Like I have said before, I love the holidays because it means family traditions.
It should come as no surprise that my family has an abundance of family recipes. I have recipes and dishes I learned from my mother, she has the same from her mother, and my grandmother had recipes from her mother. We are a family that loves to cook, especially for the holidays.
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I turned to my mom for the perfect pie crust recipe which has been handed down from Mamaw, my great grandmother. In addition to some great one-liners (which are hilarious), she could make a mean pie crust. To show just how much we love this crust and how many times we've made it, this is the recipe my mom sent me when I asked for her to send it my way.
Many recipes in my family are like that. Nothing is ever too descriptive as a majority of the recipe lives in our heads (much like our Christmas cookies, but that's for another day) which makes it tricky to pass on to generations. The key is to write it down when you get the chance, so I'm doing just that! I've adapted this recipe to fit my diet, but rest assured, it still has the same great taste.
I swapped the all-purpose flour with Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. This bakes very similarly to all-purpose, unlike coconut flour or almond flour. The 1-to-1 Baking Flour is a blend of sweet white rice flour, whole grain brown rice flour, potato starch, whole grain sweet white sorghum flour, tapioca flour and xanthan gum (phew, that's a mouth-full!).
Crisco, aka shortening, was introduced in 1911 to provide an economical alternative to animal fats and butter, and also as a product that would stay in solid form year-round, regardless of temperature (ew). While I love soybean oil, fully hydrogenated palm ooil ad partially hydrogenated palm and soybean oils as much as the next person, I don't want it in my pie. Instead of shortening, I'm using grass-fed butter.
Alright, time for the pie crust making tutorial...
Mamaw's Pie Crust
Servings: 2 crusts
Ingredients:
- 2 cups Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
- 10 tbsp COLD cubed grass fed butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp coconut palm sugar
- Ice water (see step 4) - fill a small bowl with about a cup of cold water and add one ice cube, set aside
Directions:
1. Start by cubing your butter. I can't stress enough how important COLD butter is! Cut the butter into small pieces and place back into the refrigerator. In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, salt and sugar.
2. Add cold butter to the flour.
3. Now "cut in" the butter. This can be done with a fork and knife or two knives. You will literally cut the butter into the flour as if you were slicing a piece of meat.
Keep cutting until you reach a meal like consistency.
4. Once you've reached a meal like consistency you will begin adding the ice water. In total you will need roughly 10 tbsp of ice water to form your dough, however we will add just 1 tbsp at a time. My dough normally takes 10 tbsp of ice water - your's could need more or less. With the addition of each tbsp of ice water, stir with a spatula to combine. Don't use those warm hands yet! Continue adding and stirring. After about 8 tbsp you dough should begin holding in a ball. Now you can use your hands to start forming. Continue adding water until your dough holds together. Not too dry, not too wet.
5. You will be left with one ball of dough, which is enough for 2 pie crusts. Divide this dough in half.
6. Place one ball of dough between two large pieces of plastic wrap. Roll the dough out into an evenly thin round, roughly 12" for a 9" pie pan. You could also roll out on a floured surface, but that makes it more difficult to transfer your dough to the pie pan. Once you've reached the desired size, peel top layer of plastic wrap off. Flip into pan, dough side down, and then peel off bottom layer of plastic wrap.
7. Form the dough into the pie pan. Don't fret if you have some breaks or the dough becomes separated! It is oh-so-forgiving :) You are now ready to fill your pie with whatever filling your heart desires! Pumpkin pie, apple pie, chocolate cream pie, quiches...the possibilities are endless.
I hope you enjoy Mamw's pie crust just as much as we love it in our family. While this crust is in no way 'healthy' it is lightened up so that it is easier to enjoy during the holidays!
Nutritional Information (Based on 1 slice out of 10 slices)
100 calories - 1 g Protein, 12 g Carbohydrates, 5.5 g Fat