Shakin & Bakin Foodie Blog

When it comes to baking the perfect pies, I believe it all starts with the perfect pie crust and in my opinion, store bought crusts do nothing for me. Like my mother and grandmother, I prefer good old-fashioned hand-rolled crusts made the traditional way with flour, shortening and other ingredients.

The following recipe was given to me 20+ years ago by my grandmother who was a fantastic pie baker. This recipe will make 3 crusts.

Freezing and Refrigeration Tip: If you are not going to be using all 3 crusts right away, you can roll them out and place in your baking dish. Cover with foil and place into the freezer for up to 3 months. You can make your dough and form into a large ball and place in your refrigerator for up to 12 hours. Remove from the refrigerator and let it come back to room temperature before rolling the dough out.

Triple Pie Crust Recipe

3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 tablespoons cold milk
4 1 /2 tablespoons tap water
1 large egg yolk

In a large bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender, blend in the vegetable shortening and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the cold milk, tap water and egg yolk, blending ingredients together by using a fork. Stir the liquid mixture into the flour mixture until the ingredients are well combined. Let the dough sit for 5 minutes in a covered bowl.

Separate dough into thirds and roll each third out onto a floured dough board using a rolling pin. Your crust is now ready to be gently placed inside your baking dish.

If desired you can brush your top pie crust with an egg glaze which gives a nice glossy finish to your crust.

Egg Glaze Recipe

1 tablespoon cold milk
1 large egg yolk

Separate the egg yolk from the egg white using an egg separator. Add in the tablespoon of cold milk and whisk until blended. Using a pastry brush, lightly glaze your top pie crust.