Mom’s Secret Pie Crust Recipe

My Mom’s secret Pie crust recipe is so yummy.  The crust is so flaky and moist and it always makes the best pie crust.

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Mom’s Secret Pie Crust Recipe

My Mom’s secret pie crust recipe has been around for over 50 years.  My Mom has been making this same pie crust recipe for as long as I can remember.  It is super easy to make and so I have kept the tradition alive and have been making this same recipe also.  I use this crust recipe with my homemade apple pie filling and it is so good.  The crust always turns out perfect. Okay so maybe the crust doesn’t always look perfect but it tastes amazing and that is all that matters anyway isn’t it?

Shake it up!

Find a bowl with a lid that closes tight. Make my Mom’s secret pie crust recipe. Add the flour, salt and shortening, to the bowl. Close the lid on your bowl and shake it up. This is the part where I let my kids have fun helping. They think it is a blast to shake the bowl. Shake these ingredients up until it looks like cornmeal. Add the water, close the lid and start shaking again. Shake this up until the dough forms a ball.

Rolling out Pie crust

Use a pastry cloth and rolling pin cover. I lightly cover each of these things with flour. If you don’t have a pastry cloth then tape a kitchen towel to the counter and it will work the same. These two items are so important because they help keep the crust moist while rolling it out. This means that the crust will be really flaky and yummy and not dry. If you add too much flour it will dry out your crust.

Take your dough out and form in a ball and roll it out in a circle. The circle needs to be big enough to drape over your pan. I always put my pie pan out on top of the dough to measure to make sure it is big enough. Fold the dough in half and then in half again. It will look like you have a triangle. Put the point of the triangle in the middle of the pie pan and unfold your dough.

If you need a top crust for your pie then double the recipe and roll out your other ball of dough as described above.  Fold the dough in half and then you need to make some holes in your top crust so steam can escape. I use an apple corer to put holes in my dough. I put one in the middle and then a couple on the sides.  Then fold the dough in half again. Add the pie filling. I put the point of the triangle over the filling and unfold the dough.

Cut the excess dough off and set aside. Pinch both the top and bottom crust together and fold under each other on the pie pan. You now can be creative and make a decorative pie crust edge. I just use my thumb and index finger with one hand and my finger with the other to push in the dough to make a simple edge. Look here for other ideas on how to shape your pie crust edge.

Real Food Pie Crust

I try really hard to use real food in all of my recipes.  I don’t eat processed foods anymore.  However, during the holidays I do cheat a little bit and use white flour for this pie crust.  I just don’t think wheat flour pie crust would taste good?  Plus it is a treat and you can only go so far to clean it up.  The other day my son saw the shortening in the cupboard and couldn’t believe it was there.  I told him it was for the pie crust and he told me to just use butter?

Oh, my word I hadn’t even thought of that!  I hate shortening it is so bad for you and has so many ingredients.  So I decided to cut out the shortening in this recipe and just use softened butter instead!  It worked out great and it actually made the pie crust taste even better!! It was really flaky and yummy!!  I did have to use a little less water so I put in only 2 tablespoons at first.  You will have to play with how much it may need.

Mom’s secret pie crust recipe baking tips

My best baking tip to have your crust turn out is to put foil around the crust and fold it over the crust while it is baking.   Be careful to not push on the pie crust or it will ruin the flute you just made. Take off the foil when there are 10 minutes left and let it brown a little bit.  Leave pie crust on the counter for 45 min before baking and it won’t shrink. If just cooking the pie crust alone bake at 425 degrees for 8 min
If cooking a fruit pie bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 min Remember the crust doesn’t need to look perfect…that doesn’t matter it is just the amazing taste of the flaky pie crust!!!!

Pie Crust Cookies

I can remember growing up that my Mom would always make her pies on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  When I came home from school the house smelled like pumpkin pie and yummy apple pie. I love that smell!!!  I was excited to be home because I knew there would be pie crust cookies waiting for me. What in the world are pie crust cookies you ask??? Well, my Mom would always save the extra pie crust and roll it out on a cookie sheet. She would then cut it into little squares and shake sugar on them. She would bake them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 5 to 7 minutes.

I just loved these yummy flaky cookies that would just melt in my mouth. They tasted so good. These were such great memories of pie making day as a kid. I wanted to keep the tradition alive so I have always tried to do the same thing for my kids.

However, I realized as an adult that after making a few pies that there really wasn’t much pie crust leftover. So when I thought my Mom was just using leftovers I am pretty sure she just made an extra pie crust. She would take extra time on an already busy day to make pie crust cookies just for us. My Mom was so sweet. I still do this for my kids so they have the same great memories of pie crust cookies too. So give it a try use that extra dough you set aside to make some pie crust cookies.

Have fun making your next yummy pie crust with my Mom’s secret pie crust recipe.

Do you want to try a different pie?  How about a huckleberry pie or an apple pie?