This flaky Amish style Pie crust is easy to assemble and produces a crust that rivals the Amish bakeries with its flaky deliciousness. This recipe is from my Mother-in-law who also has Amish heritage and makes some of the best pies!! Some pie fillings you should definitely try to pair with this crust are Amish Chocolate Mousse Pie, Amish Mock Pecan Pie, Cherry Pie Filling and Fresh Strawberry Pie.
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Easy flaky pie crust recipe (Amish style)
Equipment
- Mixing bowl (linked below)
- Rolling Pin (linked below)
- Dinner knives (linked below)
- Glass pie pans (linked below)
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour sifted
- 1 1/3 cups vegetable shortening
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2/3-3/4 cup warm water see note
Instructions
- Sift flour into a bowl, then add the rest of the dry ingredients. Add shortening and cut through with dinner knives until shortening is reduced to smaller clumps. Gently mix by hand until only pea sized crumbs remain.
- Add 2/3 cup water, then mix gently until well combined and you are able to form a soft ball of dough. Add the remaining water if the dough still feels crumbly.
- Flour your kitchen surface and roll out pie crusts with a rolling pin to 1/8inch thick, then press into pie plates with plenty of crust to cover the top edge of the pie plate. Trim and flute the edges, then bake as directed in the filling recipe of your choice.
Notes
Equipment for this flaky homemade pie crust:
- Mixing bowl A medium-large mixing bowl is needed to combine the ingredients for this Amish style pie crust.
- Rolling pin I prefer to use a wooden pin as my previous rolling pin left flakes in the crust. “Yuck!”
- Dinner knives Dinner knives work well to cut the shortening into the sifted flour
- Pie plates I like to use glass pie plates because they are sturdy and dish washer friendly.
These pie crusts freeze well! Simply roll them out and freeze on parchment paper or flute the edges and freeze them in a glass pie plate.
Ingredients needed for this flaky pie crust recipe: Flour, shortening, salt, baking powder and water.
Is all purpose flour as good as pie and pastry flour in this recipe?
I use all purpose flour to make my pie crusts, but pie and pastry flour is also a good option for this recipe. I personally haven’t found my pie crust to be lacking in flakiness with just plain all purpose flour, but if you like to do things by the book and want to make sure your pie crust will be flaky, then feel free to use pie and pastry flour.
Step 1-2: Sift the flour, then whisk in the salt and baking powder. Add shortening and cut through with dinner knives until coarse crumbs remain. Add enough water to make the dough workable for rolling.
How do you combine the flour and shortening?
I usually start off the shortening and flour with dinner knives, then I like to gently mix the mixture with my fingers until only small pea sized lumps remain. Using your fingers is optional, I simply like to be able to get a good feel for the dough texture.
Step 3: Roll out the pie dough into a thin sheet (you will need to work in batches). Place into the pie plates of your choice and then flutes the edges or add a top layer of pie crust over the filling of your choice and then seal the edges.
What can I do if my pie crust cracks while rolling it out?
If the dough seems dry and cracks easily when being rolled, you will need to mix in more water. Flour can be used to keep the dough from sticking to the countertop or to your rolling pin.
You may enjoy some of my pie recipes using this pie crust! For a savory pie try the chicken and zuchinni curry pie or Amish chicken pot pie, both fun and tasty savory pie recipes.
Mom’s fresh Amish pumpkin custard pie was a favorite after school snack for us when we were kids! My family loves fresh cherry pie with plump cherries we get to pick at a local orchard where rows and rows of loaded cherry trees go as far as the eye can see.
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When you put a fruit filling ( banana and strawberry) are you supposed to bake blind the pastry ?
Yes, I usually dock the pie crust with a fork. then bake it at 375 for 20-3o minutes, or until done to your preference.
Can I use butter instead of shortening?
Honestly I have never tried it, a lot of pie crust recipes do call for butter or a mixture of butter and shortening, so I imagine it should work.
Does this recipe make 3 double-crust pie crusts or 3 single-crust pie crusts? Thank you in advance.
It makes enough for 2 9 inch pies, plus 1 9 inch that is double crusted. It varies somewhat but this is roughly what I can get out of the recipe.
Nice little recipe it was a little hard to get the consistency right but worked great
I’m glad it turned out well for you!
Hello, I was looking to make homemade pie crust for my Thanksgiving pies and I was wondering if the flour already says pre-sifted do I still need to sift it? If so do I sift after I mesaure or before I measure?
If the flour says it is pre-sifted I personally would not bother to sift it again unless it seems lumpy. If you do sift the flour, I measure it first and then sift it.