I admit to using shortening. I thought I had butter. I didn't. I forgot the sugar too! But it was a great mistake! This crust was so tender. I filled it with a no bake pumpkin pie from this sight. Got all rave reviews. The secret of any crust is not to handle the dough. I use a spatula to gather it together. I dump dough on a lightly floured pastry cloth and using the corners of the cloth and pull it together. I just roll dough out and aside from turning; I haven't handled the dough. The warmth of your hands make crust tough. Practice makes perfect. I make at least 2-3 pies a month!
I used regular salted butter and it turned out great! Used my food processer to combine all ingredients.
I used this recipe because I was out of shortning. The dough was so easy to work with!!! Great recipe!!!
This is a nice and simple crust. I used it to make French Silk Chocolate Pie (link below) and Creamy Pumpkin Pie. It was enough for a deep dish 9" pie and a regular 9.5" pyrex pie dish! Make sure you chill before rolling, and if you bake it beforehand prick the bottom and sides with a fork and cover it in two layers of heavy-duty foil for the first 8 or so minutes of baking (then uncover for another 4-6 min.) to prevent it from puffing up (mine still puffed up a little, but not too bad). It tasted good too! http://pie.allrecipes.com/AZ/FrenchSilkChocolatePie.asp http://pie.allrecipes.com/AZ/CrmyPmpkinPi.asp
This is a good starting recipe, but the amount of ice water is not accurate. Also, to make flaky crust you must not touch the dough with your hands. I have found that if you keep from touching it and freeze it when done for a day then defrost the next, it is nice and flaky. The colder you can keep the ingredients the better. I always put the flour in the fridge before hand with the bowl so everything is nice and cold
This recipe finally enabled me to make the flakiest pie crust ever! I put the butter in the freezer for an hour before starting, and I also put an ice cube in the water. I sprinkled a teaspoon of vinegar over the flour/butter mixture before adding the water (this supposedly breaks down the gluten in the flour). It is better to use a pastry cutter than a food processor or mixer - doing it by hand leaves some unmixed pea-sized clumps of butter, which contributes to the flakiness of the pastry. It was delicious!
This is a simple pie crust that I've made several times and that has always worked well for me. I've used it for pumpkin pies, apples pies and apple dumplings. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Great pie crust! I did have to use a bit more water than the recipe called for in order to form the dough in a ball. Otherwise great recipe!! Will use again and again.
I had tried many other recipes and none had worked until I tried this one!
