 11. Make upper crust in the same way 12. Fill bottom crust with desired filling 13. Lay upper crust on top, remove waxed paper and pinch edges to finish 14. Bake according to filling-recipe's instructions. You don't need to pre-bake unless the filling-recipe says to Note: Using the waxed paper really is easy, and your crust NEVER breaks this way, and it NEVER has a chance to stick to your rolling pin!

GRANDMA'S FLAKY DOUBLE PIE CRUST

Steps:

• 1. Mix flour, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender (or 2 knives), cut in the Crisco, until pea size pieces form.
• 2. Add egg, lemon juice, and water, one tablespoon at a time. Toss with a fork until dough will form a ball. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
• 3. Divide dough in half, and form two, 5 inch discs. Roll a disc between 2 sheets of lightly floured parchment paper, to desired size.
• 4. Carefully place rolled dough into a 9" pie plate. Fill with fruit filling, and top with remaining rolled dough.
• 5. Trim, fold, and crimp edges. Cut a few vents in the top of the pie. Bake at 425 degrees, for 40 to 50 minutes.