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Dessert

Economy Pie Crust

A simple pie crust made with flour, shortening, salt, water, and baking powder.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Economy Pie Crust

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the dough

  1. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder.

  2. Cut in the shortening with a spatula until the mixture resembles crumbs.

  3. Add the cold water and continue to cut with the spatula.

Shape and roll

  1. Dredge a board with flour, pour the crumbs onto the board, and squeeze them into a ball.

  2. Roll the dough to your desired thickness, starting in the center and rolling outwards in different turns.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the structure of the crust as the dough is rolled and shaped.
Shortening
Coats flour particles so the crust stays tender and flaky rather than tough.
Cold water
Binds the flour and fat into a dough that holds together when rolled.
Baking powder
Releases gas to lighten the crust slightly as it bakes.

The step that matters

Cut in the shortening until it resembles crumbs. Shortening left as small, pea-sized pieces melts during baking and creates layers, while overworking it blends it into the flour and makes the crust tough. Keep the water cold so the fat stays solid until the oven.

“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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