Mom's Pie Crust Recipe

It’s the first week of November! In my house that means it’s time to start prepping for Thanksgiving.

Currently, we are in the middle of a move. Each day decorations come down, things get deconstructed and another packed box gets added to the stack. And soon we will be in between two homes! Luckily, Kansas is close enough to where we can do a mini move to lessen the load for when we have to move the big furniture later.

 While making these crusts, my kids were running around the kitchen and rummaging through the drawers. These are all normal things that they usually do. But naturally with everything going on with the move, I got overstimulated and irritated. It happens but it’s never fun. Things got quiet for a moment while I was preparing our future pies… until I heard my kids giggling. They were crawling all over their toddler tower next to the kitchen counter. It stopped me in my tracks and made me smile. I made a Facebook post about this but wanted to state it here. It’s easy to get caught up in the decorating and gift buying with Christmas on the horizon. But in that moment, with our house slowly being packed away, what mattered most was that we were together. So, hold your loved ones close and create memories within the simple moments.

The moment I caught them giggling

I’ll be honest with you, growing up I never thought much of Thanksgiving. I didn’t help out too much with cooking or baking; I only helped with the eating! When we were in Italy, it was time to start preparing our first Thanksgiving meal. So, I kicked it into high gear and figured out how to make the family favorites because I knew we weren’t going home. Here are a few pictures from our first Thanksgiving!

Bradley carving our first Thanksgiving turkey back in 2017

Our little dessert table

Our simple table setting

This recipe is actually my moms’. It has won her many ribbons at the Texas State Fair. But most importantly, it’s won over our hearts! Growing up I always watched and admired how well she would perfectly crimp the edges. For years I’ve tried to mimic it but my mom does it better, which I love. With that being said, I’ve enjoyed learning my own process for when it comes to making a pie crust and what works for me – crimping included!

When I took these photos, I doubled the recipe so I could make two pie crusts. The recipe below is for one pie crust only.  

Get ready for all of the progression photos!

Let’s get to it!

Recipe:

·      1 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour

·      ½ Crisco – all vegetable shortening

·      Pinch of salt

·      5-6 Tbs of cold water (I use cold tap water)

Directions:

·      In a large bowl, put in flour, salt, Crisco and lastly the water

·      With a fork, mix in until well combined – think play dough texture

·      Then with clean hands, form into ball

·      Place plastic wrap on counter and place pie crust dough ball on top

·      Put a layer of plastic wrap over ball

·      Grab your rolling pin and begin flattening into circle a little bit bigger than your pie dish

Sometimes plastic wrap can get caught under the dough while rolling. Pull it out and continue. If not, the dough won't roll.

·      Once you’ve rolled out to the size of your liking, take the top layer of plastic wrap off. Turn upside down with your hand on the uncovered side.

·      Place over pie dish

·      Your crust should still have the plastic wrap covered. Use your hand to mold the crust to its dish

·      Once this is complete, gently take the plastic wrap off.

·      Examine the edges and take any excess crust off

·      Once this is complete, use your fingers to pinch the edging, making it neater

·      Begin your crimping! Remember that this doesn’t have to look perfect, it just has to taste good. My go to pie dish has indentions in it already so most times I mold my crust to the dish with my thumb.

I used both index fingers to crimp after I indented around 

*** If you’re saving your pie crust until Thanksgiving, gently place plastic wrap over it and around the dish and place in your freezer. Place in refrigerator the night before baking so it can thaw. The morning of baking, take out of fridge to let your dish get to room temperature. I personally do this because I'm worried the heat will shock and shatter my Polish pottery dish.

And there you have it! Enjoy your homemade pie crust!

Cheers!

Elizabeth Buford