Pie Crust with Crisco®

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons hydrogenated shortening

1/4 cup water

1. Stir flour and salt to distribute
2. Cut in shortening with a fork or pastry blender. I find the shortening cuts in better with a fork, unlike cold butter.
3. Add the water all at once and stir in with a fork until the dough comes together. If the dough seems too dry, add more water, a tablespoon at a time, until it is moist enough to hold together and feel pliable.
4. Roll dough about 1-2 inches larger than top rim of pan on a floured surface. My preference for rolling is a wooden pin with a rolling pin sock. With flour rubbed in to the sock, it never sticks to the dough.
5. Roll the dough onto the pin, brushing off excess flour on the back. Unroll into pan and use your favorite crimping method. My pattern follows the curve on the top of my thumb from the nail to the knuckle.

Cooked Apple Filling

3.5 lbs Braeburn apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

4 tablespoons butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup tapioca starch mixed with 1 tablespoon water and 1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Melt butter over low heat in large saucepan or dutch oven. A high-sided pan will be needed for such a large amount of apples.
2. Stir in sugar and spices and vanilla.
3. Stir in apples to coat, then cover and cook for 10-20 minutes.
4. Uncover and stir in tapioca starch mixture, continuing to cook and stir until thickened.
5. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

The amount of starch you need is going to depend on the amount of liquid produced by the apples. Short of actually pouring it off to measure before thickening, you need to judge the number of cups of liquid created. Don’t worry if you get more liquid than you need—just thicken it all, but don’t put it all in the pie. I had 2 cups of filling left over and am thinking of putting them on pancakes.

Putting Together and Baking the Pie

I’m sure you know how to put together a 2 crust pie, but here goes, anyway:

• I like to fold the top crust under the edge of the bottom crust to make a thick edge before crimping. As you can see in the finished photos, the crimped edges didn’t keep their tight shape, and that often happens for me with that fat edge, but we still like it—we eat the crust edge first, kind of like a pastry of its own.
• I make slits in the top crust with a sharp knife edge, rather than cutting out shapes, but that would be okay, too.
• The precooked filling bubbled over more than I thought it would, but I kind of like the look of it running all over the crust. Hint: put a sheet of foil below the pie on a lower shelf to catch drips.
• I was surprised that the filling cooked down further and left that familiar gap between the crust and filling. It’s more of a cosmetic issue than an eating issue, but it tells me a lot about that filling. Even with uncooked fillings, sometimes there’s a gap and sometimes not. Maybe one day, I will make a room full of pies to test that feature (unlikely).
• I baked this pie at 425° for 45 minutes.

I’m very happy with the taste and texture of the Braeburns. I’d like to try them in an uncooked filling to see how they come out, but maybe that’s for another birthday.