How To Make A No Fail Flaky Pie Crust

I grew up eating homemade pies. I always thought they tasted good but didn’t realize just how good until I got older and began to taste the pies made by others. I quickly decided my mom was a pie baking queen and must have a secret that no one else knew about. I told my mom that her crusts were the best and the most flaky crusts around and I wanted to know how she did it. She shared with me that it was all in the recipe and the oil was the secret. Looking back I can remember my mom baking pies as gifts for her friends that also realized her pies were something special. They began looking forward to birthdays and requesting pies instead of gifts. Our entire family gave up birthday cakes. It was common practice to have birthday pies. One day my mom walked me through the pie baking process so that I too could be a master of the much sought after flaky crust. It really wasn’t that difficult, she was right the oil is the secret. Today I am also known as a great pie maker and I too give them as gifts. When I ask the question “what do you get for someone who already seems to have everything?” The answer is simple, a delicious homemade pie. Besides the oil, my mom had a few more simple tricks up her sleeve. One was the way she rolled out her crust from keeping it from sticking to the rolling pin. It is a simple solution that once again requires an inexpensive store bought item.

If you are reading this you must want to learn how to make a delicious pie with a flaky crust so let’s get started.

First you need the following ingredients and tools. The tools are another important part of the process.

You will need the following tools: glass mixing bowl, measuring spoons, measuring cups, wooden spoon, wooden rolling pin, glass pie pan, pastry brush, a roll of saran wrap, large skillet and a warm oven

You will need the following ingredients for the crust:

2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup of Wesson oil
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon milk and ½ teaspoon sugar (to use on the top of the crust)

In a glass bowl mix flour and salt together until blended. Add Wesson oil and water stir until mixed well and let sit for 5 min. Divide your crust mixture in half. Take a 12 in. sheet of Saran Wrap and lay one half of the crust mixture onto it. Take another 12 in. sheet of Saran Wrap and lay it onto the top of the crust mixture. Proceed to roll ½ of the crust mixture in between the two sheets with your rolling pin. You want to roll out your crust enough so it will have a bigger diameter than your pie pan. Take off the top sheet of Saran Wrap. Pick up the bottom sheet of saran wrap with the crust still on it and flip in into your pie pan. Peel off the saran wrap and proceed with crimping your edges to finish off your bottom crust. Now pour in a pie filling of your choice. Take the other ½ of the crust mixture and repeat the process with the saran wrap. With a knife slit three 2 1n. lines in the crust before flipping it on top of the filling. This allows your pie to breathe while baking. Crimp top and bottom crust together.

One more thing to do and you are ready to bake. You now need to take the teaspoon of milk and brush over the top of your top crust. Next take the ½ teaspoon of sugar and sprinkle it over the top of the crust. Add the pie filling of your choice. Bake at 400 degrees until crust is light brown in color. It takes approximately 30-35 minutes. Let cool before cutting. Serve with vanilla ice cream on the side. You will LOVE it! Enoy!