No Fail Pie Crust Recipe

This No Fail Pie Crust recipe is nice and sturdy, but still flaky! Perfect for juicy fruit pies.

Last year, I took a pie making class, and I learned so much! We worked through the science of pie crust, and it helped me understand why I was never totally satisfied with my homemade pie crusts.

This recipe is actually a combination of two recipes; the pie dough recipe that I learned in class from the pastry chef, and my aunt’s old-school no fail pie crust recipe. Stick with me, I’ll explain why it works!

Fats for Pie Crusts

I want to be the first to tell you that any ratio of shortening and butter works for this recipe. You can use all shortening, all butter, or any combination of the two to come up with one cup of fat for the dough.

But I want to encourage you to use both! Why? These two different fats melt at different temps. When the fat melts, the flaky layer forms. When you roll out the dough, you will (hopefully) see still intact bits of shortening and butter spread throughout the mixture.

The “No Fail” Pie Method

Adding vinegar and an egg is an old school trick that works! It isn’t always necessary, but I tend to make moist fruit pies, and adding these two ingredients really helps keep the crust nice and sturdy. Never mushy!

Vinegar helps strengthen the gluten, and helps the dough keep in the fridge for a longer.

The egg replaces some of the water, making the dough easier to roll out without cracks, and keeping the crust from shrinking down as it bakes.

Serving Suggestions

I’m certain that if you’re here, you already have any idea on how to use your pie crust! But just in case, might I suggest using this crust as the base for Gooseberry Pie, Strawberry Pie, Blackberry Custard Pie or Apple Pie Filling.

Storing Leftover Pie Crust

Wrap raw pie dough and store in the fridge for several days. You can also freeze raw dough for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw in the fridge before rolling out.

I hope that you love this easy pie crust recipe! If you make it, I’d love to hear how it went in the comments below.

No Fail Pie Crust Recipe

Yield: 3 pie crusts

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

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Ingredients

 

½x1x2x

• ▢ 3 cups flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/2 cup shortening
• ▢ 1/2 cup butter, frozen (see notes)
• ▢ 1 egg, beaten
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vinegar
• ▢ 5 tablespoons ice water

Instructions

 

• In a large bowl, whisk flour and salt.
• Cut in the shortening and lightly toss to coat the shortening pieces in the flour mixture.
• Grate in the frozen butter, lightly toss to coat the shortening pieces in the flour mixture.
• Add beaten egg and vinegar, lightly toss with a fork.
• Add up to 5 tablespoons of water, tossing gently until the mixture is moistened through.
Never knead or press the dough. Use a fork to toss, or you can use your hands to toss. Your goal is to get the dough combined and lightly moistened. It will continue to moisten through when it rests in the fridge.
When you can pack the dough together and it sticks without falling apart, you've worked it enough!
• Form into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
• Remove from the fridge and divide into three equal portions. Gently press the portions into a hockey puck shape.
• From here, the dough can be rolled out or frozen for later.
To roll out the dough, start in the middle of the dough ball and roll back and forth. Do not roll all the way to the edges yet. Then, rotate 1/4 clockwise and repeat. Repeat, turning the dough and rolling the center until you're close to the thickness you want, then roll all the way through the edges of the dough.

Notes

Grating frozen butter is so much easier than cutting the butter in! I think it also helps with layer formation. 

BUT, if you don’t have time to freeze the butter, just cut it in to the flour mixture in small bits like the shortening. It will be okay! 

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