Tried-and-true Pie Crust

This post is for you, Kelsey. The recipe is simple and always garners compliments. Consequently, I haven't tried many variations on it. Why mess with vinegar or cold butter when I know this one's a winner?

There are very few ingredients: 1 cup vegetable shortening, 2 cups flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1 egg, and a touch of water.  (I noticed the store now carries butter-flavored vegetable shortening. I'm tempted to try it, but I loathe any artificial flavoring. Has anyone tried it before?).  

Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to 2 cups of flour.

And add 1/4 teaspoon baking powder. The baking powder gives the crust a flakier quality and makes the dough a little more forgiving of being overworked.

Stir the flour mixture with a fork, then drop in the shortening.

Now comes the fun part! Set aside your pastry blender and mix the shortening and flour with your hands. By rubbing the mixture between your thumb and fingers, it will start to develop a cornmeal-like texture.

The mixture doesn't have to be perfectly uniform as long as the shortening is broken into small pieces.

Next, break an egg into a measuring cup and add cold water until it reaches 1/2 a cup.

And beat the egg mixture with a fork.

Then pour it over the flour mixture.

And mix it gently with your hands until all of the flour is wet and it forms into a ball. It's important not to overmix the dough here. You want the small beads of shortening to remain intact because they create the flaky layers when you roll it out.

Then wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. It really needs to be refrigerated overnight. Despite what cookbooks say, three hours is not enough.

Pie Crust

This is my mom's recipe. The recipe says it makes three single crusts, but I think it's more like two and a half or enough for one deep-dish pie.

2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup shortening
1 egg

Add salt and baking powder to flour, mix
Cut in shortening until the mixture resembles cornmeal or a coarse meal, set aside
Break egg into measure cup
Add cold water until it reaches 1/2 a cup, mix
Add egg/water mixture to flour mixture and mix gently until it all holds together
Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight

When you roll it out, use lots of flour on the rolling pin and surface.