Sandie’s Old Fashioned Pie Crust

Sandie’s old fashioned pie crust is another family recipe straight from grandma’s house. Perfect for beginners to the serious pie bakers. It makes up to 6 pies per batch!

Hopefully I’m not letting some deep family secret out of the bag, but this recipe is too good not to share. Ladies in previous generations knew how to get things done, and pie is no exception. Especially when deep rooted family sweet tooths are involved.

My grandfather came from the east coast, where sweet tea was meant to be thick enough to keep the spoon standing upright, cookies were made by the dozens, and my great-grandma apparently never made elderberry pies in less than 6 pies at a time. Atleast, those are the family legends I have been told.

It seems logical though, that our grandmas were accustom to making dozens of pies at a time. After all, pie safes were invented for a reason, assumably to house multiple pies. Even in the days of my childhood, my grandma would make 6-8 pies for Thanksgiving in an assortment of flavors. It’s even more impressive when I remember that our whole family at that time was less than 20 people.

In actuality, I find it a little ironic that this recipe comes from my side of the family, when in reality my husband is born and bred from a long line of pie lovers. He himself claims pie to be his favorite dessert. On the other hand, for most of my life, pie has been one of my LEAST favorite desserts, specifically those with a traditional crust. Growing up I was a graham girl. However, since marrying my husband I had adapted to the taste of pie as well as whatever crust it may come in.

It is well expressed among my husband’s six brothers, that the point of eating a pie is to enjoy the from scratch crust. In fact, my one sister-in-law once claimed she doesn’t even waste her time making a pie for her husband unless she makes the crust homemade. While my husband has had to learn to settle for whatever pies he might get me to make, including the ones with store bought crusts, it is my aim to increasingly improve my pie game.

Even as I’m putting this post together my husband jokingly said “Don’t write about it. You need to make about it.” He is very much anticipating some “test” pies coming out of this post

And so, we find ourselves at the crossroads of making a pie, and making it to the family expected standard…with a from scratch crust. I don’t know about you, but I find the roll out boxed crusts so convenient. For many years had to overcome the mental hurdle of thinking that making a crust from scratch was SO much extra work.

Now however, after a visit from my grandma a couple years ago, during which we made apple pies, I have this recipe in my tool belt….err….recipe box…to make that task a bit easier.

Making Pie Crusts in Bulks

It just makes sense. If you’re going to go through all the work of dirtying your food processor, or cutting it all by hand, why not make the most of it? And by most of it, I mean the most crusts you can handle making. This recipe makes 3 double crust pies, or 6 single crust pies. Or if you’re really feeling mathematical you can do any number of combinations thereof to multiply the recipe.

Since I not only use my crusts for making sweet dessert pies, but also chicken pot pie, quiche, and the like, making pie crust in bulk can make meal planning much more simple. By making crusts ahead of time, and freezing them in single crust pucks, I can keep usable crusts on hand at all times.

Lets’ get to it!

I just love the old family recipes scribbled onto random scraps of paper, or in this case an old envelope. Modern electronic recipe storage methods just don’t bring the same charm and personal touch. Here is Sandie’s Old Fashioned Pie Crust written by Grandma Sandie herself in her own hand.

Sandie’s Old Fashioned Pie Crust

Ingredients:

• 2 cups lard
• 5 cups flour
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 Tbsp. white vinegar
• Cold water

Directions:

Begin by combining the salt and flour in a large mixing bowl.

Next, cut in the lard using a pastry blender until crumbly.

Place beaten egg and vinegar in a liquid cup measure. Add cold water to make 1 cup.

Add the liquid into the flour mixture, and stir with a fork.

Finish by working it a bit with your hands until it comes together nicely.

Divide into size equal parts and form each part into a cylindrical “puck”.

Wrap each puck in plastic wrap.

Refrigerate or freeze.

Bring to room temperature to use.

This recipe is part of my Heirloom Collection

Try one of these family favorites!