Pat-In-Pan Pie Crust

If you are like many of the people that I have talked with who love a good piece of pie, but really struggles with making the crust, this recipe might be a good solution for you. The crust is a no-roll crust that is literally patted into the pan; I would call it a no-fail crust. The only drawback is that you can not make a double-crust pie, but the crust is very tender and good for a single-crust pie and I would think much cheaper than a premade or packaged crust. I used this recipe before I found the other recipe that I have posted on the blog, that one is whipped up quickly in the food processor. I would recommend either recipe, but the pat-in-pan is faster and for those who do not like to roll out the crust, this one is a keeper. This recipe comes from Marcia Adam's book "Cooking from Quilt Country", one of my favorites. Christmas-pie-making blessings...

Recipe:

1-1/2 cups plus 3 tbsps. flour
1-1/2 tsps. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tbsps. cold milk

1. Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the pie pan and mix with your fingers until blended.
2. In a measuring cup, combine the oil and milk and beat with a fork until creamy. Pour all at once over the flour mixture. Mix with a fork until the flour mixture is completely moistened.
3. Pat the dough with your fingers, first up the sides of the plate, then across the bottom. Flute the edges.
4. Pie shell is now ready to be filled. If you are preparing a shell to fill later, or your recipe requires a prebaked crust, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Prick the surface of the pastry with a fork and bake 15 minutes, checking often, and pricking more if needed.

Yield: 1 9-inch pie crust

Very Easy Pie Crust

The other day I posted a recipe for a quiche and failed to give the recipe for the pie crust. This recipe is made in a food processor or a bowl with a pastry blender. Either way is easy, and the crust comes out good every time. If you are afraid of making a pie crust and always buy your crusts, try this one. I think you will be pleased.
Blessings...

Pastry:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cube cold butter, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons Crisco
3 to 5 tablespoons ice water

1. Place the flour and salt in a food processor fitted with the metal blade or in a mixing bowl.
2. Add the butter and shortening and pulse 6 to 8 times in the food processor or mix with a pastry blender or two forks until pieces are the size of peas.
3. Add 3 tablespoons of the ice water and mix until the flour is moistened. If the dough is too crumbly, add additional water a little at a time until the dough holds together. Do not continue mixing until a ball forms, but rather place the dough on a piece of plastic wrap and gently form a ball. Now flatten the ball into a disk and wrap in the plastic wrap.
4. Refrigerate the dough until cold enough to roll.
5. When the dough is cold and firm, unwrap it and roll it out on a floured pastry cloth, turning the dough 1/4 turn until the pastry is a few inches larger than your pie plate or quiche dish. An easy way to judge this is to gently lay the dish on top of the pastry to see how much overlay you have.
You must make sure that you have enough overlay to fill the pie plate without stretching the pastry and then be able to crimp the edge.
6. When your crust is large enough, gently fold it into fourths and lay it in your pie plate with the point in the center of the plate. Now unfold the pastry and gently smooth it over the plate and up the sides. Use a knife to cut away all but about 1 inch of the crust that overhangs the plate. This remaining pastry can be re-wrapped in plastic wrap, placed in a freezer bag and frozen for another use.
7. Using your thumb and index finger, crimp the edge of the pastry in a decorative fashion. The crust is now ready to be filled with a filling that needs to be baked.

Prebaked Pie Crust:

1. Follow all the steps as above in preparing your crust.
2. In order to prebake the pastry for a pie that is going to be filled with a cooked or chilled filling, or for a quiche, line the pastry with a piece of foil that overlaps the pan and then place pie weights on top of the foil. Place the prepared crust on a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes.
3. Remove pastry from the oven. Carefully remove the pie weights and the foil and set aside.
4. Prick the crust all over with a fork and return to the oven for about 3 more minutes or until a very light golden brown. Watch carefully as the crust will burn quickly at this point.

Tips:
1. Raw beans can be used as pie weights but then can only be used for this purpose from then on. 2. Cutting a piece of foil into a circle makes the job so much easier. I then fold it into fourths and put it away in a plastic bag until the next time it is needed.
3. Because of the butter in the pastry, if it crumbles and lands on the bottom of your oven it will make a mess, hence the cookie sheet.
4. I save all my leftover pieces of pastry until I have enough for another pie crust, a pot pie or a quiche. Because of the butter, the crust does not get tough like most recipes do.