Favorite Pie Crust Recipes

Favorite Pie Crust Recipes — Because I Could Never Pick Just One

A friend asked me to name my favorite pie crust recipes, so here’s a list of my current top picks. These are the ones I turn to when I have to make a pie and can’t screw it up.

For a shortening crust, Ruth’s Grandma’s Pie Crust from Allrecipes.com is a real winner. The egg makes it easy to work with and it tastes great when made with a combination of butter flavor and regular flavor shortening. Second place in the all-shortening category would be the basic Crisco pie crust on the Crisco website, but Ruth’s Grandma’s is a little easier to roll.

For a shortening and butter hybrid crust, this Buttermilk Pie Crust from Epicurious is my new favorite.  The butter and buttermilk both add  flavor and the shortening keeps it flaky.  It’s moderately easy to work with.

For an all-butter crust, the crust used for Prize Winning Apple Pie is amazing. Unfortunately, it only works well in pie crusts that are not blind-baked. If you try to pre-bake it, the butter will pool up.

My favorite all-butter pie crust is a 1-2-3 butter crust. A 1-2-3 crust means it has approximately 2 ounces of liquid (1×2 part) 4 ounces of fat (2×2) and 6 ounces of flour (3×2). The key to making a good butter crust is not overworking it, letting the dough rest before using, and letting the dough rest again after you’ve lined the pan with it. Also, using a good brand of butter such as Plugra or Kerrygold Irish Butter seems to help. And of course, use very cold ingredients. Some people even freeze the blade of their food processor.