Classic Crisco Pie Crust Recipe (flaky)
Jul 24, 2020, Updated Jun 12, 2024
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Classic Crisco Pie Crust Recipe (flaky). This is old fashioned all-shortening pie crust recipe that yields a delicious, tender, and flaky crust. This is a tried and true Davis family recipe that the Davis family holds true to creating the best pies.
It is the easiest single crust pie to make and will deliver a perfect pie crust every time! You can fill both sweet and savory fillings with this classic shortening crust.
Pie recipes: Best Bursting Blueberry Pie Flaky Crust, Best Fresh Roasted Pumpkin Pie, Best Banana Cream Dream Pie, Best Brown Butter Apple Pie, Classic Rhubarb Pie Recipe (Perfect Crust), and Best Blueberry Mini Pies.
This recipe is passed down from generation in my husband’s family- for a good reason! You will love how easy it is to make and delicious it is to eat!
Why Use Crisco For Pie Crust?
Baking with Crisco is also less temperamental than butter as you don’t have to worry about the melting temperature when you touch the dough. This crust tastes like none I’ve ever tasted, countless people say the same.
The baked pie crust is tender, flaky, mild, versatile for sweet and savory pies, and will leave you wanting more after every bite. It’s a must-try for your next pie!
For all butter pie crust: Ultimate All Butter Pie Crust.
Simple Ingredients
There are only a few very simple ingredients for this easy pie crust recipe. If you’re looking for the lightest and flakiest pie crust, then this Classic Crisco Pie Crust recipe is all you need! With just 4 simple ingredients, this recipe comes together quickly and easily.
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Crisco (vegetable shortening)
- Ice cold water
How To Make Pie Crust Using Crisco
- Remove 1/3 cup of flour from the 2 cups of flour and set aside in a small mixing bowl.
- Mix the remaining flour and salt together in a medium to a large mixing bowl.
- Add Crisco shortening to the flour mixture – mix together thoroughly with hands until all of the Crisco is well incorporated into the flour mixture (“over-mixing” the dough is actually what you want to do here, which is the opposite of what you do when making dough for a butter crust).
- Add cold water to the 1/3 cup of flour and whisk together with a fork to form a paste.
- Add this mixture to the dough and mix with your hands until fully incorporated and just until the dough is not sticky anymore.
- Separate dough into 2 equal-sized balls.
- Roll the dough balls seperately between two sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper with a rolling pin.
Blind Baking
- Place the dough on a pie plate or tin.
- Poke the bottom with a fork several times to avoid air bubbles.
- Line the dough with tin foil and fill to the very TOP with plain white sugar (this is your weight- it will not touch the crust- do not reuse the sugar for eating but you may reuse it for blind baking).
- Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes. It is not supposed to be brown. It will have a slight gold tint.
Fillings
-
- Add filling to unbaked shell.
- Repeat step 9 with the other half to create a top crust or lattice, if desired. Bake according to your pie
- recipe.
Top Tip
For this recipe, I recommend NOT using a food processor. I prefer to mix this pie crust by hand and with a simple fork. You can also use a pastry blender, if you wish.
A little history about vegetable shortening and why I use it occasionally (actually, ONLY for this pie crust). Crisco brand started in 1911 its’ claim to fame from other brands was it contained 100% vegetable and plant-based fat and nothing else.
This is appealing to those with certain dietary restrictions.
- Compared to lard, Crisco remains neutral in taste
- Different from butter, Crisco lasts for years on the shelf (a little perturbing, I know)
- Unlike olive oil, it attains a high smoking temperature for frying
For all the bad rap it has in our “all natural food” world today, I still find a tiny bitty corner for this pantry item. In the 1950s when my husband’s grandmother, Rhea, whipped out pies like no one’s business- she used this tried and true Crisco pie crust recipe.
This is still the recipe that all the Davis family uses today, and for a good reason- it delivers a super flaky crust every time.
It is also the first pie crust my husband and I started using for our pies.
You won’t notice that crazy marbling as you do with our Ultimate All Butter Pie Crust, instead, you will see a uniform and smooth-to-the-touch appearance.
Pies Using Crisco
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Classic Crisco Pie Crust Recipe (flaky)
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 1x
Description
This crust tastes like none I’ve ever tasted, countless people say the same. It is tender, flaky, mild, versatile for sweet and savory pies, and will leave you wanting more after every bite. It’s a must try for your next pie!
Ingredients
- 2 C flour (remove 1/3 C set aside)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 C Crisco (vegetable shortening)
- 1/4 C cold water
Instructions
For the Dough
- Remove 1/3 cup of flour from 2 cups of flour and set aside in a small mixing bowl.
- Mix the remaining flour and salt together in a medium to large mixing bowl.
- Add Crisco to the flour mixture – mix together thoroughly with hands until all of the Crisco is well incorporated into the flour mixture (“over-mixing” the dough is actually what you want to do here, which is the opposite of what you do when making dough for a butter crust).
- Add cold water to the 1/3 cup of flour and whisk together with a fork to form a paste.
- Add this mixture to the dough and mix with your hands until fully incorporated and just until the dough is not sticky anymore.
- Separate dough into 2 equal-sized balls.
- Roll out each ball between two sheets of plastic wrap.
For Baked Fillings (apple, pumpkin, etc.)
- Add filling to unbaked shell.
- Repeat step 9 with the other half to create a top crust or lattice, if desired. Bake according to your pie
- recipe.
To Blind Bake (for cream pies):
- Place the dough on a pie plate or tin.
- Poke the bottom with a fork several times to avoid air bubbles.
- Line the dough with tin foil and fill to the very TOP with plain white sugar (this is your weight- it will not touch the crust- do not reuse the sugar for eating but you may reuse it for blind baking).
- Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes. It is not supposed to be brown. It will have a slight gold tint.
Notes
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Sweet/Savory
- Method: American
- Cuisine: American
I had a recipe like this one that I always used when my kids were growing up. Somehow I lost it and Iโve been looking for something like it for years and years. Yours is it!!! You have made my day!!
YAY! So happy you landed on this one. It is a tried and true family favorite.
I use butter flavored crisco when I make this and it just adds an even more in depth buttery goodness. This is an absolute family favorite!
Yes! So happy you love it as much as we do.
This pie crust was AMAZING! So easy to make and perfect because I can’t use butter due to a dairy allergy. Crust was super flaky and light. Dough was really easy to work with. I used them to make mini pumpkin pies and and they came out perfectly.
It is an old favorite that everyone loves. The texture turns out perfect every time!
I love the mini pie idea!
I had a tried and true all shortening ( Crisco) recipe that made fabulous crust every time. Since they changed the Crisco formula by removing the Trans Fat I can no longer make an edible crust. I am an experienced baker and am not doing anything different. The dough wonโt hold together, it crumbles when baked and if you add more water to mix the crust gets really tough. Curious if others are having the same issue? If so, has anyone found a solution?
Hi Gigi, are you referring to this pie crust recipe? We do not have any of the issues you mention and all others that I know make it haven’t either. Happy to help you find a solution.
Best,
Elena
This recipe has been a really special recipe for me. Those who haven’t tried the recipe should try it now.
It is a tried and true family recipe!
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I finally made this crust last weekend and it is amazing! Iโve tried for a few years to get better at making pie crusts and this recipe was it! Just the perfect balance of flaky and yummy!
So happy you loved it! We use it all the time. It is a staple in our home.