Your wish is our command: an easy, homemade piecrust -- without all the fat.Want a piecrust as good as Mom's, but with far less fat? Your search is over. This goof-proof, freezer-friendly homemade crust will impress your family and friends with its taste and texture, and knock their socks off when they find out it's light. The typical piecrust (homemade and store-bought alike) contributes 70% of the fat and more than half the calories in a slice of apple pie. Ours is only a fraction of that.
How'd we do it? The key to this tender piecrust is a slurry -- a mixture of flour and liquid (water and vinegar, in this case), which displaces much of the fat.
We said this crust is easy, but to make it even easier, check out our step-by-steps as a reference while you're putting it together. And once you've got the crust down, fill it with one of our wonderful fillings for holidays -- or any day.
Pastry Crust Step-By-Steps
1. Stir together 1/4 cup flour, ice water, and vinegar to make a slurry.
2. Combine remaining flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Then cut in shortening until the mixture looks like coarse meal.
3. Add slurry, and toss with a fork until flour mixture is moist.
4. Gently press dough into a circle on heavy-duty plastic wrap.
5. Place additional plastic wrap over the dough, and roll into a 12-inch circle. Freeze for 10 minutes.
6. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap, and let the dough rest for about 1 minute or until it is easy to work with.
7. Fit dough, plastic-wrap side up, into a 9-inch pie plate or a 9-inch round removable-bottom tart pan. Remove plastic wrap. Fold the edges of the dough under, and flute.
8. Line the dough with aluminum foil, and fill with pie weights or uncooked dried beans. (Pie weights can be found for $5.95 at cooking.com.)
9. Remove pie weights and foil. Cool on a wire rack.
