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Marengo, Iowa | Well, pie crust is like mac & cheese or meat loaf, isn't it ~ Mom's tastes best, so here's another version I don't see posted ~ take it or leave it ... your wife wants a time saver, right? Sorry, guys, but there isn't a prepackaged pie crust I can recommend (as a retired h. ec. teacher and Extension home economist I've been asked this Q a lot). You want something fast & convenient, right? This is probably the easiest and least messy method around in the "homemade" category; even high school boys conquered this :-) My mother-in-law shared this recipe years ago before low-cholesterol diets were in vogue ~ if you want to believe a low-cholesterol crust redeems you from the "sin" of eating pie, so be it ~ fat is fat.
Die-hard, old, stuck in the mud farmers (and their wives) highly endorse this crust without knowing what it is ~ they call it flaky, crisp, just right. I'm just happy to be able to please them with so little effort. Two things in the process make a lot more difference than the oil vs. lard vs. Crisco discussion: chilling & pans ~ pay close attention to both and you are 90 percent on your way to the result you are looking for. Chilling makes the fat, even oil, layer between flour globs (highly scientific wording!) which is what makes the crust flaky - it doesn't add any more time, just another motion. Pans - pitch (recycle!) the shiny aluminum pans that pile up in your cupboard - they are the primary reason for pie crust disasters - they reflect the heat and don't allow the crust to bake or brown. Use a glass pan or dull gray metal pan. The less you handle any pie crust, the better it is.
Oil Pie Crust for 2 crusts
Put the pan(s) in the freezer to chill. Lay out 2 18" long sheets of waxed paper, a long, narrow spatula and a rolling pin.
Dump into the bowl of a full-sized food processor:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
Blend a little.
Add:
1/2 cup canola/vegetable oil
1/4 cup skim milk
Pulse just until the dough starts to stick together, don't overdo it! Test with a pinch to see if it will stick together and make a moldable dough. If not, pulse again after adding a Tablespoon or so more milk. Scoop half the mix onto a sheet of waxed paper and form into a flattened ball. Cover with another sheet of waxed paper and roll out part way. Flip the two sheets with the dough in between. Quickly pull the paper loose from the dough. Roll out some more. Flip again. Repeat, pulling the paper loose to remove the wrinkles in the paper and give the dough room to spread. Roll again to the size you need. This becomes routine after a little practice.
Remove the top sheet of paper. Flip the pie crust into the chilled pan. Shape the edge, using the spatula to trim off excess, either flat in preparation for adding a top crust or fluted if it is a single crust pie. Put the pan with crust back into the refrigerator or freezer to chill some more.
Roll out the second crust the same way. This one will be a topper for the first pie, or another single crust, or remain between the two sheets of paper, placed on a small cookie sheet and frozen for future use. I prefer to keep the crusts & fillings separate when freezing for later use. The crust gets soggy if they are frozen together. When using them later let a pie crust sit on the counter for about 20 minutes to thaw before trying to handle it. That's about enough time to get the filling ready.
Now ~ the rest of the secret for a rave-review pie is in the filling ~ please let the new brides use the canned fillings from the grocery store shelves ~ it's no big deal to stir a little sugar, tapioca and seasoning into fresh or frozen fruit or cook a pudding filling in the microwave oven ~ get out one of you community cookbooks for proportions and give it a try, please.
With a little determination to learn a new method and some practice you will be making pies that nobody will find fault with. The thing is this recipe is very forgiving of novice handling as long as that chilling step and a smart choice of pan are respected. My Mom-in-law is older now, almost 97 (maybe there's something to low-cholesterol cooking!) and doesn't have the strength to roll out a crust so she simply takes the crumbs and presses them into the pie pan then shapes it ~ tastes just as good during a Sunday afternoon visit at her retirement home. Good luck!
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Need a good pie crust
