Pie crust can be tricky but here’s a recipe that works

Published 1:30 am Sunday, July 11, 2021

Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle recently wrote about the history of American pie and how difficult it is to make a good pie crust. I share her love of pies.

For years I had no trouble rolling a crust out, but then I hit a two-year wall of disaster after disaster. Then a friend told me about this never-fail one which her mom had used. It is fantastic! And because it makes four crusts, I just freeze the extra dough until it’s time to roll out another.

Best Ever Pie Crust

Ingredients

4 cups flour

2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

1 3/4 cups shortening

1/2 cup water

1 Tbsp. vinegar

1 egg

Combine flour, salt and sugar. Cut shortening into dry ingredients. Mix water, vinegar and egg and add to flour mixture. Make a big pile (I usually use my hands to get it all together). Divide into four equal parts. Then use each part to roll out 1 tender, flaky crust.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes.

Those portions you don’t need right away, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. Thaw frozen dough for an hour before rolling out.

Tip: After rolling out, let the dough rest five minutes before putting in pan. This helps avoid the “shrinking” crust that I’d always had problems with. Waiting makes a difference. Not sure why but it does.

Noreen Forck

Brier