Stocking Up. Bulk Freezer Pie Crust Recipe

Kingdom Hearts Tarts made with freezer pie crust recipe.

Featured Food Storage: Shortening, Flour, Salt

Pantry Stocking Suggestion: Shortening. You should always have shortening on hand in your pantry. Suggestion: Buy an extra pack this week for your storage. I also really like the butter flavored Crisco.

I make a lot of pies. In the Fall, I make several peach and apple pies, bake them and then freeze them for later. I also love to make tarts, and other pies on a mere whim. I always need a pie crust handy. I really dislike store bought pre-made pie crusts and I don't enjoy making one or two pie crusts at a time. All that flour and Crisco equal a mess. Therefore to fulfill my pie crust needs and to make my life simpler I like to make 18 pie crusts at once, or occasionally when I am feeling less ambitious, 7 pie crusts at a time.

Pie season is upon us and so I recently spent an hour making the next several months worth of pie crusts. I love these crusts they are relatively easy to roll out (when done right) and they are tasty and flaky. So much better than those wimpy flaccid store bought things.

It is also cheap to make 18 pie crusts. 18 pie crusts cost me around $7 total which comes out out to approximately .25 cents a crust. Now that is worth the effort if you are a pie lover like me.

Note: If you like to customize each pie crust flavor to its pie, then these crust recipes are not for you.

Freezer Pie Crust for 7 dough bricks for 8 or 9 inch pies

You will also need plastic wrap or sandwich size plastic baggies.

6 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp salt

1 (1 lb) can or 2 1/3 cups vegetable shortening

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 Cups cold water

For 18 to 20 dough bricks

1 - 5 lb bag all purpose flour

2 Tbsp salt

1- 3 lb can of vegetable shortening (I use the butter flavor Crisco)

3 Cups Cold Water

If you are going to make the larger recipe you will need a full size heavy duty mixer such as a Bosch and you will need to prepare the recipe in halves.

In a bowl combine flour and salt. With a pastry cutter or mixer cut in shortening until it resembles cornmeal in texture.

Add water all at once if using 7 brick recipe add 1 1/4 cups. Mix lightly until water is absorbed and mixture forms a ball.
This is how I like my pie dough to look. If it is too dry I add water one tablespoon at at time until it is a the texture I like.

Once your pie crusts are finished divide into approximately 4x6 inch bricks approximately 1 1/2 inch thick. Wrap each pie brick individually and stack in freezer bags. Store in freezer for up to 10 months.

To use defrost in the refrigerator. Dip or roll brick into flour and roll into pie crust.

P.S. The Kingdom Heart Tarts use one pie crust brick to make one pan of mini lemon tarts. My four year-old thought we were calling them Kingdom Hearts and so they have been forever dubbed Kingdom Hearts.