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