DIY Freezer Pie Crust

Veronica recently wrote about making a Pecan Pie.  I love homemade pie, but like a lot of people, I'm easily intimidated by the idea of making the dough, and then the filling, and then baking it all.  For some reason it feels like a huge chore.  So the other day I decided to finally tackle a chore I've wanted to do for a long time.  I did a double batch of my favorite pie crust recipe, which gave me eight 9" pie rounds of dough.

I know a lot of people out there prefer to just buy it, which is a great idea if you have coupons and a sale to make it cheap, but if you're into homemade, or want it NOW, having your own in the freezer is a dream.  It's a dream that I've finally achieved.  With the assignment to bring pie to our family gathering, I was thrilled to just open the freezer, and have it ready to go. (I even happened to have frozen pie filling in there waiting for me!)  I know some people like to roll it out all the way before freezing, and I might do that next time, but for now I just rolled it a bit, to make it flat and easily stored in a Ziploc.

Here's my recipe, as given to me by my mother who got it from her mother who got it from her mother-in-law.  It was originally written to make three 10" round deep pies, but it's also perfect for making 4 9" regular rounds.  (By the way, I'd just like to brag that I noticed it's very similar to the recipe that the Pioneer Woman uses when she bakes pie!  She of course has amazing photos and a story to go with hers.)

Pie Crust
3 C flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 C shortening (Crisco)
1 egg
5 Tb water
1 tsp white vinegar
Mix flour and salt, then cut in shortening, using a pastry blender, or just a fork or two knives (like I did in college before I invested in a fancy pastry blender).  Keep going until you have pea sized looking bits.

Beat the egg, water, and vinegar until frothy.  Mix the liquids into the flour mixture until just combined.  My mother's recipe says it will keep in the fridge for a week or the freezer for a month.

Notice the pea sized pieces.  I used whole wheat flour so it's a bit denser.

See how I rolled and wrapped it before putting the pile of rounds in a Ziploc for later use.

When it comes time to use it I'll leave it on the counter to thaw for about 10 minutes and then roll it out between the plastic wrap.  Hopefully it won't stick too much.  Normally I roll out my dough between sheets of wax paper or just straight on the counter covered in flour.

Sarah