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 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 pie plate by loosely rolling around your rolling pin. Center the rolling pin over the pie plate, and then unroll, easing the dough into 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.

If you’re not a phone talker you could also pop over to the Crisco Pinterest Boards for holiday pie baking inspiration or the Crisco website to find tips and recipes from Michele Stuart, author of the best-selling cookbooks Perfect Pies and the new Perfect Pies & More. There’s a Michele Stuart baking bundle up for grabs on the Crisco site as well. Simply enter their Rate and Review Promotion for the chance to win.

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

Perfectly flaky and flavorful Homemade Pie Crust recipe made with only 4 ingredients- you can do this!

0

reviews
Leave a Review »

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

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.

Original recipes and images © In Katrina's Kitchen

Did you make this recipe?Tag @katrinaskitchen on Instagram with the hashtag #katrinaskitchenrecipes

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.