Pie Crust
Pie crust seems hard, but it’s really not! I always have it built up in my mind that it’s this super hard, finicky thing to do, but I’ve actually NEVER messed one up. My mother-in-law taught me that the best way to make it is with butter AND shortening and that they both need to be chilled in the freezer. Do that, and the rest is easy as pie!
Ingredients
Prep time: 15 minutes + >2 hours of chill time before using
Yield: 2 crusts (1 top, 1 bottom)
2 1/2c flour + some for rolling out the dough
1 tsp salt
6 tbs butter
3/4c vegetable shortening
1/2c + 3 tbs ice water
Preparation
This is what it looks like when I dump it onto the counter. 1 more tbs of water will bring it all together.
Make sure everything is cold
Butter & Shortening: Place in the freezer about 60 mins before you’re ready to use it
Water: Mix water with ice and just measure it out as you need it
Combine flour and salt in a large bowl
Chop butter and shortening into small pieces and add to the flour/salt
Using a pastry cutter, combine all ingredients
Add the water: I add 1/4c and quickly combine with the pastry cutter, then I add another 1/4c and again quickly combine with the pastry cutter
At this point I ditch the pastry cutter and use my hands to bring the dough together. I add another 2 tbs of water and then dump it on the counter to finish it up.
I gently kneed the dough until it is all combined. You may need to add a 3rd tbs of water to get it all together. You want to get it to the point where it is all combined, but not sticky. You should see chunks of butter and shortening in your dough. This is a good thing!
Separate into 2 balls, wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before using.
Now that you’ve realized how easy this is, go ahead, make some more. You can make as many as you want and freeze for future use!
