Vinegar and Egg Crust

Name: Vinegar and Egg Crust
Yield: 1 - 9 inch double or 3 single crusts
Ingredients: 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour; 1 ¼ cups shortening; ½ teaspoon salt; 1 egg; 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar; 5 tablespoons ice water

Rating: 4.73 stars

55 Ratings
46 Reviews
4 Photos

This crust was used by Elsie Hack to win the 1978 Ohio State Fair pie baking contest. (It was wrapped around an apple pie.) Because the crust is very flaky when baked, it is a bit difficult to roll and handle, but well worth the effort.

By Ron Schmaeman

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Recipe Summary

Servings:

Yield:

1 - 9 inch double or 3 single crusts

Nutrition Info

Ingredients

Original recipe yields 24 servings

The ingredient list now reflects the servings specified

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cups shortening
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
5 tablespoons ice water

Directions

Step 1

In a large bowl, mix flour and salt. With a pastry blender, cut in the shortening until pea-sized.

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Step 2

Beat together egg, vinegar and water. Mix liquid with flour mixture, using a fork, until mixture forms a ball (Note: add liquid one tablespoon at a time. You probably will not use all of it.)
Step 3

Roll out on lightly floured pastry cloth with cloth covered roller.
Step 4

Brush the crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar before baking.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving:

154 calories; protein 1.9g 4% DV; carbohydrates 11.9g 4% DV; fat 11g 17% DV; cholesterol 7.8mg 3% DV; sodium 51.8mg 2% DV. Full Nutrition

Reviews (46)

Most helpful positive review

jodibodi

11/07/2007

Wow!! Super easy pie crust recipe. For those who think it is hard to work with, after you mix, dump into a ziplock back, mush it all together in one lump and refridgerate it for 1 hour and it is super easy to work with after it cools. Thanks!! Read More

Helpful

(97)

Most helpful critical review

Karla Sonnenberg

07/19/2011

Don't remember Read More

Helpful

(3)

55 Ratings

5 star values: 45
4 star values: 7
3 star values: 1
2 star values: 2
1 star values: 0

Reviews: Most Helpful

Most Helpful Most Positive Least Positive Newest

jodibodi

11/06/2007

Helpful

(97)

squawk93

08/02/2007

This is practically a no-fail pie crust recipe although I agree with a previous reviewer that you have to be careful not to overwork it. I get three single crusts from this recipe. My tweak is that I use 1.5 cups of shortening (or a mixture of shortening and butter) to 3 cups of flour and increase the vinegar to 1 tablespoon. Sometimes I'll even add in a 1/4 tsp of baking powder per cup of flour I find that makes it even more tender. Read More

Helpful

(63)

KATHLEEN IRWIN

12/08/2002

EXCELLENT TO WORK WITH DOES'T FALL APART WHEN HANDLING. CAN BE OVERWORKED MORE THAN STANDARD CRUSTS WITHOUT RISK OF TOUGHENING. VERY FLAKY WHEN BAKED AND THE BOTTOM CRUST BROWNS WITHOUT FAIL. THIS IS THE ONLY CRUST RECIPE I USE AND PEOPLE WHO HAVE TASTED MY PIES RAVE AND ASK ME FOR THE RECIPE. Read More

Helpful

(45)

Andrea Parker

04/01/2009

This is my favorite new crust recipe. I did change it a bit because I like both butter (3/4 cup) and (1/2 cup) shortening. I also added a teaspoon of sugar. I blind baked it @ 450 for 8 min. with weights & then remove the weights for 5 more minutes. Read More

Helpful

(26)

Nettie's Sister

10/16/2008

This crust was incredible with "Apple Pie by Grandma Opel" by MOSHASMAMA. It worked great I just followed the directions and didn't even freeze the shortning or anything. My 3 year old took a little bit and worked it over and over and over as only a 3 year old can and when I eventually rolled it out and baked it with cinnamon sugar it was still incredible. The texture is so addicting. It's amazing. It's a different kind of flaky than the traditional pie recipe delivers. It's more of a melt-in-your-mouth kind of flaky. It's wonderful! I did brush the bottom with egg white before adding pie filling. I don't know whether it made a big difference but the end result was absolute perfection! Read More

Helpful

(24)

LUV2COOK43

01/25/2008

I was leery of the crust ingrediets I worried over nothing the crust on my pies have to be hands down the best I've had they browned beautifully and were so flaky. I found the crust a little difficult to handle it tore easily but patching didn't hurt it a bit. This crust recipe is well worth the effort I won't bother with other crust recipes again. Read More

Helpful

(12)

Terri Watts Graber

02/21/2003

By far - my favorite crust recipe. Read More

Helpful

(10)

Bernie

11/29/2010

This will wait in the frig for weeks. Much better than ready made crust. I roll mine out between sheets of wax paper instead of a floured board Read More

Helpful

(9)

TR6

05/10/2010

Used this today for a strawberry pie crust. Makes two 10 inch crusts one I froze. It was very sticky so sandwiched it between 2 sheets of floured wax paper to roll it. worked great. Needs chilling at least 30 min before rolling. Please do not use your hands to mix but the wax paper to mound it into 2 balls the heat from your hands will cause the fat to melt and be tough have your fat water and eggs cold when you use them This was a good crust. Read More

Helpful

(8)

Karla Sonnenberg

07/19/2011

Don't remember Read More

Helpful

(3)

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Nutritional Information

Vinegar and Egg Crust

Servings Per Recipe: 24
Calories: 154.2

% Daily Value *

protein: 4 %

carbohydrates: 4 %

exchange other carbs:

dietary fiber: 2 %

sugars:

fat: 17 %

saturated fat: 14 %

cholesterol: 3 %

vitamin a iu:

niacin equivalents: 10 %

vitamin b6: 1 %

vitamin c:

folate: 7 %

calcium:

iron: 4 %

magnesium: 1 %

potassium: 1 %

sodium: 2 %

thiamin: 12 %

calories from fat:

percent of calories from carbs:

percent of calories from fat:

percent of calories from protein:

percent of calories from sat fat:

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

**Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-)Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.