This pie dough is seriously the best. I’m serious. It’s one of those recipes that I have never had to alter because it is that perfect. It’s a very special recipe. It’s my Grandma Joan’s recipe and it has been handed down to me as a family heirloom. I’ll share it with you today but please make this! You won’t be sorry.

Imagine the scene: Walking into Grandma’s house and there being 3 pies waiting for you! It was a miracle. And the whole house smelled like pie and Grandma and happiness. Have you ever smelled the aroma of happiness? I’m pretty sure it’s pie baking in the oven. There were always different pies, but usually a berry pie, maybe an apple, but ALWAYS a pecan pie. My personal favorite is berry pie but apple is scrumptious as well. Ok let’s be honest, I’ve ever met a pie I didn’t like. The filling is pretty simple but the secret to a great pie is the crust!

We all want that flaky crust with just the right crunch and that buttery taste. I’ve done a lot of research on pie recipes and they are really time consuming. You freeze the butter in cubes and THEN make a dough and THEN refrigerate it and THEN bring to room temperature and THEN you can make your pie. It’s like people believe the more difficult the pie dough recipe, the better. But I know better, thanks to Grandma Joan.

This recipe is EASY. The hardest part about pie making should be getting your dough from the surface to the pie dish, and that’s where I will show you some tricks I have picked up.

The other thing that’s wonderful about this recipe is that you make a batch that makes 4 balls of dough, so whatever you don’t use you can wrap in saran wrap and FREEZE. Yes this dough freezes very well and all you have to do is defrost it when you want to make a pie. I like to do this and always have dough in the freezer. That way whenever we are invited to a dinner party or a function I can volunteer to bring my pie. People love a homemade pie. Every party I bring it to it’s gone as soon as they start slicing it! And since the dough is already made its actually a very easy dish to bring to a party. This pie dough won’t let you down! Please make it and tell me how much your family or friends loved it. This recipe is just for the dough but up next will be my apple pie filling recipe so if you put them together you can be making an apple pie in no time!  As different fruits go in season there will be more fillings to go into this glorious crust so stay tuned!

The Best Pie Dough Ever

Ingredients:

4 cups of flour

2 teaspoons of salt

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon of vinegar

1 3/4 cups of butter flavored Crisco

1/2 cup of water

For egg wash and garnish:

1 egg

turbinado sugar (sometimes called sugar in the raw)

1. Combine flour salt and sugar, add egg and vinegar. I like to use my mixer but use whatever you have.
2. Cut in Crisco until it resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Gradually stir in water until mixture forms a ball
4. Divide into 4 equal sized balls
5. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
6. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and let sit for 15 minutes on a floured surface (it shouldn’t be cold when you work with it, but not quite room temp either.)
7. On a floured surface make the dough ball a flattened disc (I use my counter as my floured surface, I just clean it really well and dry it and four it.)
8. Now start gently rolling the dough out, I usually roll and then turn 45 degrees and roll more an so on to get it to evenly roll out. Its important to not over work the dough, however, if you have a flop and need to start rolling out the dough all over again, then do so, but don’t do that more than once or it can get tough.
9. The dough should be rolled out to a large circle, at least 12 inches in diameter.
10. Now comes the tricky part, getting the dough off the counter. I have come up with a technique, you fold the dough in half, and then in quarters like so:
    

    

     

11. And now the dough is much easier to transport to the pie, GENTLY pick it up off the counter and try to place the point of the pie dough in the center of the pie pan.
12. Now you just have to unfold it GENTLY
13. Notice how I am leaving the overhang. This is especially important for you to have room to make a single layer crust look pretty or, if its a double layer crust, join the top and bottom together with.
14. Now you just repeat steps 7-10 to get the top crust rolled out (if you are makng a double crust) and fold the crust in quarters and place it on top of the filling like so:
    

    

    

     

15. Now its time to seal up the edges and make it look pretty. To do this use your thumb and forefinger and pinch together while making into an “S” shape along the edges. Use your forefinger to mold it around to help with the “S” shape. Remember it doesn’t have to be perfect! It will still taste good.
    

    

    

     

16.  Now that it is all sealed you can do an egg wash. Whisk an egg and bush it on the top of the pie with a pastry brush make sure and get the edges too, sprinkle turbinado sugar on top and cut a few slits in the pie. I like to be pretty generous with the turbinado sugar and make it shine like a diamond!
    

    

     

17. Time to put the pie in the oven! Bake at 375 for 30 minutes and check on it. make another 20 minutes and check on it. It should take 50-65 minutes altogether. If the edges are getting too brown then put some tin foil around the edges to protect them.