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Pie Pastry using Oil




There are always those times in the kitchen where the cook will scratch her head for ideas when she's run out of an important ingredient or is serving someone with diet restrictions. 
This pastry has no butter, lard or shortening but is made using vegetable oil. The pastry is easy to make, but there are a few tricks to rolling it out and fitting it into the pie plate. It bakes up tender and flakey. Once you've tried it...come back and let me know what you think.

This is enough dough for 2 single 9" pie crusts or one 9"with a bottom and top crust.
  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, measure it loosely, do not pack it down
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup, plus 1 tbsp vegetable oil, I like to use a glass measuring cup so that the liquid amount is exact
  • 4 tbsp ice water
  1. Measure first three dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
  2. Add oil and stir until the pastry begins to look lumpy.
  3. Add the ice water and continue to stir forming a soft dough. 
  4. IF the dough is dry and not coming together add 1 tsp more oil at a time. Do NOT add more water to make a wetter dough. 
  5. Cut 2 pieces of wax paper that are at least 12" long. Sprinkle lightly with flour and place dough in middle. Sprinkle lightly with flour and top with second piece of wax paper.
  6. Roll dough that is between the sheets of wax paper. Once you have your desired size of pastry rolled out, carefully peel back top piece of wax paper.
  7. Pull the pie plate close to the pastry and carefully lift and flip it into the pie plate, moving it gently  to fit the pan. Peel back the wax paper.
  8. Bake shell empty, or fill with desired filling, top with second crust if pie calls for a top crust and bake.




11 comments:

  1. I've started baking with coconut oil so I will have to try it in my pie pastry dough. Thanks for sharing the idea. So far everything has baked up just the same with coconut oil over other shortening or butters but I never thought about it in pie crust.

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    1. Yes, the coconut oil would definitely make the pastry more 'healthy' , but I'm wondering if I would miss the 'buttery' flavour substituting oil for butter.. Did you notice a big flavour difference, Kathy ?

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    2. I don't notice a difference in the taste at all. I think that the oil pastry bakes up a little bit crisper...very tasty and nice texture. I typically use Tender flake for my pie crust.

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    3. thank you , Kathy ! I have always used half butter/half Tenderflake in my pie crusts, both before and after Gluten free ... but I'm going to try the coconut oil and will of course make my 'experiment' public! smile

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  2. For some reason, I always used an oil-pastry in my early years of pie-making. I remember rolling it out between sheets of plastic wrap, so it was easier to transfer to the pie plate. I must try it again sometime soon!

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  3. I've never heard of this but I love trying new techniques and you're so right when you run out of things you have a "back up". Thank you!

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  4. I have used oil in my pie crust pastry since I first started baking pies - in the '60's. But I use a pat-in-the-pan method, not the rolling out method. It's much easier to clean up the counter/pastry board! I never fail to get appreciative comments about how "flaky" the crust is. My answer is "oil" AND the fact that there is much less manipulation of the dough when patting it in the pan rather than rolling it out. Of course, if you're going to need a double crust, then the top crust will need to be rolled out. Thanks, "Mennonite Girls" for learning to cook and sharing your recipes and ideas with the world!

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  5. I have never tried making pie crust with oil. I need to give this a whirl as we have friends who do not eat anything with lard, which is what I typically use. I have just been making graham wafer crusts for their desserts but would love to make a flour and oil crust pie for them sometime. Thanks for sharing this!

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  6. I make a savory pie crust for my spinach broccoli and asiago cheese sun pie. I use olive oil and dry white wine. The sun pie makes a great presentation. It is always a big hit!

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  7. That does sound really good. Love savoury dishes.

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  8. I like to think of myself as a competent baker, but making pie used to intimidate me to no end - I never seemed to have any luck with it. And then I came across Nana's Cookery youtube channel and found a recipe for pie pastry using oil (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHUwGaJD2pw). It was the very first pie crust that ever worked out for me. I've since figured out how to make traditional pie crust, but I'll always have a soft spot for this method.

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