GO-TO PIE CRUST

I’ve met so many people who are afraid of making their own pie crust. This is honestly something I’ve never understood, because making pie crust is just about as easy as it gets, and it’s SO worth it to go homemade. With thanksgiving coming up, we thought now would be the perfect time to share our very favorite, tried-and-true pie crust recipe. It has an egg in it, which is a little bit unusual, but we really love the texture the egg brings to the final product. Somehow it’s both flaky and chewy at the same time. I personally prefer my crust nice and thick, so although this recipe technically yields two pie crusts, it’s not quite enough for the thickness I like, so I always use this for a single crust and double the recipe if I need two crusts. I also do this because I like having plenty of dough to work with so that my edges have more of a chance of not turning out hideous. The more dough you have to work with, the better! If you do double the recipe, roll any extra dough in melted butter + cinnamon + sugar and bake pie crust cookies! Those always bring me right back to childhood.

Go-To Pie Crust
yields two (thick) crusts

Ingredients:

• 5 c AP flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 c cold butter

• 1 c shortening (I use regular crisco)

• 1/2 c ice cold water

• 1 large egg, beaten

• 1 tsp apple cider (or white) vinegar

Method:

1. Combine flour and salt in a medium bowl.

2. Using your fingers or a pastry blender, cut butter and shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

3. In separate small bowl, combine water, egg, and vinegar. Slowly add liquid to flour mixture, mixing with your hands or a fork as you go, just until flour is moistened and mixture holds together in a large ball. You may not use all of the liquid (or you may need to add extra ice water).

4. Divide dough in half and shape each into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

5. Once dough is chilled, remove plastic wrap and roll out to desired thickness, being careful not to over-handle the dough. This can be done on a floured countertop or between two sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper.

6. To get dough into pie plate, if you rolled it out on a floured countertop, simply roll it over the rolling pin (as pictured) and then carefully roll it into the pie plate. If you rolled it out between sheets of plastic wrap or parchment, remove the top piece of plastic/parchment and then carefully place the crust into the plate. Then remove the other piece of plastic/parchment. Trim crust and crimp or flute edges. Fill and bake according to pie’s directions.

7. For a baked, unfilled pie crust (as with a cream pie), prick crust all over with a fork, then bake at 475º for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned.