What you are about to see is my Thanksgiving gift to YOU. I posted it last year, but because so many of you are new glo girls, I wanted to re-run it.
It’s a tutorial and recipe to help you make the perfect pie crust from one of the best cooks ever: my Grandmother, Alice Leslie.
Isn’t she beautiful! Famous for her pies and especially for her pie crusts, her pastor once said, “Alice, sometime just bake me a crust.” That’s how good this crust is!
But before you see the tutorial, I gotta warn you:
Making the perfect pie crust will require you to break every rule you’ve ever learned about making pie crusts. Sift flour and measure carefully — no! Gently toss ingredients to blend — no! Never overwork the dough — no, no, a thousand times NO! To all of you play-by-the-rules kinda girls like me, embrace your inner rebel this Thanksgiving and make:
Alice Leslie’s Break the Rules Pie Crust
Let the rebellion begin!
See those hands? Those are Grandmother’s hands. How beautiful are the hands of those who make delicious pie crusts! And coconut pie filling. And homemade yeast rolls. And cornbread dressing. And I could go on and on for days about those hands and all of the delicious dishes they’ve prepared . . . but back to the pie crust. Add 1 heaping cup of flour and ¼ tsp. salt to a medium bowl.
Remove ¼ cup of the flour,
and pour it into a small bowl.
Add ¼ cup cold milk to the small bowl, and stir it into the flour until it forms a smooth paste.
Add ½ cup of Crisco to the flour in the medium bowl.
Using your hands, mix the Crisco into the flour making sure to incorporate every crumb.
This is what the dough will look like.
Add the paste (in the small bowl) to the dough mixture in the medium bowl.
Using your hands, mix the paste into the dough thoroughly. Are you feeling rebellious yet?
And this is what your pie crust will look like.
Dust a dough board (or wax paper) with approximately ¼ cup flour.
Using a rubber spatula, form the dough into a ball.
Remove the dough from bowl.
Using your hands, shape the dough into a ball, then pat until it is slightly flattened.
Place the dough onto the floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll it into a circle (rub a little flour on your rolling pin to prevent it from sticking to the dough). Important: rolled dough shouldn’t be too thin; just a little less than ¼-inch thick is perfect.
Gently fold the dough in half.
Whisper a little help-me-Jesus prayer, carefully pick up the dough, gently place it into the pie pan and unfold.
Using your hands, push the dough gently to fit it to the pan.
Trim excess dough from the edges. NOTE: Save the dough remnants. You can 1) use them to fill in the edges if needed; 2) use them to make cut-outs to decorate the top of your pie, or 3) re-roll them, cut into strips, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, bake, and eat them. Awww, forget Options 1 and 2. Go with Option 3. Remember, you are a pie-crust-making rebel.
Using a fork, gently mash the sides and bottom of the dough to remove air bubbles. If you are baking the crust alone without a filling, use the fork to prick small holes in the bottom and sides of crust to prevent it from shrinking while it bakes. If you are baking the crust with a filling, follow the instructions in your recipe.
Now use your thumb and fingers to crimp and “pretty up” the edge of the crust.
Place foil strips around the edge of the crust to protect it from over-browning.
Bake at 425 for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Or, place uncooked pie crust into a freezer bag and freeze to use later (thaw before cooking).
Well, that’s it! Four simple ingredients + Grandmother’s tutorial = one perfect pie crust! Who knew breaking the rules could be soooo delicious?
From Grandmother and me, Happy Thanksgiving!
Ditching the turkey? Telling green bean casserole good-bye? How are you breaking the rules this Thanksgiving?
Click the link for the printable recipe of Alice Leslie’s Break the Rules Pie Crust!