Flaky-Fast-Bakery Pie and Tart Crust
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar (I recommend granulated)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vegan buttery spread
1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
about 2 tablespoons water
1. Sift your flour and mix in the salt, baking powder, and sugar. Add vegan butter and vegetable shortening. I measure about a tablespoon of the butter into the measuring cup then fill it up with the shortening. The whole point is to have 1/2 cup total of fat. Cut the butter and shortening into the flour mixture (I highly recommend a pastry blender, forks are such a pain in the wrist).
2. When you get pea sided lumps, sprinkle in the water about 1/2 teaspoon at a time until you can form it into a soft ball. Make sure it's soft and crumbly, this will make a light and flaky crust. If it's too dense, cut in a teaspoon or two of flour and check the consistency again.
3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Form the dough into 1 (for a pie crust) or 2 (for tarts) balls. Roll onto a lightly floured surface until about 1/4"- 1/8" thick. NO THINNER, it will just fall apart. This crust will get thicker as it cooks.
4. Press dough into ungreased large cup cake pans (for tarts) or into ungreased pie pan. If it breaks, just patch it together and keep going. Like I said, it's fairly sturdy once baked. Bake for about 10 minutes, longer for browner crust. Fill with whatever pie filling you want.
I like adding the baking powder, I've always had trouble with crusts that are too dense for my taste. This one holds together on the plate, yet falls apart in your mouth. And the sugar gives little bursts of sweetness. Thank you for reading! Eat and enjoy!
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I love this recipe. I ended up using all vegan margerine, and this crust was a bitch to work with, but I was too impatient to let it chill, and once I managed to coax it into a lattice overlay, it baked up great. I love this. 5 stars.
I couldn't get the dough to hold together - I doubled the water, tried refrigerating the dough, rolled it between two pieces of parchment paper, but it was still super crumbly. The final product looked and tasted WONDERFUL, though, and I got compliments on the crust. I made an apple and a pumpkin pie, so I added cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger to the dry ingredients in the dough. Next time I will try continuing to add water to the dough until it holds together, so it is easier to work with.
This recipe looks AWESOME!!! I can't wait to try it! :D
This is great! I doubled it for a pie with a lattice on top and used half shortening, half Earth Balance margarine. It got rave reviews from an omnivorous crowd and was the first pie to be completely eaten at the National Pie Day pie party (Jan. 23 if you didn't know!). I always chill the dough before rolling, then again after it's put in the pan. I had to use my hands a lot to keep the dough together, so the extra chilling helps it turn out flaky. Excellent recipe!!
That dinosaur pie is amazing!!!! Wonderful!! :)>>>
Very flaky and easy to make! I loved this recipe because its pretty sturdy (especially after chilling it - Thx jessesmum for the tip!) and it stayed flaky and dry even though I made a very gooey caramel apple pie that sort of...overflowed...heh. Wonderful recipe! Thank you!
I haven't tried this recipe yet but I want to pass along a little tip. Chill your dough in the fridge before rolling it out. It should help it stay together better when rolling.
I think I'll give this recipe a try this weekend. Apple pie anyone? :)
I am so not a baker, but this recipe was really fast and easy. My only problem is that it was really salty, so i might be able to cut down the salt by half or so to help it. VERY CRUMBLY but i like that, no soggy crusts here!!
I have used this recipe twice now, and I agree with the poster that it is very flaky and very fast! It is very difficult to roll out, though, so I strongly recommend rolling it between two sheets of wax paper. I didn't the first time and it wouldn't hold together at all - I just ended up pressing it into the pie plate. I found this recipe enough for one crust, so ended up doubling it for a two-crust apple pie. The finished product is so melt-in-your-mouth delicious that it's worth any potential troubles with getting it to roll out perfectly.