Recipe: Mom's No-Fail Pie Crust

(Repost of pie dough recipe from my post about Gravensteins.) I normally try to avoid making pie. I am a pastry murderer. Recently, though, I started using my mother’s pie crust recipe — I should have been using it years ago. It really is no fail. If you are like me, and your pastry could be used as crack-fill in your century-plus home, you might want to give this a whirl!

Mom’s Pie Crust(makes 4 crusts , or approx 1600g total)

• 5 Cups all-purpose flour
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 454g lard (chilled and cut into cubes)
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp vinegar
• water

Measure flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. I find a Pyrex 404/444 is just large enough for this recipe. Cut in lard by hand with a pastry blender until pieces are the size of tiny peas.

Break egg into a measuring cup. Beat with a fork. Add the vinegar and just enough water to make 1 Cup of liquid. Pour a little at a time over the flour mixture, tossing and stirring with a fork until all the liquid is absorbed. Shape into a ball, and divide this into four equal portions. Wrap and refrigerate.

The wrapped dough can be refrigerated for up to two weeks. It can also be frozen.

Roll out to desired thickness on a well-floured board. Dough will be fairly soft. Bake as directed by your recipe.