Basic Pie Shell
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
Cut shortening into flour and salt until fine crumbs, either by hand or in a processor.
Add water 1 teaspoon at a time until a ball forms.
Wrap in plastic and chill for one hour.
Shape and bake
Roll out to fit a 9" pie pan.
Bake at 425°F for 10–12 minutes, or leave unbaked if the recipe calls for an unbaked shell.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Shortening (in the method)
- Coats flour particles so the dough stays tender and flaky rather than tough.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dough once it is bound with water.
- Water
- Hydrates the flour so the dough holds together into a rollable ball.
The step that matters
Adding the water. Adding water a little at a time lets the flour absorb it evenly. Too much water at once develops gluten and makes the crust tough.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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