My grandmother’s easy no fail pie crust is your answer to stress-free baking! Made with shortening and a handful of pantry staples, this foolproof recipe yields tender, golden, and flaky pie crusts perfect for sweet and savory holiday baking or whipping up a weekend dessert!
This no fail pie crust recipe comes directly from my grandmother’s handwritten recipe. It’s beautifully written in cursive writing, which you don’t see too often anymore, so to preserve that piece of paper for as long as humanly possible, I’m adding it to the blog and sharing it with all of you!
It’s the best, flaky pie crust made with a handful of simple ingredients, and it makes a total of 5 pie crusts. It’s as easy as an Oreo pie crust or graham cracker crust and just as flaky as my all-butter pie dough.
You can omit the sugar if you’re making savory pies like an easy chicken pot pie or zucchini and squash galette, and it’s a great recipe for making ahead when you need pie crust on demand for desserts like old fashioned pecan pie, cosmic brownie pie, or fresh strawberry pie.
You can also use a couple immediately and freeze the rest. This never fail pie crust might be the only recipe you’ll ever need!
Vintage No Fail Pie Crust Recipe
Why you’ll love this recipe
- It’s made with shortening which is ideal for tender crusts.
- Just 7 ingredients and one of them is water!
- This recipe makes 5 pie crusts, so you’ll have plenty to freeze.
- Perfect for sweet or savory pies.
Helpful Tools
Ingredients
Below is a list of the ingredients you’ll need to gather to make this recipe, why you need them, and possible substitutions. Scroll all the way down for the full recipe card with measurements.
Jump- All-purose flour: Follow my instructions on how to measure flour correctly without a scale for the best results. It’s important not to use more flour than you need.
- Granulated white sugar: You can omit this if you’re making a savory pie.
- Salt: Enhances the flavor, otherwise it would be bland.
- Shortening: This keeps the dough nice and tender and once baked, tender and flaky.
- Egg: Needed to bind the ingredients.
- Water: Brings the dry ingredients together to form a dough.
- White vinegar: A line of defense against overworking the dough. Something we don’t want to do, but if it happens, just in case, the vinegar helps keep it tender. It also keeps the dough fresher for longer.
How to make No Fail Pie Crust
This section shows you how to make this recipe, with process photos showing the steps to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
Jump- Step One: In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar and salt. Then, use a pastry cutter (or fork) to cut in the shortening until coarse crumbs are formed.
- Step Two: Mix in the beaten egg, water, and vinegar with a fork until a dough forms. Do not overmix!
- Step Three: Divide the dough into 5 equal portions. You can either eyeball this or use a scale. Flatten each dough ball into a disk and wrap them individually in plastic wrap.
- Step Four: Chill the dough for at least 15 minutes (longer if it’s a warmer environment) or for up to 3 days.
- Step Five: Roll each disk out to an 8 to 9-inch circle and use as directed according to your pie recipe. If your recipe calls for a bottom and top crust, you’ll need 2 disks.
- Use cold shortening and water. This isn’t a must, but it does help keep the never fail pie crust nice and flaky. The longer it takes for the shortening to melt, it gives it time to create more steam pockets to make a flakier crust.
- Don’t skip the chill time. Solidifying the fat is just another way to ensure a flaky crust. If the shortening starts to melt even before it goes into the oven, there’s less chance of creating those steam pockets.
- Do not overmix the dough. Not just once the dough is forming, but even when cutting the shortening into your dry ingredients. Once the coarse crumbs (pea-sized) have formed, stop mixing!
- If your dough cracks, no worries. Use your fingers to smooth it out or patch it up with a bit of extra dough.
Storage & Reheating
How to store leftovers
Keep the wrapped disks in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freezing Instructions
Transfer the disks to a freezer bag and keep them frozen for up to 3 months. Remember, they should be wrapped individually, so you don’t need to thaw all the dough at once.
Thaw them in the fridge overnight and use as directed.
No Fail Pie Crust Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ¾ cups shortening
- 1 large egg beaten
- ½ cup water
- 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.4 cups all purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon granulated white sugar, 1 teaspoon salt
- Use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut in the shortening.1 ¾ cups shortening
- Add in the beaten egg, water, and vinegar.1 large egg, ½ cup water, 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
- Blend with a fork until a dough forms.
- Divide the dough into 5 equal sized balls. Flatten into disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and move to the fridge to chill for at least 15 minutes.
- Roll out each disk into an 8-9" circle and use according to recipe.
Notes
- Makes 5 single pie crusts.
- Chill at least 15 minutes. Warmer climates may need to chill longer for the best results.
- Dough disks can be chilled for up to 3 days. Longer than that, it freezes really well for up to 3 months.
- If making a savory pie, you can skip the sugar, if preferred.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Did you make this recipe?
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If you made this recipe, I’d love to know how it went in the comments section below.
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Hello Can I make this in my stand mixer? I’m unable to mix by hand due to Arthritis
Hi! I think a dough hook should work or even better, if you have a food processor, I think that might work best to pulse it together and not overmix it.
Going to try! I live at Tucson and my pie crusts always shrink when blind baked, even when using pie weights. This includes the store bought ones also. I always have to add more liquid to flour recipes, even bread takes added liquid. Hope this recipe works without shrinkage.
Let me know how it goes!
Instead of shortening, could I use organic leaf lard? It has less chemicals than shortening.
I haven’t tested but when I shared this on FB, many people told me they do 🙂
I have been making this recipe for years. I could not find it on my computer and am not home near my printed recipes. Thanks for providing it. It makes the best pie crust.
I’m so glad, you’re welcome!
I use butter instead of shortening.
I do have an all butter pie dough as well, but it’s slightly different.
Best pie crust I ever made!
Yay, thanks, Sue!