Pie Crust

Dont know about you guys, but for all the things I "can" do....I cant make a pie crust to save my life. But I came across a great post found at www.homesteadhomemaker@blogspot.com that has a great tutorial. Crystal always has a way of making things look so easy. Thought I would share it!
Whole Wheat Pie Crust



I love making pies! I never use to as much, mostly because of making the pie crust. I was not happy with the whole wheat pie crusts I was coming up with. I did not want to use shortening so at first I subbed butter for the shortening. That was not too bad, but could be hard to work with sometimes. Then I tried olive oil. That was ok too.. but finally I tweaked a recipe and played around with it until I came up with something that I absolutely love now! I use both butter and coconut oil. I also make the pie crust in my Bosch. If you have a Kitchen Aid that will work too. One lady told me she has also done it by hand with success. In my directions below I am using my Bosch.



The recipe makes 4 crusts. If this is more than you want at one time, the
remaining crusts can be refrigerated for up to two weeks or frozen. Wrap the unused pie crust dough pieces in plastic wrap and store in your fridge or freezer. If you refrigerate or freeze them make sure you let them come to room temp before trying to roll them out.



You can find the recipe here:

http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/wwpiecrustbosh.htm

My daughter Sierra made the crust while I too the pics...



Begin by gathering your ingredients together:





If your flour is freshly ground you will need to pack the cups with flour
because freshly ground flour is light and fluffy and you need the full amount of flour for this to work.Add the flour to your mixer bowl:





Add the salt:

Mix this together:





Now add the coconut oil and butter. Make sure your butter is room temp:






Begin by using the wire whips to mix the flour and coconut oil and butter. Mix them until you have a crumbly looking mixture:





Measure out the cold water in a measuring cup. Add the vinegar and egg and mix well:







Change from the wire whips to the dough hook in your mixer. Add the
water/vinegar/egg mixture:





Mix this in your mixer on low speed until the dough has been cleaned off the side of your bowl. This process can take 3 or 4 minutes. If you find your dough is too dry or stiff you can add more water, a teaspoon at a time until the dough is nice and soft. If it is too moist add flour a teaspoon at a time until the dough is nice and soft:





Take the dough out of the bowl and divide it into 4 balls:





Now it is time to roll out the dough. I use plastic wrap for this….





Lay a sheet on the counter:





Flatten one of the dough balls and set it in the center of the plastic:





Lay a second sheet of plastic wrap over the dough:





Now begin to roll the dough out. Start at the center and roll outward in all directions, keeping the dough as round as possible:






To see if your circle of dough is big enough set the pie plate over the dough:





When the circle is the right size it is time to put it in the pie plate. Peel off the top layer of plastic wrap:





Lift the bottom layer off the counter and slide your hand under it and lift it up:





Now lay the pie plate upside down on your hand, centering it in the middle of the dough:





Flip the pie plate and dough over. Realign the dough if it is off center:





Now remove the plastic wrap:





Now pick up the pie plate and using a butter knife go around the edges of the pie plate to clean off the dough that is hanging over the edge:





If you have an area on the crust that does not cover the pie plate:



Take a piece of the dough that you cut off and cover the spot. Then scrape off the excess that is hanging over the edge:






Now you can leave the pie dough as is or you can make the rim a little fancy. Holding two fingers on the inside edge, squeeze the dough together as you push the dough in with another finger on the outside of the edge to give you fluted look:





There you have it.. your dough is ready to be filled with whatever type of pie filling you desire!!





On the night that we made this pie crust we made an apple pie. The recipe for the apple pie can be found here:

http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/favapplepie.htm



Begin by peeling and slicing the apples:





Stir in the remaining ingredients:





Fill your pie shell with the filling:





Make the topping mixture:





Cover the top of the pie with it:





Bake your pie and enjoy!