The Ultimate Pie Crust Recipe

Pie. Three letters. One syllable. The foundational dessert of America. Like we are talking back into the civil war era that pie existed. 1800s. Apple. Pumpkin. Banana Cream. Cherry. Peach. Lemon Meringue. Mud. No Bake Pie. Let's be honest is not the authentic pie, but what can we do? People like Oreo pie and Peanut Butter Mud Pie.

For the real baking, leave to the cooking and baking crew of small town bakeries making the crusts, it is going to be pie crust that is flaky, buttery, and just melts in your mouth. Add your favorite filling and you got a lovely 3:00 P.M. pick.

As our American Pie characters have said in more or less words: “We will just tell your mother, that we ate it all.”

Here are the ingredients you would need for a single and double pie crust:

Single 9 inch pie crust:

• 1 cups of flour

• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

• 3 tablespoons of cold shortening

• 1/4 cup of cold butter

• 2 tablespoons of ice water

Double 9 inch pie crust:

• 2 cups of flour

• 1 teaspoon of salt

• 1/3 cup of shortening

• 1/2 cup of cold butter

• 1/2 cup of ice water

• Coarse sugar for sprinkling

Here is the simplified pie crust recipes:

1. Prepare pie plate and oven, preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Make piecrust dough: combine dry ingredients then add in the shortening and butter. Add half of water then add the additional water tablespoon by tablespoon.

3. Roll out bottom crust to an 11-12 inch circle. 4. Roll out top crust if using.

Our Financials:

Shocker, I went to Walmart to shop for my ingredients. Perfect because of the cost of the ingredients…could you imagine because of how grocery store prices are how much more expensive making this pie crust would be? More expensive than a pie crust should be. Below is a breakdown of ingredients cost for both of the pie crusts.

• Flour- $1.08

• Salt- already had the salt

• Shortening- $1.48

• Butter- $2.98 for a box of four sticks or $1.98 to make from heavy whipped cream and salt

• Ice Water- free from my sink

• Coarse Sugar- already had the coarse sugar

So in Florida, the cost to make the pie crusts was in the range of $4.54-$5.54. Making butter from scratch actually deduces the ingredients cost by a dollar, hence the $4.54. However, if you don’t want to go full on with churning your own butter, your would pay $5.54 for the ingredients.

In addition to low ingredients cost, I also was able to score on some deals with my cash back applications as per usual. Might as well earn some extra money as you experiment with new recipes.

Millennial Cash Back Earnings

I stick with what I know. Ibotta, Fetch Rewards, ShopKick, and Coinout. These are the applications I mainly use for cash back earning.

Ibotta was a hit and a miss, I actually struck out for the pie crust ingredients. However, I did earn $13.95 for other items such as alcohol, any item, protein bars, and collagen. Oh well, the gamble of cash back applications. At least, I earned some money back for some of groceries.

Fetch Rewards was a better application for me today. I earned 75 points from two Walmart receipts. I earned 50 points from one receipt and 25 points from the second receipt. For five ingredients, that is not too bad for point accrual.

For walking into Walmart, I got 10 kicks each time. I earned a total of 20 kicks. Shopkick typically does not have the products I shop for, I earn kicks by walking to the store and watching their promotional videos.

For my penny rewards from Coinout, I earned a total of four cents. For my Walmart receipts, I earned two cents from each receipt. Yay! Pennies on top of pennies.

Outcomes and Recommendations

I find no need to do ratings because honestly, Shayne and I do not eat pie crust for fun. Shockingly enough.

Making the pie crust for the first time, as you would presume that it was challenging. I understand why those would like to buy pie crust instead of making it. I have to say…I do need to try pie with a pre made crust and scratch crust…see if I can tell the difference. In either case, the art of making pie crust is a tumultuous one. Though with the way the crust smelled out of the oven… *drools* that makes the labor of love worth it.

Though for you…congratulations! Now you have the best ever pie crust recipes at your fingertips. There is nothing that completes the pie except a buttery, flaking, warm pie crust.

Especially with your favorite filling inside.

Here are two recipes at your fingertips. Recipes for singles and doubles.

The first recipe for pie crust is for a double 9 inch crust. The crust you would use for apple, cherry, peach, or any fruit pie.

The second crust recipe is for a single 9 inch crust. You would use a single 9 inch crust for banana cream pie, pumpkin pie, lemon meringue pie, and other pies that do not require a baked, top crust.