Homemade Pie Crust
Homemade pie crust is a flaky, tender crust that has all the buttery smooth bottom for any type of pie. Add in your favorite filling and impress your family and friends this holiday season.
Homemade pie crust is just what you need to make this holiday pie making season perfect!
Making pies is a tradition that I will always cherish in our family. The best, easiest, tastiest homemade pie crust ever. Perfect for holiday baking.
We love fresh fruit pies and homemade pie crust work perfectly for them. Try this Cranberry Walnut Pie, Caramel Apple Slab Pie, Peach Pie or Strawberry Pie with my homemade pie crust.
I am a big fan of finding short cuts for things when it makes sense to do so. But sometimes, sometimes, it is worth the extra effort to make something easy and delicious even better.
Pie crusts for your holiday baking could be done with a shortcut, buy a pre-made crust, or a roll out crust at the grocery store. But in my humble opinion, it is one thing that if you can do it yourself, you should.
Pie crust is not as hard or scary as people think it is. I get it, rolling out, trying to make it even and not have holes in it etc. a little overwhelming to be sure.
BUT…with a good rolling pin, a tiny bit of patience, and a few simple ingredients that you will likely find in your pantry, you have not just a carrier for filling, but a light, flaky, delicious pastry for your pie. It elevates the whole thing, and is worth the effort.
Pie Crust!
So let’s talk about this homemade pie crust…
People have their preferences, some want a butter based pie crust, some want shortening. This one is shortening.
While I love a good butter pie crust, for a slab pie, or for holiday baking, this particular crust is my favorite.
The recipe, has been passed down for generations. My grandmother gave it to my mother, my mother gave it to me.
It has been part of our holidays for as long as I can remember, and is a recipe that is simple, but effective.
Homemade Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 2 egg
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 Tbs vinegar
- 5 cups flour
- 2 Tbs sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 cups shortening
Instructions
- Combine egg, water, and vinegar in a bowl.
- Whip with a fork until light and frothy. Set aside.
- In separate bowl, mix together, flour, sugar and salt.
- Using a paddle attachment on a mixer, or using a fork and mixing by hand, cut shortening into the flour mixture
- Add wet ingredients to flour and shortening mixture and mix well. (Again you can use your hands)
- When everything is incorporated, and the dough is slightly sticky, but not sticking to the edges of the bowl, use a wet cloth to dampen the counter space you are working in, and put wax paper on top of the damp spot.
- Put a little flour on the wax paper and then roll out half of your unbaked crust dough, you want a rectangle big enough to fill the bottom of a jellyroll pan plus some, so the edges come up and over the pan by about a centimeter. I use a 12 1/2 x 17 jelly roll pan or cookie sheet (Everyone calls them something different)
- If baking to fill with a cream filling or something that needs a pre-baked crust, bake at 425 degrees for 10-13 minutes. But, before baking, use a fork to prick the bottom to provide air holes so it doesn't bubble. And use pie weights!
Video
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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Don’t forget to pin to your holiday board:
Margo says
What do you put your oven at and for how long do you cook the pie crust.
Rachael says
Hi Margo,
425 degrees for 10-13 minutes, but poke the bottom with a fork a few times, and use pie weights if you aren’t cooking it with filling inside it.
Jan says
If I am making a savory pie such as quiche or meat pie, I would leave the sugar out. My grandmother always used shortening in her pie crust and it was the flakiest, most delicious pie crust. Can’t wait to try your recipe
Rachael says
That is a great suggestion. Thank you!
kathy says
There are no baking instructions.
Oven temperature and time.
Rachael says
Oh my goodness, okay, so this is because typically I use this recipe in recipes that call for a pie crust, rather than a ready made. But if you want to use it for something like a cream pie, or a pie that you aren’t baking the filling inside the crust, so you need the crust to be pre-cooked, you would bake it at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes, but you would want to prick the bottom with a fork several times, to make airways, and use pie weights, to keep it from bubbling up. It is an excellent crust for this.
Susan Hardesty says
I am baking a pie with this recipe right now! I loved how easy it was to roll out. Can the temaining dough be frozen?
Rachael says
Susan, I have not tried, it, but I do not see why not.
Susan Hardesty says
Ok, this is officially my favorite crust EVER! I baked a peach pie, and we just ate a piece. Thank you so much for sharing! It is wonderful!
Karla says
The recipe calls for 2 eggs Vinegar And Water Twice, am I to use All that?
Rachael says
Oh my goodness! Thanks for pointing that out. Somehow when I moved my recipe over from my word doc that I use when recipe testing into my recipe card, that first part copied over twice. Thank you for catching that. Appreciate it.
Paula says
What kind of shortening would you recommend? I’m really new to this!
Rachael says
I use Crisco all vegetable shortening. Thanks for asking.
Pam Webb says
I’m excited to try this recipe! How many standard pie shells do you think this would make?
Rachael says
It makes 4 standard pie shells, I should have included that. Thank you!
Kathy says
Is there a gluten-free version of this recipe? If so, would you please provide. Thank you!
Michelle says
I’m relatively new to crusts, so this is the first crust recipe that I’ve seen that has both egg & vinegar. Can you tell me what they add to the final product?
Rachael says
The egg makes it pliable and more rollable. The vinegar inhibits the gluten from over developing, which keeps it tender and flaky.