Perfect Flakey Pie Crust! 🥧 (Family Recipe)

This recipe and method produces a
perfectly flakey crust that everyone loves❣

For many years, I was afraid of baking pies, because I did not know how to make crust! Fortunately, in the early 1980's, my mother-in-law Kathy Henderson taught me how to make perfect pie crust every time. (The secret is half butter and half shortening that is blended by by the heat from your hands.) ❤️

Single Crust Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups flour 

1/4 teaspoon salt                                                                                

1/3 cup mixture of butter (not softened) & shortening (1/2 butter & 1/2 shortening)

3 - 4 tablespoons chilled ice water**

Double Crust Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup butter not softened

1/3 cup shortening (I use butter flavored flavored shortening)

6 - 7 tablespoons chilled ice water**

Single Crust Method:

In a mixing bowl, sift together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, or two knives, cut in butter and shortening until pieces are the size of small peas. Next, use your fingers to continue mixing until the flour resembles cornmeal. 

Sprinkle one tablespoon of the water over a part of the flour mixture and gently toss with a fork.  Push to side of bowl. Repeat until all of the flour is moistened. Form the dough into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, flatten the dough with your hands. Roll dough from the center to the edges, forming a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Wrap pastry around rolling pin. Unroll from pin over a 9 inch pie pan. Ease dough into the pie pan, while being careful not to stretch the pastry. Trim dough to a 1/2 inch beyond the edge of the pie plate, folding under extra pastry around the edge. Use fingers to pinch dough into a scalloped edge. (That is called "fluting" the edges.) Fill and bake as the pie recipe directs.

For a baked empty pie crust, generously prick the sides and bottom with a fork. Place the pie pan on a cookie sheet to make it easier to remove from the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, or just until lightly golden, in an oven preheated to 450*.

Double Crust Method:

Follow the method above and separate the dough into 2 balls of equal size. On a lightly floured surface, flatten one ball of dough with your hands. Roll dough from the center to the edges, forming a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Wrap pastry around rolling pin. Unroll from pin over a 9 inch pie pan. Ease dough into the pie pan, while being careful not to stretch the pastry. Trim the pastry dough evenly with the rim of the pie pan.

Roll out the second ball of dough in the same manner. Use a knife, or tiny shaped cutter, to cut slits or designs that will allow steam to escape from the filling. Fill the pastry with the prepared filling. Carefully wrap the top crust on the rolling pin and place on top of the filling. Trim the pastry to 1/2 inch beyond the edge of the pie. Fold the top crust over the bottom crust and flute the edges. Bake as you recipe directs

** "The trick to making no fail pastry is simply using very cold water, as it helps to keep the fat cold so it does not melt. If the fat ends up melting before it makes it to the oven, it's absorbed into the flour and any chance of producing a flaky pie crust is lost."

Note: Even if I only need a single pie crust, I always prepare the recipe for a double crust pie, because my husband  has such fond childhood memories of his mother making "cookies" with leftover pieces of pie dough. So, every time I make a pie or tarts, I place a tray of crust pieces, sprinkled with cinnamon  or colored sugar, in the preheated oven. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes. My husband always is delighted when I do this for him. ❤️