(37 votes, average: 3.86 out of 5)
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This is the simple, shortening-based pie crust that my mother was famous for using in her unbeatable apple pies. We use organic non-transfat vegetable shortening, but you can still use Crisco, if you prefer.
2 1/4 c Better Batter All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 c shortening
7-12 Tbsp ice water
Instructions:
Mix the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening until lumps the size of small peas form. Sprinkle ice water on the crumbs, pressing and squeezing them, until the pastry holds together and forms a smooth, pliable ball. This should not be sticky/wet, but should hold together and not crumble easily. Divide into two disks and roll out immediately.
Roll out and proceed with your recipe.
I made this tonight for a chicken pot pie. It looks amazing, but it is super grainy and gritty. It didn’t taste bad. I also had a lot of trouble rolling it out. Any ideas??? Thanks Jenny
My guess, Jenny, is the following:
1) If you cut the fat too fine, it would encase the rice flour particles and not allow them to soften with the addition of water, which would make the gritty texture you described. Sometimes for me, it’s easier to use half the fat and blend it in completely until there are tiny crumbs, and then just cut the remaining fat into ‘peas’ and stir ever so lightly into the mix, but that’s extra work!
2) If you didn’t use enough water, this would definitely lead to grittiness and also a crust that doesn’t hold together! I find most people use the full 12Tbsp
3) The rolling out trouble points to too little water, or too much flour flouring the surface when rolling out. That would lead to a difficulty rolling out and also grittiness!
Finally, if you used not enough water, the chilling step would cause an issue, since the water you used would be absorbed. To help people, we decided to omit the chilling step, since it’s really not necessary when using ice water.