Easy Pie Crust

Overview: During our Thanksgiving Break from school, my wife and I decided to take a trip down to visit her family for a week. I thought that I would try my hand at making pies. I felt that I had the pie making potential in my blood because my Mom always made pies from scratch and so did her Mom. I am not sure how far back pie making goes but I will venture a guess at .....maybe....since the beginning of time. I guess this means that I have the potential to be pretty good. Lucky me. :)

Start out by combining and mixing well:

1 Tablespoon Vinegar

1 Egg

1/2 Cup Water

Next combine in a separate bowl:
4 Cups Flour
1 3/4 Cup Vegetable Shortening
1 Tablespoon Sugar
2 Teaspoons Salt

Mix together the ingredients of both bowls and form into two balls.

Place the bowl with the two balls in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes or up to 3 days! You can also freeze it to use whenever you want which makes this recipe very versatile.

Take the dough balls out of the fridge and place on your rolling surface with flour underneath them. Depending on what type of shortening you use, it can be very sticky if you don't use flour.

Roll out one dough ball to where it is in a circular shape and between 1/16" and 1/8" thick.

There are two ways to place the the rolled out dough into your pie dish. You can either fold it in half as is pictured above or you can start at one end, place your rolling pin on the dough and roll your dough onto your pin. Once all your dough is on the pin, then move over your pie pan and unroll your dough.

Time Saving Tip: Make sure that you have a sufficient amount of flour underneath your dough so that it will come off of the counter top easily.

Once your dough is placed in the pie dish, push down the dough against all surfaces of the pie dish. BE CAREFUL NOT TO PUNCTURE OR TEAR YOUR DOUGH. If you do and your dough is sticky enough, you can take a piece of your extra down along the sides and cover up/repair the damaged area. Don't worry about how it looks because it will be covered with pie filling.

Cut off the excess dough and roll up the dough to form edges on top of the pie pan lip.


Shaping the crust: This part is easier if you have a Lazy Susan table but if not, don't worry. Start by placing two fingers a little more than a finger width apart on the inside of the crust.

Next place another finger on the outside of the pie crust between the first two fingers.

At the same time, move your two fingers that are on the inside toward the outside of the pie pan while moving your one finger towards the inside of the pie pan. Once you make it around the whole pie pan, you are ready for the filling or you can freeze the crust for later.

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