Pie Crust

As much as I love baking, I always shied away from pies because I could never make a decent crust.  I would even use store bought, ready-to-bake crusts because even those came out better than I could make. Fortunately, my sister-in-law Janice makes the best pie crust on the planet! After a visit where we both made an apple pie side by side, I got the hang of it.  Mine STILL don’t come out as well as hers do so the recipe is no guarantee, but if you follow it you’ll end up with a pretty darn good crust. Happy Cooking!

Pie Crust

For one, 9” pie

1 1/3 Cup sifted, all-purpose flour

½ tsp salt

½ Cup Crisco shortening

3 TBS ice cold water

Put glass bowl, water and pastry knife in the freezer until very cold. When the water forms a skim of ice it’s perfect and the bowl and knife will be cold as well.

Mix flour and salt in cold bowl. Cut in the Crisco until dough forms pea-sized pieces. Do not overwork the dough. Toss with cold water until sticky – about 2-3 tablespoons. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 10 minutes.

Place two sheets of wax paper on counter. Sprinkle with flour. Flatten dough and sprinkle with flour. Cover with 2^nd sheet. Roll thin and transfer to pie shell.

Tips:

- Make sure everything is cold. That’s the secret.

- Don’t overwork the dough. It should just barely hold together in a ball.

- You can make the dough ahead of time and just roll it out when you need it.