Crust

• Blend together with a pastry blender:
• 4 c. flour
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 T. sugar
• 2 c. shortening (I ONLY ever & always use butter flavor Crisco)
• In a separate bowl beat together:
• 1 eggs
• 1/2 c. ice cold water
• 1 T. apple cider vinegar

Pour the liquid into the flour and use your hands to mix/knead to form a ball. Add a little bit of flour if it’s too sticky, but generally I wash my hands and then dry them well and the dough ends up being fine.

Divide the dough into 3-4 equal pieces. For a thin crust I do 4. For thicker I do 3. I also roll my dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap! This is the only way I am successful. Most other people roll it out on a floured surface.

I am not very good with crust! But it tastes very good. I get compliments all the time on my crust. To me it’s no big deal until I taste someone elses crust. I then realize this is a good recipe. Many times when I am making things with this crust I do a huge batch. I use this recipe for all pies of course, but also for my chicken pot pie and pasty recipes. My big batch recipe is the same directions as above but the following measurements:

• 12 c. flour
• 3 T. sugar
• 1 1/2 t. salt
• 1 CAN of Crisco
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 c. ice cold water
• 3 T. vinegar

So your crust dough will look like this:

After dividing my dough into 3 (or 4) equal parts, I wipe my countertop with a damp cloth. I then put an 18″ wide piece of plastic wrap that is about 2 feet long on the damp countertop, stretching it and smoothing it out so it clings.

Now flatten your portion of crust slightly, dusting each side with flour. Place it on the plastic wrap. Cover it with another piece of plastic wrap about 2 feet long. Roll dough into a large circle. Place in pie pan.

Press crust into pan and roll/crimp edges. Next, poke holes all over the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork.

Place into a 375° preheated oven. Bake for 9 minutes. Poke holes in the bottom of the pie crust again ~ maybe 15-20. Close the oven door and bake for another 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack. Use as desired!

Finished crust will look slightly browned…. Maybe like this: