Here is a recipe for the absolutely fluffiest pie crust ever.
August is blackberry time at our house. The vines are covered with berries, and we pick them as they ripen, usually getting enough for several pies. We make some pies and freeze the rest for berry pies all year long.
Years ago I taught my daughter how to make a pie crust and she tweaked the recipe a little to make it easier to handle. Her pies are raved about and people say they’ve never had a crust that good. She is asked to bring pies to wedding receptions and all gatherings involving food. Because the crust only takes minutes to prepare, she doesn’t mind making them. This recipe looks complicated, but it is just that you need to have things ready before you mix the crust (4 ingredients). Work as fast as you can once you put the crust together.
This crust will not hold. It will get stiff and unworkable if you make it wait. You need to prepare the filling FIRST, so it can be poured immediately into the bottom crust, then the top crust can be rolled out and put on.
- Preheat oven
- Make filling and set it aside
- Set out your rolling pin
- Cut off 2 pieces of Waxed paper or parchment paper, a few inches larger than the pie plate. Place these where you will roll out the crust.
- Make the crust.
CRUST: Ingredients for a two crust pie, 9 or 10-inch pie plates.
- 2 1/2 cups white flour, LESS one Tbs of the flour. This makes the crust more pliable.
- 1 tsp. salt
Mix the flour and salt together, set aside
- 1/4 cup milk (rice milk and others work just fine)
- 3/4 cup oil (any kind but olive)
Pour oil and milk into one container, but DO NOT MIX
When you are ready to make the crust, pour the milk and oil all at once into the flour mixture. With a fork, stir together as you would biscuits. Avoid over-stirring as this will make it stiff. Leave some flour not stirred in. With your hands, gather dough into two balls, one slightly bigger than the other. The bigger one will be the bottom crust.
Because this crust is so fragile, you will need to roll it between the paper, rather than on a floured board.
- Take two pieces of the waxed or parchment paper and put the larger dough ball between them.
- Roll out the bottom crust.
- Remove the top piece of paper and lay the pie plate upside down on top of the dough. Hold the crust in place as you flip the pie plate and crust over together so that the plate is right side up and the filling drops down inside of it.
- Carefully remove the second piece of waxed paper.
- Pour in filling.
- Repeat for the top crust. Seal the edge, vent the top, and bake.
The more you make this recipe, the faster you will get. Just never stop to answer the phone. Any extra dough left over makes great tarts with jelly filling. Let me know how this turns out for you.
My latest book, The Bend in the Canyon, is now alive and on sale on Amazon. It focuses on the joys of having a family. Be sure to check it out.
A USA Today bestselling author, Nancy Radke grew up on a wheat and cattle ranch in SE Washinton State. She attended a one-room country school through the eighth grade. She learned to ride bareback at age 3 (Really! It was a common practice.) and when she got off or fell off, she would pull her horse’s nose to the ground, get on behind its ears, and the horse would lift its head so she could scoot down onto its back. Nancy spent most of her childhood exploring the Blue Mountain trails that bordered the ranchlands. She and a friend once took a trail that turned out to be a two day trip. They always rode with matches and pocket knives, so made camp and returned the next day. These long rides worried her parents, but provided plenty of time to make up stories. Her first novel was set in the Blues, and is entitled APPALOOSA BLUES. TURNAGAIN LOVE was the first one published. It rated a four star review from Affaire de Coeur. Scribes World said “Turnagain Love has some fascinating twists and turns, unexpected complications, and charming scenes.” It is light and humorous. Nancy currently has over 30 books written, both modern and western. All her stories are sweet and wholesome.
View website
