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You are here: Home / Desserts / Grandma’s Secret Pie Crust Recipe with Tips for the Perfect Pie Crust

Grandma’s Secret Pie Crust Recipe with Tips for the Perfect Pie Crust

November 16, 2011 by Danelle 28 Comments

 


GRANDMA’S SECRET PIE CRUST — A few secret ingredients come together in this perfect pie crust recipe. So tender and flaky, you’ll never use another pie crust recipe again!


Grandma's Secret Pie Crust

I confess, I’m a little intimidated when it comes to making pie crust. Or at least, I was, until I tried this recipe for Grandma’s Secret Pie Crust.

This isn’t my grandma’s recipe, but it’s definitely my go-to pie crust recipe. Although, come to think of it, both of my grandma’s were great cooks, so they probably knew all the secrets for making pie crust.

Their secret ingredients in this recipe are the vinegar and the egg. You don’t see eggs and vinegar in most pie crust recipes.

I don’t know what they do, exactly, but I do know I’ve tried plenty of pie crust recipes without eggs and vinegar, and this one is by far the best!

I’m still not great at rolling out a crust and fitting into a pie pan, but at least  I know my crust will be light and flaky. It might not look pretty, but it will be good!

Grandma's Secret Pie Crust

Here are a few more handy tips for making the perfect pie crust:

  • Make sure your butter and water are very cold. I add a some ice to my water, and cut my butter in small pieces and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes before I start making my crust
  • For the flakiest crust, once you’ve cut in your butter, finish mixing your pie crust by hand.
  • Most pie crust recipes have you refrigerate the dough before rolling, but I find the cold dough is so hard to roll out. I prefer to roll my crust immediately after mixing, then place the crust in a pie pan and chill it. Whichever method you use, don’t skip the chilling step!
  • Use a pie crust shield if you’re crust will be in the oven longer than 20 minutes. Otherwise you’ll end up with burnt edges on your pie. I usually remove the shield when my pie has about 15 minutes left to bake so the edges can get nice and golden.
  • If you’ll be baking your crust and filling it later (such as for a cream pie), poke the dough all over with a fork before baking. It’s also a good idea to use pie weights or something similar to keep your crust from sliding down the sides of the pie pan. You don’t need anything fancy. I just line my crust with parchment paper and fill it with dried beans.

If you have a food processor, you can use that to cut in the butter, but you’ll still want to add the liquids by hand.  This recipe makes enough for two single crust pies, or one double crust pie.  


Be sure to save this recipe for Grandma’s Secret Pie Crust to your favorite Pinterest board for later.


Grandma's Secret Pie Crust


Here’s what you’ll need to make Grandma’s Secret Pie Crust


  • Flour
  • Salt
  • Butter
  • Eggs
  • White vinegar
Grandma’s Secret Pie Crust

Grandma’s Secret Pie Crust

Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

A few secret ingredients come together in this perfect pie crust recipe. So tender and flaky, you'll never use another pie crust recipe again!

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cups cold butter, diced
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
  • 4 tablespoons cold water

Instructions

  1. In large bowl mix flour and salt. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter, or two knives, leaving lumps about the size of peas.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, vinegar, and water. Drizzle wet mixture into dry mixture, a little bit at a time, cutting it in. Add just enough liquid that the dough comes together.
  3. Roll dough to desired size, then place in pie pans (or on a parchment lined baking sheet for a top crust) and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before baking.
  4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. For a pre-baked crust (to be filled after baking, such as for a cream pie) bake for 10-15 minutes, or until just golden. For a pie crust that is baked with filling, bake as indicated in pie recipe.
© Danelle

 

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Who Dished It Up First: Adapted from allrecipes.com

Filed Under: Desserts, Pies

Previous Post: « Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake
Next Post: Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Colores

    November 16, 2011 at 3:28 pm

    OOOh I am already mouthwatering:-)))

    Reply
  2. Jennifurla

    November 16, 2011 at 4:55 pm

    Looks yummy, I love nibbling off the crust.

    Reply
  3. Sunshine

    November 16, 2011 at 8:58 pm

    Mmmmm…I am not good at pie crusts either. But I love to eat it. lol

    http://www.cancerinthecity.com

    Reply
  4. Yadsia @ShopCookMake

    November 19, 2011 at 2:04 am

    I can eat pie crust just by itself. For get the filling!

    Reply
  5. Sheila

    March 10, 2014 at 12:52 pm

    I seem to fumble around, sometimes getting a good crust and sometimes not. Maybe the vinegar in this one does the trick! I’ll try it with my next pie 🙂

    Reply
  6. mrswilliam

    March 12, 2014 at 1:11 pm

    I discovered this recipe 33 yrs ago, a true gem ! I was thrilled to see it on your website, thank you for passing it on!!

    Reply
    • Ruby

      July 15, 2014 at 7:51 am

      This recipe for Grandmas pie crust – is this just to line and must it be prebaked and can I have this at the bottom and on the top of the pie. Sounds goo and I would like to try it

      Reply
  7. Bev

    July 9, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    My mother made the best pie crusts – always flaky. Mine came out like hockey pucks. Took me a long time before I found out I over-handled the crust and it made them tough. I finally learned to make them in my food processor. Now I don’t hardly need to handle them at all except to roll and place in pans. I haven’t tried or even seen this recipe before. I can’t wait to try it.

    Reply
  8. Jackie

    October 31, 2015 at 4:52 pm

    Thank you! I’m going to use this recipe for my individual chicken potpies – a recipe I got from allrecipes.com.

    Reply
    • Rhonda

      November 15, 2015 at 3:34 am

      What do u mean by all purpose flour, is it plain or self raising? Sorry if it’s a dumb question.

      Reply
      • Danelle

        November 15, 2015 at 8:15 pm

        Just plain, regular flour.

        Reply
      • m graves

        November 15, 2016 at 3:55 pm

        It should say ‘All Purpose Flour’ on the label, it isn’t self rising flour, it’s used for bread as well as cookies, cakes, pie crusts.

        Reply
  9. Ruby

    November 15, 2015 at 11:00 pm

    Can I use this pastry as a base as well as a topping. Sounds good and I would love to try it – thanks

    Reply
    • Danelle

      November 16, 2015 at 9:01 am

      Yes. It makes enough for 2 single crust pies or 2 double crust pie.

      Reply
      • ruby

        November 16, 2015 at 11:18 pm

        Thank you so much for answering my query – I will now make a pie with pastry under and on topn.

        Reply
  10. Rhonda

    November 19, 2015 at 2:26 am

    Thank you can’t to try it cheers

    Reply
  11. Cheryl

    October 22, 2016 at 8:26 am

    Our Grandma’s must of knew each other, after reading the ingredients and how to make this crust, I thought, what, this is my Grandma’s recipe. So I got up and got her hand written recipe and sure enough it is the same. I love this pie recipe, my grandma always said do skip the vinegar and make sure the egg is well beaten.
    Thanks for sharing this recipe, now that I have mine pulled out I will be making it.

    Reply
    • Danelle

      October 23, 2016 at 10:38 am

      That is awesome! Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
  12. Marilyn Watts

    November 26, 2016 at 4:00 pm

    I love this recipe as I have always used Tenderflake for my crusts but this is even better. Onee question I would like an answer for is how to keep the bottom crust from getting soggy? I have tried a few ideas but it still gets soggy especially when making fruit pies of lemon meringue.Hope I can get an answer.

    Reply
    • Danelle

      November 26, 2016 at 5:27 pm

      Besides pre-baking the crust before you fill it and bake the pie, there isn’t a whole lot you can do. Fruit pies are the worst for a soggy crust! I have you heard if you toss your fruit with sugar, let it sit for 1/2 hour, and then drain off the juices, that helps. But I have never tried it myself.

      Reply
      • Jerri

        May 31, 2017 at 8:50 pm

        Try beating an egg white and then brush it on the bottom shell crust. I read it somewhere. Tried it and it worked for me.

        Reply
    • Annie

      January 31, 2017 at 7:29 am

      To keep your bottom crust from getting soggy, brush it with egg white. It seals the crust and keeps the filling from making the crust become soggy.

      Reply
      • Terrie S

        January 26, 2019 at 7:49 pm

        Do you bake the crust before putting the filling in or do you use brush the egg white on, fill and bake?

        Reply
        • Danelle

          January 26, 2019 at 8:06 pm

          It depends on the kind of pie you are making, but the pie recipe will usually say. If it’s a baked fruit pie, you wouldn’t bake the crust first. If you’re using the crust for a cream pie, you would bake it, cool it, and then fill it. Some baked pies have you bake the crust for 10-15 minutes before filling and baking. I would check the recipe for whatever kind of pie you’re making.

          Reply
  13. Connie

    March 6, 2017 at 9:51 am

    I use half butter and half crisco in my recipe and add a little bit of sugar and it turns out great but I;m going to try this one next time

    Reply
  14. Jerri

    May 31, 2017 at 8:55 pm

    Sorry Annie. I’m just seeing the you had already told her about the egg white.

    Reply
  15. Fred

    December 10, 2017 at 12:32 am

    Can you use self rising flour or not I want to know because that’s all I have in cupboard

    Reply
    • Danelle

      December 10, 2017 at 2:01 pm

      Since the pie crust doesn’t include leavening agents, like baking soda, you would probably not want to use self rising flour.

      Reply

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