"Ma put the crust in the pie pan and covered the bottom with brown sugar and spices."
~ Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Long Winter
This is perfect pie season since the warmth of the oven is welcome! I have such an easy pie crust recipe I would like to share. I usually make four at a time and freeze them. That way, they are all ready when I need them. This recipe works well with "baked" pies such as apple, peach and pumpkin. (Note: I do not recommend it for cream pies or fresh fruit pies since the dough is softer and will puff up in the bottom if baking unfilled.) A printable recipe is shared below.
First of all, you need a very large mixing bowl because you are preparing four pie crusts for the price and time and energy of one!
Place six cups of flour into a large mixing bowl and add four pinches of salt.
Next, add four tablespoons of sugar and
stir with a wooden spoon.
Now, add two cups of oil
(I use either a light olive oil or sunflower oil).
(I use either a light olive oil or sunflower oil).
Mix again with wooden spoon until it looks almost mixed in (like above).
Using the same oily and dirty cup (you don't want to wash twice do you???),
place one cup of water and add to the mixture.
Now for the dirty part… dig those hands in and
knead until just blended in.
knead until just blended in.
Dough should resemble the above photo (should only take a minute).
Divide into four parts with a butter knife and
shape each piece into a disc.
shape each piece into a disc.
Begin rolling out your crusts by placing one part
of dough between two plastic wrap sheets.
Do not chill this dough (do not store dough in fridge), start rolling out right away.
Roll into a circle or something close…
Remove top plastic sheet and invert into pie pan
and then fit crust snugly inside.
and then fit crust snugly inside.
Now remove other top piece of plastic wrap.
And crimp your edges...
Freeze each pie crust as you finish (or use right away). You can place in plastic bags or cover with plastic wrap. I invested in a couple of Stay Fresh Pie Containers and place my crusts safe and sound inside of them because my freezer is jam packed and this way I can stack things on top with no worry or damage to my delicate creations.
This recipe yields four pie crust bottoms or two complete top/bottom style pies.
Variation: Use this crust for quiches by reducing the sugar by half.
Tip: Prepare a batch of crumb topping to freeze the same day for potential apple, blueberry and peach pies. Then, all you have to do is make your filling, pour into pie shell and sprinkle with crumb topping (bake and enjoy). Or, you can prepare the fruit filling now (except pumpkin since it doesn't freeze well), fill the pie crust, place the crumb topping on (or upper crust if you choose) and freeze uncooked. Then, just place in refrigerator the night before you want to serve it to defrost the pie and bake the next day. Don't ever place frozen glass pans straight into the oven or they will shatter.
Variation: Use this crust for quiches by reducing the sugar by half.
Tip: Prepare a batch of crumb topping to freeze the same day for potential apple, blueberry and peach pies. Then, all you have to do is make your filling, pour into pie shell and sprinkle with crumb topping (bake and enjoy). Or, you can prepare the fruit filling now (except pumpkin since it doesn't freeze well), fill the pie crust, place the crumb topping on (or upper crust if you choose) and freeze uncooked. Then, just place in refrigerator the night before you want to serve it to defrost the pie and bake the next day. Don't ever place frozen glass pans straight into the oven or they will shatter.
Would you like to add this to your Recipe Book?
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