How to make Flaky Pastry Pie Crust - Step by Step with Photos

15th September 2008

How to make Flaky Pastry Pie Crust - Step by Step with Photos

posted in Recipes, Tutorials, Food, How-To |

I’ve posted a few times about things cooked in pie crusts: Tomato pie, Tomato Pie Again, and Zucchini Quiche.

And I promise there will be more.

So I figured it was about time to make a pie crust tutorial. I think if my mother-in-law hadn’t shown me how it’s done, I wouldn’t be so good at it! It’s not that it’s a hard recipe or anything (it’s super-easy) but if you’ve never seen each stage of the crust’s being, you might think something is going wrong and end up adding too much water, kneading (don’t knead!), or other crust-destroying things.

So let’s start, shall we?

Recipe for a double crust for an 8-9″ pie

Find your flour, a medium bowl, a sifter, and a measuring cup.

Measure 2 cups of flour into the sifter.

Add 1 teaspoon of salt.

Sift, sift, sift! I love sifting.

Now find some shortening (there’s no trans fat anymore… like that makes it good for you or something. hah) and a 1/3 cup measuring cup.

Measure in 2/3 cup of shortening.

Now here’s where we cut in the shortening. Some people use two knives, some people use two forks, but I use my fingertips. Just pick up some shortening and flour and crumble it. Don’t use your palms or whole hands… that will melt the shortening and destroy your crust. Don’t knead. Just crumble. Move your fingers like you have dried Elmer’s glue on them and need to get it off.

As you do this, each little morsel of shortening will get covered in flour… it should look like tiny sticky balls of dough. Not one big lump.

Do not worry about some lumps being different sizes… that doesn’t matter. If you overwork it though, that WILL matter. Now get out a fork and some ice water.

And measure out a few tablespoons of water into the flour mix. How many you end up using will depend on your location and the weather… seriously, humidity plays a big part. You can pretty safely start with 4 or 5 tablespoons of ice water, then mix quickly with the fork. Then add 1 or 2 at a time before mixing again.

This is what it should look like when you’re finished with the water. Starting to stick together, but not wet or sticky at all. I had to use 10 Tablespoons of water today, but I think my mother-in-law usually ends up somewhere in the 4-6 range.

Now push the pieces together to make a lump. Don’t knead! Just push until everything sticks together.

I don’t think I could make pie crust without my trusty Pampered Chef pastry roller and mat. They’re fantastic! I’ve considered selling Pampered Chef things just because of these products.

Divide your dough in half, and shape each into a ball. Roll a ball out flat… and circle-ish…

And then fold it into quarters. Why? Because this makes it so much easier to lift and…

Place in your pie pan.

And open it up.

Roll out the other ball and save it till you’re ready to top your pie. Cover both crusts with a damp towel until you’re ready to fill the pie and seal everything up.

Mmm! Flaky pastry pie crust!

Here’s the recipe again, just to show you how short/easy it is. And so if you want to print it you can.

Flaky Pastry Pie Crust (Makes a double crust for an 8-9″ pie)

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening
ice water (somewhere between 4-12 Tablespoons, probably)

Sift the flour and salt together.

Cut in shortening until mixture resembles cornmeal or little balls.

Sprinkle 4ish Tablespoons of ice water over surface and mix lightly and quickly with a fork.

If dough doesn’t stick together, add 1-2 more Tablespoons, mix again. Repeat until dough starts to hold together.

Press the dough together. Divide into 2 balls.

Roll each ball until about 3″ larger than pie pan’s diameter.

Cover with a damp cloth while preparing the filling.

Cook according to filling recipe.

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 15th, 2008 at 11:57 am and is filed under Recipes, Tutorials, Food, How-To. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On September 16th, 2008, EmmaH said:

Good timing with that tute, I’ve been meaning to look into pastry so I can make a quiche from scratch. My nan’s quiche is famous (well, in our family!) and I recently asked her for the recipe. She cheats and uses pastry mix! The shame, lol!

posted on September 16th, 2008 at 10:54 am

2 On September 17th, 2008, Jennie said:

I’m hosting our From Scratch club this Saturday and have been searching for a good pastry recipe (we’re going to make Quiche Lorraine). I read your blog anyway, but this is such perfect timing! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

posted on September 17th, 2008 at 7:46 pm

3 On September 21st, 2008, Weekly Surf Spots | Gidget Goes Home said:

[…] a useful tutorial on making a flaky pie crust from Joyful […]

posted on September 21st, 2008 at 5:30 am

4 On September 25th, 2008, Elizabeth said:

i use the exact recipe you do! but i always use a pastry cutter . . .

two things - which you touched on and i will vouch for from experience.

1 you said not to knead pie crust. if a flaky pie crust is desired, never, NEVER knead it. also, don’t mix it too hard or long, or squish it too hard and long when readying it for rolling. be VERY gentle with the crust!

2 yes, humidity plays a huge role in how much water is needed! i live in minnesota - where one day one needs a sweatshirt and jeans, and the next day is tanktop weather. one day the air is so heavy one can hardly breath and the next day is nice and dry.

anyway - i made a pie last week and only used 4 TBS ice water. in the winter i end up using 6 - 10 TBS and always wonder if i’m using too much . . . but it always turns out!

a fun idea - for the top crust, cut out as many star shapes as there is room for in the crust rolled out for the top. when the pie is full, lay the stars all over the top - overlap them a bit. this is very pretty and a fun (easier) twist on lattice.

posted on September 25th, 2008 at 5:12 am

5 On October 7th, 2008, Grape Pie - believe it or not! » Joyful Abode said:

[…] here it is. Start by making a flaky pastry pie crust (double crust). And preheat your oven to 350 degrees […]

posted on October 7th, 2008 at 6:02 am

6 On November 14th, 2008, shirlt said:

You are using your fingers to mix your pie crust!
Science 101 ….heat will react with wheat gluten …making your pie crust tough.

posted on November 14th, 2008 at 2:45 pm

7 On November 14th, 2008, Joyful Abode said:

shirlt… though maybe i think shirly?
My fingertips are almost always cold! haha. Anyway, my crust doesn’t turn out tough. It’s yummy and flaky! If you want to use a pastry cutter or knives or forks, go for it! I find this is the easiest for me.

posted on November 14th, 2008 at 3:44 pm

8 On November 27th, 2008, madonna said:

Great recipe, we had apple and pinaapple pie for desert, on our early Thanksgiving dinner. I only had to use 4 tbs of water. Thanks for all ur help.

posted on November 27th, 2008 at 1:33 am

9 On November 27th, 2008, Pie-man Learner said:

Thank you for putting some good instructions and some good pictures. Tonight was my first time ever attempting to make pie crust. Attempt 1…dry and hard…into the garbage. Attempt 2…really kind of wet…but my wife figured out how to use it. Frustrated, I found your web site. After reading your instructions, I decided to make the crust like an art, not like I was making rolls or bread. And it worked!! A Thanksgiving miracle. I made two double pie crusts and used them for apple pies. With more practice, I think I could get good at this. Thanks!

posted on November 27th, 2008 at 2:43 am

10 On November 29th, 2008, Tomato Quiche with Garden Basil » Joyful Abode said: