5F Health For Life

Grandma Bessie’s Classic Pie Crust

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups unbleached flour
• ½ cup Crisco shortening (can use half butter, half shortening)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 5-8 tablespoons ice water

Directions:

1. Mix flour and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Cut in the shortening to flour/salt mixture until it resembles fine crumbs.
3. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of ice water over flour mixture and mix with a fork. Then gently with clean hands. If dough holds together firmly do not add additional water. If the dough crumbles, add more water by the tablespoon, until dough is moist enough to form a smooth ball when pressed together. Be careful not to overwork dough.
4. Gently pat dough into an evenly ½ inch thick round disk.
5. Lightly dust work surface with flour. Then use a rolling pin and beginning at the center roll outward, turn dough a quarter turn, roll out again and repeat. Roll evenly until dough into a circle about 2 inches wider than pie plate.
6. Carefully transfer dough to pie plate. Trim the dough leaving about 1- inch overhang for double crust pie and ¾ inch for a single crust. Flute edges for single crust pie.* Chill pie crust for one hour.

Notes:

*If prebaking a single pie crust for a cream pie, thoroughly prick bottom and sides of unbaked dough with fork.  Bake at 425 degrees, 10-12 minutes or until edges and bottom are golden brown.

** For a double crust pie, double ingredients and follow directions for two pie crusts. For top crust, transfer dough carefully onto filled pie. Trim edges of dough leaving a ¾-inch overhang. Fold top edge under bottom crust. Press edges together to seal and flute. Cut slits in top crust or prick with fork to vent steam. Bake according to specific recipe directions.