With Thanksgiving fast approaching, making pies is high on the menu. I usually make all my desserts on Wednesday and devote Thursday morning to the rest of the meal. It gives me more room in my oven, and in my tiny kitchen, I just don’t have the room to keep all the pies on the counter as I cook. This crust is very forgiving. It’s light and flaky and tastes fabulous.
Never buy a premade crust again! I like to make my crusts early and freeze them. Because this makes five single crusts, I double it and have five double-crust pie crusts on hand. I hope you like it.
Keep these on hand for making quick desserts, and for making pot pies on cold winter nights.
If you omit the sugar, the crust is perfect for savory dishes. Really, it’s a fail-proof recipe. Even if you have your own crust, this is a homemade convenience that is well worth the few minutes it takes to pull together.
Never Fail Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 4 cups All-purpose flour Use pastry flour if you have it
- 1 Tbsp Sugar
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1 3/4 cup Lard substitute shortening if desired
- 1 Egg
- 1 Tbsp Vinegar apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup Milk
Instructions
- Combine flour, sugar, salt in a deep bowl
- Add lard or shortening and work it in with your fingers, a fork or a pastry cutter, until it is well incorporated. You can tell this step is finished when the lard is no longer distinguishable from the flour mixture and has become grainy looking. Don’t worry that some of the bits may be almost pea-sized. This is still fine.
- In a small, separate bowl, beat the egg and add the vinegar and milk. Mix until combined.
- Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and stir until workable(meaning there are no pockets of egg throughout). The dough will be moist and lovely at this point. It still needs to be worked a bit before using though.
- Dump the entire contents onto a lightly floured surface(I use my trusty Tupperware pastry mat). Fold the dough onto itself a few times, until it all comes together evenly. You are not kneading, just working the moisture throughout, so there are no dry pockets. This should take 20 seconds-it doesn’t need much work.
- Do not worry about over kneading. This recipe will NOT get tough with excess handling.
- Shape into a log and divide into 5 even pieces. These are your pie crusts and can be frozen or used right away. That is all there is to it!
