Homemade Pie Crust
Perfectly flaky and flavorful Homemade Pie Crust recipe made with only 4 ingredients- you can do this! I am excited to be a Crisco Pie Partner and to bring you the first in a series of delicious pie posts sponsored by Crisco.
My husband’s favorite dessert is pie- and can you believe that it’s the one thing in the kitchen that I am intimidated to bake?! It’s true! Oh how I get nervous even thinking about being asked to bake a pie. When I do summon up the courage to bake a pie I almost always reach for store-bought pie dough. Can we still be friends?! Actually there is no shame in that but I’m excited to show you really how quick and simple it is to make your own Homemade Pie Crust at home.
When I received the call asking to be a Crisco Pie Partner I just knew I had to accept. I am ready to challenge myself and get past this silly irrational fear of pie crust! Why is pie crust so intimidating? It is only 4 ingredients. FOR THE LOVE OF PIE we can do this!
Having said there are only 4 ingredients (Crisco, flour, salt, and ice water) I know there are plenty of opinions about the best method for making homemade pie crust. This all shortening Classic Crisco Pie Crust is flaky and flavorful and it comes together quickly. I used butter flavored Crisco for this particular batch.
It’s important to keep everything very cold when preparing a homemade pie crust. I put my Crisco in the freezer for 10 minutes before beginning to make this recipe. It is also helpful to chill your mixer bowl or pastry cutter if you are not using a food processor.
The method is pretty straightforward. After mixing your flour and salt together you want to pulse in your cubed, chilled shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some small pea-sized pieces remaining. Sprinkle half the maximum recommended amount of ice-cold water over the flour mixture and pulse 10-12 times (about 10 seconds if using a mixer, or 20 seconds if using a hand-held pastry blender). Test dough for proper moistness by squeezing a marble-sized ball of dough in your hand. If it holds together firmly, do not add any additional water. If the dough crumbles, add more water by the tablespoonful, until the dough is moist enough to form a smooth ball when pressed together.
After chilling the dough for 30 minutes (or up to 2 days) roll dough on a lightly floured surface about 1 inch larger than your pie pan. Transfer the dough to the pie plate by loosely rolling around your rolling pin. Center the rolling pin over the pie plate, and then unroll, easing the dough into the pie plate.
I told you we can do this. The good news is that if you have a pie emergency you can call the Crisco Pie Hotline for holiday pie baking help! During the harried holiday season when pie baking is at its peak, live pie experts are on-call during extended hours, Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET from November 18 – 27, and 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET from December 16 – 23. Additionally, recorded tips and tricks can be accessed 24 hours a day.
Speaking of winning you’re going to want to keep scrolling to enter to win an In Katrina’s Kitchen $200 Crisco Prize Pack including a Pie Pop Maker and Breville Personal Pie Maker!
Classic Crisco Pie Crust
Ingredients
- For a SINGLE CRUST:
- 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup well-chilled Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening
- 3 to 6 tablespoons ice cold water
- For a DOUBLE CRUST:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup well-chilledCrisco® All-Vegetable Shortening
- 4 to 8 tablespoons ice cold water
- For a DEEP DISH DOUBLE CRUST:
- 2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup well-chilledCrisco® All-Vegetable Shortening
- 6 to 10 tablespoons ice cold water
Instructions
- BLEND flour and salt in medium mixing bowl.
- CUT chilled shortening into 1/2-inch cubes. Cut in chilled shortening cubes into flour mixture, using a pastry blender, in an up and down chopping motion, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some small pea-sized pieces remaining.
- SPRINKLE half the maximum recommended amount of ice cold water over the flour mixture. Using a fork, stir and draw flour from bottom of bowl to the top, distributing moisture evenly into flour. Press chunks down to bottom of bowl with fork. Add more water by the tablespoon, until dough is moist enough to hold together when pressed together.
- SHAPE dough into a ball for single pie crust. Divide dough in two for double crust or double deep dish crust, one ball slightly larger than the other. Flatten ball(s) into 1/2-inch thick round disk(s).
- ROLL dough (larger ball of dough for double crust pie) from center outward with steady pressure on a lightly floured work surface (or between two sheets of wax or parchment paper) into a circle 2-inches wider than pie plate for the bottom crust. Transfer dough to pie plate by loosely rolling around rolling pin. Center the rolling pin over the pie plate, and then unroll, easing dough into pie plate.
- For a SINGLE pie crust, trim edges of dough leaving a 3/4-inch overhang. Fold edge under. Flute dough as desired. Bake according to specific recipe directions.
- For a DOUBLE pie crust, roll larger disk for bottom crust, trimming edges of dough even with outer edge of pie plate. Fill unbaked pie crust according to recipe directions. Roll out smaller dough disk. Transfer dough carefully onto filled pie. Trim edges of dough leaving a 3/4-inch overhang. Fold top edge under bottom crust. Press edges together to seal and flute as desired. Cut slits in top crust or prick with fork to vent steam. Bake according to specific recipe directions.
- Two Methods for Pre-baking Pie Crusts (Cream Pies):
- Pre-baking without weights: Thoroughly prick bottom and sides of unbaked pie dough with fork (50 times) to prevent it from blistering or rising. Bake crust in lower third of oven, at 425°F, 10-12 minutes or until edges and bottom are golden brown.
- Pre-baking with weights: Thoroughly prick bottom and sides of unbaked pie dough with fork (50 times) to prevent it from blistering or rising. Chill or freeze for 30 minutes. Line pie dough snugly with foil or parchment paper. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake at 375°F for 20 minutes. Remove foil and weights. Reduce oven to 350°F. Bake 5-10 minutes or until edges and bottom are golden brown.
This Giveaway is CLOSED. A winner has been chosen and the prize(s) have been fulfilled.
Please use the giveaway entry form and leave a comment on this post to be entered. You will have the opportunity to earn bonus entries after you leave a comment. By entering this giveaway you are agreeing to the Official Rules. This giveaway is a sweepstakes. Open to continental USA residents over age 18. Winner(s) will be chosen by random, announced here, and will be contacted by email. Winner(s) must respond within 48 hours to claim the prize. This prize is sponsored by Crisco. I was compensated for my time; all opinions are 100% my own.
134 Comments on “Homemade Pie Crust”
Love this! I am tired of buying the pre made crusts in the store, and this is the answer! I will be working on this next weekend!
I will have to try making this great crust for my apple pie!
Thank you!
This looks like great crust!
I have tried many times to make a pie crust and it never seems to turn out to well, I am going to have to give this a try
Excellent! Thank you
THANKS FOR ALL THE TIPS
Wish I had entered
looks tasty!
looks yummy!
This does sound easy enough to try, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for this, im def going to have to try this.
I could eat pie crust without filling…yum
nice site
I love homemade pie crust but have never tried it. This recipe looks easy enough for me. And thanks for includibg different recipes for different sizes. That is very helpful!
Pie’s are good. But, I like cookies a lot better. The only time I really eat pie is usually at Thanksgiving, I might have a little slice of pumpkin pie. My favorite pie is Apple. I haven’t had that in a long time.
Ooh i have to try this recipe with my all-time favourite pie – Apple
Thanks for the great directions. I really stink at making pies.
Mhhhmm… looks delicious. Can’t wait to try and follow the recipe and make it for Christmas 🙂
my mom always used Crisco in her pie crust, but its a art I never learned
Only way to make a pie crust is with Crisco. After nearly 40 years and many pies per year with an all-Crisco crust, I can say it’s the best one. 🙂
I came here because of your Mounds Brownies, but I’m really glad I spotted this giveaway before it was too late!
I think I can do this. I have always been bad at pie making. Pie is my hubby’s favorite.
Pie pie pie pie! Meat pie, mushroom pie ,chicken and broccoli pie, apple pie, chess pie, cherry pie, watermelon pie, strawberry pie, peach pie.. pie pie pie!
I really like homemade pie crust much better that a store-bought one. I haven’t seen a lattice cutter before and it would definitely save some time. Thanks for the giveaway and the recipe.
Thanks for the chance to win those great products! Love Crisco for Chocolate Chip Cookies – They come out perfect every time!
I’ve always been afraid of pie crusts….
I have never had any luck with my own pie crusts. I love to make them, but they always turn out so ugly. I don’t even like to serve the pie to guests. Does the Crisco make a difference?
Mmm! I love pie (and I love pie crust even more)! 😉 I’ll have to try out this recipe!
I so love to make homemade pie crust. You just cannot beat the taste! 🙂
Thank you for the recipe! Looking forward to trying it and many of your other recipes.
I’ve never had much luck making our crust! It doesn’t turn out real well! Maybe I’ll try again!
Pie crust is a pain so thanks for the tips. 🙂
These mini sized pies would be great. I make small tarts or galettes because a whole pie is just too much. These mini pies would go well in lunches too.
What a great prize package! I’ve been wanting that Breville Pie Maker.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Looks easy enough, lets hope I can pull it off!
Homemade Pie Crust sounds awesome! I’d love to try this soon and I’d probably just eat the crust by itself, that’s how much I love it. I wanna try to make a chicken pot pie from scratch, this recipe will help definitely. Thanks!
Thanks for the recipe. I love to bake, but I am not yet confident in pies. I hope to change that this year. I would love to make a heavenly blueberry or apple pie.
So glad I found your site. Your recipes are truly eye catching and I can wait to attempt to recreate one!
Thank you! That means so much to me. Happy to have you following along.
I wanted to make my grandmother’s pie crust, so I went to her house and she showed me. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a set of measuring cups or measuring spoons in her kitchen! It was all done by “feel.” Add water if it feels too dry. Add flour if it feels too wet. I attempted to make it like her and ended up with a giant ball of dough that didn’t feel right, ugh. In tears I called my grandmother, and she told me to use it and see how it goes. It was horrible. I decided it wasn’t worth the frustration, so I just always bought my dough from the refrigerator section. After about 20 years, I am ready to try, again.:-)
What a great story! Can’t wait to hear how it turns out 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
I actually love crisco based pie crusts! I think they taste so much better than butter or store bought crusts.
I have to try this recipe because my crust has never come out right!
Can’t make pie crust without Crisco!!!
Always a fan of Crisco in pie crusts! Love the butter Crisco especially. I’ll have to try leaving it in the freezer too. Thanks for the tips!
I would love to win! Love your recipes! Thank you! ♥
So glad to have found this site. Thank you for this opportunity to win a prize from Crisco. Good luck everyone~!!!
Easy to give it a try!
This is a great recipe. I made my own pie crust using frozen/chilled butter and it turned out ok but I like using Crisco better. I will definitely use this recipe for my Christmas pies.
Thanks for this simple recipe and giveaway!
This sounds ez….and tasty