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Flaky Pie Crust

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and diced
  • 1/4 cup ice water

    (Recipe makes a single pie crust, double if needing a double pie crust.)
  1. In a large bowl (preferably metal), combine flour and salt. Set bowl in fridge. Meanwhile, cut butter into cubes and set in freezer until very cold. (Alternatively, you could freeze butter and grate with a cheese grater.)

  2. Take butter and flour out of fridge/freezer. Cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Work fast and ensure that all ingredients stay cold. Stir in ice water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture forms a ball. The dough should have small bits of butter – this makes the crust flaky. It will still look crumbly, but will stick together as a ball if you press it with your hands. Wrap dough ball in plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Refrigeration is necessary because it allows the gluten to relax and prevent shrinkage.

  3. Take dough out of fridge and roll out to fit a 9 inch pie plate. You may need to roll it out twice. The first roll is usually crumbly and uneven and has large breaks. Just gently gather the dough, form another ball, and roll out again. Smooth, round crust should be easier the second roll out.

    (Additional Tips: You could place Ziploc bags of ice on your counter where you intend to roll out your dough, this makes the work surface cold. I have a marble rolling pin, so I just place my rolling pin in the freezer so that it is very cold.)

  4. Place crust in pie plate. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown.

Grandma Ople’s Apple Pie

I wanted to make an apple pie and found this recipe on Allrecipes.com. It is the highest rated apple pie recipe and so I thought I would try it out, and it was really good and super easy to make! There is a review at the bottom of this post from allrecipes.com that I found useful.

  • 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 8 Granny Smith apples – peeled, cored and sliced


Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
  2. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
  3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Allrecipes.com user review:

A++ Decadently Delicious! Ive tried many recipes from this site, all of them pleasing. But this is the first time I’ve ever been so inspired by one to write a review! You wont find a better recipe for apple pie. I read every review for people’s advice before starting, and did make a few adjustments to the original. Some mentioned granny smith apples were too tart. Stick with the recipe on that one. I added a teaspoon of cinnamon, a good dash of nutmeg and a tablespoon of vanilla to the syrup prior to simmering (compensate for adding the vanilla by omitting a tablespoon of that 1/4 cup of water). Next, definitely mix the syrup with the apples rather than trying to pour into the pie (save enough to glaze top crust). Do use a 9″ glass pie pan to avoid spillage. Use the middle shelf in the oven (so top crust doesn’t brown too fast). And last but not least, I did the lattice top crust, and it turned out picture perfect, but I’m convinced that using a complete top crust with designer slits cut into it would turn out just as beautifully. Whatever you decide to do with the top crust, just remember the syrup you saved to glaze the top with needs to still be HOT or it will thicken up on you, so have your plan together and move quickly. In all, this recipe is amazing. I will make this for anyone I am trying to impress! Three cheers for Grandma Opal and family.

Pumpkin Pie


2 eggs
1 can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
¾ cup sugar
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. ginger
¼ tsp. cloves
Large can evaporated milk
Deep dish pie shell

Mix all ingredients and pour into cooked pie shell. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes and then reduce heat and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes

Pecan Pie


3 eggs
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. melted butter
¾ cup Karro
1 tsp. vanilla
Pecans

Put pecans in bottom of pie shell. Mix remaining ingredients and pour on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes.

Peanut Butter Pie

One 10 inch graham cracker crust
½ cup crunchy peanut butter
12 ounce carton of Cool Whip, thawed
6 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1 ½ cups of powdered sugar
1 can of milk chocolate frosting

Beat cream cheese, peanut butter, and powdered sugar until well blended. Fold in the Cool Whip. Pour into The graham cracker crust and chill until firm. Top with the chocolate frosting and chill again. Very rich dessert, so cut into 10 or more slices.

Mary Pat’s Peach Pie

1. cut up 4 cups peaches
2. put into bowl with 1/3 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp lemon juice (1 lemon). Stir well and put in fridge for one hour.
3. Cook pie shell and let cool.
4. Drain all liquid off peaches mixture and reserve liquid in a one cup measuring cup. Set peaches aside.
5. Fill up measuring cup with water until liquid and water equal one cup
6. in a pan combine ½ cup sugar and 3 Tbsp. cornstarch. Mix with water and juices.
7. Cook on high heat until boiling. Will thicken.
8. Add 2 Tbsp. butter, pinch of salt, and 1/8 tsp. almond extract.
9. Put peaches into mixture and stir. Dump into pie shell.

Lemon Ice Box Pie

1 (6oz.) can frozen lemonade
14 oz. can Eagle Brand milk
12 oz. Cool Whip
1 frozen pie shell, cooked
Yellow food coloring

Bake pie shell. Thaw lemonade and cool whip until soft. Mix with Eagle brand and food coloring. Fill pie shell and freeze.

Chocolate Chess Pie


½ stick of butter
1 ½ cup sugar
3 Tbsp. cocoa
2 eggs, beaten
1 small can evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla
Pinch of salt

Mix sugar and cocoa then add the melted butter. Mix eggs milk and vanilla and add to the butter/sugar/cocoa mixture. Pour into a 9 inch pie shell and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees and cook another 25 minutes.

Baker’s Rack French Silk Pie


3 stick butter, softened
2 ¼ cup sugar
½ cup cocoa
3 Tbsp. oil
3 tsp. vanilla
6 eggs
2 pie crusts, baked and cooled
Cool Whip
Chocolate shavings for garnish

Beat all ingredients together until fluffy, about 5 to 7 minutes. Pour into baked pie shells. Refrigerate. Add Cool Whip and chocolate shavings. (can be frozen).