Making it Good With Maureen

Maureen Gale

 

Hotel Utah Pie Crust

 

This is the flaky pie crust recipe from the old Hotel Utah.  You may want to use it for your Thanksgiving pies.

 

Wire whisk together:

4 c. flour

2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. sugar

Cut together into flour mixture until pea-sized:

1 3/4 c. Crisco (can substitute 1 cube butter for a 1/2 cup of Crisco--oh yummy)

Blend well together, then add to flour mixture until evenly distributed:

1/2 c. cold water

1 Tbsp. white vinegar

1 egg

 

Dough will be a little wet but will absorb quickly. That texture is what makes it so easy to work with. Divide into four balls. Makes four 8-inch crusts or three 9-inch crusts (usually with some left over for apple turnover). Roll out to an even 3/16 inch on floured surface. Can be rolled immediately, refrigerated for a couple of days, or frozen and thawed later. Works fine to roll, put in pie plates, and freeze, too.

I'm assuming people know how to bake a crust, but if you want those directions, just in case, here they are:

For crust only (unbaked filling), crimp the edges, poke a bunch of fork holes around bottom and sides of crust, and bake at 425 with an empty pie tin on top for the first 6 minutes, then about 5-6 minutes more with it removed (reduces shrinkage) on middle rack. For baked pie filling, just follow directions of recipe. It works best to put filled pies on a slightly lower oven rack to reduce sogginess.