How to Make Flaky Pie Crust Recipe

Easy Flaky Pie Crust Recipe Guaranteed to be Delicious

If You're Looking For An Easy Pie Crust Recipe, Here It Is
Pie is a popular dessert during the holidays and there are a variety of pie types so you could have a different pie every day of the week and still not run out of new recipes. While the fillings may change, the foundation for a great pie is a great pie crust.

Have you ever been served pie that has crust so tough you can't get your fork through it? Sure, we all have. Well, here's an easy pie crust recipe that makes crust that is always tender and flaky.

This recipe is for a 2 crust (one on top and one on bottom) 9 inch pie crust. You can halve this recipe for pies not requiring top crusts.

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 c solid shortening like Crisco (not oil, and not melted)
a few tablespoons of water.

OK, The most important step is how you measure the flour. Too much flour = tough crust.

Most people take the cup and dip it in the flour sack and level off the top with a knife or finger. This will usually get you more flour than you need because the flour packs down into the cup. Instead, spoon the flour into the cup and then level off with a knife.

Put the flour into a bowl along with the salt. Measure out the Crisco into the bowl. I usually use the Crisco sticks as they are much less messy to work with and it is easier to measure it by reading the measurements on the side of the foil.

Using a fork (or your fingers) cut the Crisco into the flour until the Crisco lumps are about the size of peas.

Next, add one tablespoon of water. (Yes. Only one. Too much water and you've got tough crust.) Pie crust recipes vary by how much humidity is in the air. In a damp climate, you may only need 2 tablespoons of water.

Using your hands, gather the dough mixture together. You don't want to make a dough ball, you just want it to stick together. A good way to judge this is to put some of the dough mix in your hand and close it into a fist. If the dough sticks together, your mix is good, do not add more water. If it is just crumbly, you need to add another tablespoon of water.

Do not work with the dough mix very much because the more you mix the dough, the tougher it gets. Once it looks like dough, STOP MIXING. (It might even still look more like a loose flour mix at this point.)

Next, put a portion of the dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper and roll it out. You want to roll it out very thin so it is only about an 1/8" thick. Piece the dough pieces into the pie pan, sticking the edges of the pie crust together so it covers everything. This is easier than trying to put together one huge piece of dough for the pie pan. Again, don't work with your dough too much to prevent it from being tough.

Next, you'll add your filler ingredients for your pie, bake and you're done!

If you're wondering about what to put in your pie, check out our apple pie or mixed berry pie recipe