Recipe Testing: Pie Crust

Hi everyone!  Hopefully, we're all getting back into the swing of things after Thanksgiving and the food coma(s) that ensued 😉.  Just because Thanksgiving is over does not mean that dessert-making, specifically pie-making has to cease!  Today, I'll be walking you through how to make a great pie crust and also what I learned from my failed attempt at one.  Recall that about two months ago, I introduced a new type of blog post on my blog:  recipe testing!  In these posts, I talk about my attempts to make something in the kitchen and how you can make that something successfully.  If you missed my first recipe testing post or want to review it, click here. 

It took me two attempts to make a good pie crust.  Let me walk you through those attempts real quick.

Take 1:  The Small and Salty Pie Crust

I should preface this by saying that when I talk about my failed attempts in the kitchen or a recipe that didn't work, I am by no means saying that it was the recipe or recipe developer's fault or that said recipe is not a good recipe.  I am simply relaying my personal experiences 😊.

Take 1 of making a pie crust involved a family recipe.  I think family recipes are great, but sometimes, handwriting can be hard to read and/or some mix-ups may have occurred in the process of handing down a recipe through generations.  That may or may not have happened in the case of this pie crust, but whatever the case, it didn't quite work.

First of all, the crust was small; it was not big enough to comfortably fill a pie pan.  Granted, the pie pan I was using was a bit bigger than normal, but a pie crust recipe should yield an ample amount of dough.

Secondly, the crust was salty.  Of course, a pie crust is not supposed to be sweet, but it shouldn't taste like saltine crackers (though I do love those 😍).  The pie crust really did taste like a gigantic cracker, which was not my goal.

Lastly, the pie crust was too flaky.  Obviously, a pie crust should be flaky; if it is not, a delicious pie filling is ruined by a crunchy, greasy shell.  However, a pie crust needs stability, which is forfeited if, as in the case of my first pie crust, it is too flaky.  I think that the use of vegetable oil in the crust may have resulted in my crust having the wrong texture.

Take 2:  Buttery, Flaky Pie Crust

Because I was determined to figure out how to make a pie crust before Thanksgiving in order to make a Dutch apple pie (coming to the blog Friday 🙌!), I decided to try my hand again at making a pie crust, this time, with a different recipe.

Thankfully, this pie crust worked the second time around; it had a neutral yet pleasant flavor, it had stability, and it was flaky. However, I must be honest with you and say that this is not the absolute perfect pie crust recipe; no matter how good a pie crust recipe is, pie crust is not easy or fool-proof.  But I can tell you with confidence that this pie crust recipe I am sharing with you today is good!

I used this recipe to bring you today's recipe.

That's all for now.  Don't forget to follow me on Instagram!  I look forward to posting again on Friday 😊.

Pie Crust

• 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.25 tsp. salt
• 6 T. unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
• 3/4 cup vegetable shortening, chilled
• 1/2 cup ice water

1.  In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt.

2.  Add the butter and shortening to the flour mixture and cut in with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

3.  Drizzle in the ice water 1 T. at a time, stirring each T. into the mixture with a wooden spoon.  Do not add any more water than you need to.  Stop adding water when the dough starts to form large clumps.

4.  Transfer the pie dough to a floured work surface (parchment paper sprinkled with flour).

5.  Using floured hands, fold the dough into itself until the flour is fully incorporated into the dough.

6.  Form the dough a ball and divide it in half, flattening each half into one-inch thick disks with your hands.

7.  Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours and up to five days.

8.  Enjoy, proceeding with the pie according to your recipe's directions.