Perfect Flaky Pie Crust every time! Mom’s No Fail Flaky Pie Crust is easy to make, flaky and delicious.
Making homemade pie crust isn’t as difficult as you may think. Especially with Mom’s No Fail Flaky Pie Crust recipe. I’ve made this recipe hundreds of times. Every time I make it someone always asks “Did you make this pie crust?!” “It’s so flaky and delicious!”
What’s the trick to making a Flaky Pie Crust?
There are a few things that make your Pie Crust Flaky.
- The fat that you use should be chilled. Whether you are making a Butter Pie Crust or Shortening to produce a nice flaky crust chill your fat.
- Use a pastry cutter or fork to cut your chilled shortening into the flour. You don’t want your fat blended in too smoothly.
- Adding an acid like vinegar will help relax the gluten in the dough. This will create a less tough dough and help when rolling your dough as well as create a flakier texture.
- Don’t over work your dough. It’s ok if you see bits of shortening in your dough.
- Chill your dough before you roll it out. As you work your ingredients together it will just naturally warm your ingredients up. Chill your dough wrapped in plastic wrap for about 1 hour before rolling it out.
How many pies does this Pie Crust Recipe make?
This is a double pie crust recipe meaning it makes either one pie with a bottom and top crust or two bottom crust only pies.
Pies like my Dreamy High Pumpkin Pie use a pre baked Pie Crust and then the filling is added to it. When I make that recipe I either make two since everyone loves it so much or I save the left over crust for another pie.
Your pie dough can be frozen for up to 6 months unbaked. Just make sure you wrap it securely in plastic wrap then place it in a zip lock bag.
Mom's No Fail Flaky Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 4 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 Cups Shortening ,chilled
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Vinegar
- 1 Large Egg
- 1/2 Cup Cold Water
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk Flour Sugar and Salt together.
- Add chilled shortening and cut into flour mixture with a pastry blender or fork until a crumb mixture is achieved.
- In a small bowl with Vinegar egg and water together.
- Add egg mixture to flour mixture and mix with a fork until mixture just comes together to for a dough.
- Use your hands to mix together just until no more loose crumbs are in the bowl.
- Cut dough into two equal pieces.Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least one hour or up to two days.
- If making a single pre baked pie crust. Roll out your chilled dough and place in pie plate. Trim and crimp the edges. Use a fork to polk holes in the pie crust base to prevent air pockets from forming. Line with tin foil and fill with dry uncooked rice, beans or pie weights. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes then place in a 400 Degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 minutes.
- If making a pie with bottom and top crust. Roll out first crust and line pie plate. Add filling then roll second crust and place over your filling. Cut excess dough along edge then crimp edge to seal together. Bake according to your particular recipe recommendation. *This will vary depending on what type of filled pie you are making.
Nutrition
What type of pie will you make will you make with Mom’s No Fail Flaky Pie Crust?
This crust is gorgeous! Yummy!
Thanks Christina! There’s nothing better than family recipes during the holidays. Mom’s pie crust is definitely one of my favorites. So flaky and delicious!
Can this dough be made the night before baking?
Absolutely! Storing it in the fridge over night will firm the fats up which is what you want to happen. It should bake up nicely.
Did you use distilled white vinegar?
Hi Susan…yes…distilled white vinegar.
Can I substitute lard for the shortening?
Hi Crystal, I’ve never made this crust with lard but I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use it as a substitute. Lots of pie crust recipes use lard.
Great crust!
Can I use equal parts butter and shortening instead of all shortening?Rose Zink
Hi Rose, Yes…you absolutely can use a combination of the two. Butter tends to give crust a great flavor but the shortening really elevates the flakiness. That being said, you will find that straight shortening will give it the best flaky texture.
Can this be frozen (unbaked)
Hi Nancy, Yes. We freeze the unbaked dough all the time.
Can I use butter flavored shortening? I just realized thats all I have in the cupboard and trying to avoid another run to the store! (but not at the expense of amazing homemade pie crust)
Hi Nicole, Yes, I’ve used butter flavored shortening in the past and everyone still loved it.
Hello! I am wanting to use this crust for a pecan pie recipe. Would you need to bake the crust by itself then add the filling and bake according to the pie recipe? Or would you bake the uncooked pie crust and the filling together?
Hi Kayla, You would need to pre-bake the crust and then put the pecan pie filling in it and bake some more. Do not poke holes in the crust dough before you bake it though otherwise the pecan pie filling will seep through and burn under the crust….I’ve made that mistake in the past…Instead, just make sure you line the inside of the unbaked pie crust with aluminum foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Also keep an eye on the crust edges when you bake the filled pie. If they seem to be browning too much just cover them with a strip of aluminum foil while the pie filling continues to bake.
This my mother-in-laws recipe that I’ve always used. Everyone love it. My mother-in-law has passed away. I’d love to know where this recipe came from.
Hi Ellen, She isn’t 100 % sure but she thinks it was from a community church cookbook. A friend of her’s had shared the recipe to be printed in the cookbook.
Thank you so much!
Awesome crust, great instructions! I didn’t have vinegar and used vodka instead. My first ever epic success with pie crust! Thank you for this!
I’m so glad it was such a great success! I love that you were able to adjust the recipe using vodka…that’s a great tip!
I’ve used vodka for up to half the liquid in a crust recipe. Makes it wonderfully flaky because the alcohol content just evaporates completely so the dough doesn’t get tough or heavy.
I am planning to use this pie crust for a peach pie. Should I baked it all at once, or pre-bake the crust first?
Hi Alessia, It depends on the peach pie recipe you are making. You should follow the directions for that. If it calls for a pre-baked pie crust you should bake it first. Some recipes may ask you to partially bake your pie crust for a few minutes and others may have you add your filling to an unbaked crust then bake…like an apple pie. If you are making a peach pie similar to a traditional apple pie that’s filled and topped with another crust you definitely do not need to pre-bake it.
Is it suppose to be salty
Hi Jose, No it should not be salty. If yours is too salty you may have accidentally added the incorrect amount of salt?