Although a little unconventional, this hot water pie crust has become a favorite of mine as I hope it will become for you.
I started experimenting with this crust, not knowing exactly how "things" would turn out, but I'm very glad I wrote down the steps I took toward making the recipe a success. Now, I'm happy to pass them along to you...why experiment in your kitchen, when I'm happy to take the risks in mine.
I took a couple of photos during this process of how to make pie crust using the hot water pie crust method. I hope between the instructions and seeing how some steps differ from the average crust, you'll find this an easy pie crust recipe to make.
Ingredients
2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1/4 cup hot water
1 tablespoon milk
3 tablespoons hot water
Method
Measure and mix flour and salt together and put aside.
Place both the 1/2 cup and 6 tablespoons shortening in another bowl.
Pour the 1/4 cup of hot water and 1 tablespoon milk over the shortening.
This is where the steps start to differ from a conventional crust recipe. With a hand mixer, beat those ingredients together until they look like whipped cream or white frosting, as pictured.
Pour the flour/salt mixture over the shortening mixture, and beat as well as you can with a dinner fork.
I found that the dough was very dry, so I added a tablespoon of hot water at a time and used a total of 3 tablespoons. The dough looked and felt right to me at that point. You'll find the right consistency for you as you go along, too.
Now, we come back to instructions for a traditional pie crust. Form the dough into two flattened disks, as pictured. See how nicely the ingredients come together now with the extra bit of water added.
Many people roll the crust out between two pieces of waxed paper, but I still prefer a nice, floured pastry cloth and covered rolling pin, floured.
This crust is quite easy to work with and rolls out beautifully, as you can see in the picture. I trimmed it to size and carefully folded it in fours, and it fit very nicely into my 9-inch pie dish, with plenty for the top crust as well.
You may recognize, from the next photo, that I've used our
Easy Apple Pie Recipe
for the pie filling. Having to wait until it baked was the only problem I encountered. I hope you'll try the complete recipe--crust and filling.
The next picture shows a nicely-browned, flaky crust which I had moistened with water and sprinkled with sugar before baking.
To bake a single pie crust to be filled with an unbaked filling, put the crust into the pie dish and prick it all over with fork tines.
Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 20-25 minutes, prickng the crust again half way through the baking, if the crust starts to puff up. That will allow the air to escape through the holes and will flatten the crust out again.
Cool the crust completely before adding your "cream pie filling" or whatever you choose to use.
