Mennonite Pie Dough

I could barely reach the top of the kitchen table when my mom taught me to make this pie dough recipe. To date I have made it in every country I have lived in and it has never failed me! It makes enough dough to do several pies at once, or to make pie dough and freeze the crusts for later. I usually get 5-6 crusts per batch (less if you are making double crusted pies).

To start, you will need a large mixing bowl and a pastry blender - if you do not have a pastry blender feel free to mix the dough with your hands.

Measure into the large bowl:
5 cups of all purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
2 cups shortening or lard

Mix with a pastry blender/hands until fine crumbs form and the crumbs have a yellowish color.

In a one cup measuring cup, beat an egg and add to the egg enough water (ice water works really well) to make one cup. Dump in 1 tsp. of vinegar and stir (try not to spill any of the liquid). Pour this mixture into the crumb mixture and gently blend with a fork until it is completely absorbed. Form dough into disks and roll out on a floured surface - sprinkle pie pans with a pinch of flour just prior to putting the dough into them. Press the dough firmly into the pans, lifting the edges as needed to ensure that there are no air pockets. Trim the edges, crimp, fill and bake according to pie recipe instructions or poke with fork holes if you are baking the crust for cream pie - I usually bake plain crusts for 15-20 minutes at 350. This dough also works great for turnovers and apple/peach dumplings. Happy pie making!