Here’s How to Make a Perfect Pie Crust With Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Shortening 

As the holiday season approaches, pies are the grand finale after many meals. Unlike cookies or cakes, however, pies can seem intimidating to many home bakers—and often, pie crusts are the main culprit!

If you want to make this the year you skip the store-bought pie and finally learn to make your own pies from scratch, a perfect dough is the first place you’ll need to start. Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Shortening makes a welcome substitute to a traditional shortening (which is often one of the first ingredients in a pie crust), so you can stick to your health goals and shopping values as you experiment in the kitchen.

Meet Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Shortening

This plant-based alternative to traditional shortening is made from just one simple ingredient: fractionated avocado oil. This means that it’s made from the solid portions left over from making avocado oil, which might otherwise go to waste—a win for sustainability and for your health. 

With its neutral flavor and high smoke point, Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Shortening is perfect for flaky pie crusts, tender biscuits, and golden, crisp cookies. Use it anywhere you would use a shortening, but without any of the hydrogenated oils, palm oil, or additives. It’s also vegan, Non-GMO Project Verified, and glyphosate-residue free, so you can feel good about what you’re baking with. 

Ready to make your own pie using Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Shortening? This recipe for a classic homemade pie dough is simple to prepare and easy to store, so you can use it for all of your holiday baking plans. Happy baking! 

Easy Homemade Pie Dough Recipe

Yield: 2 disks of dough
Active Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes, plus chill time 

Ingredients:

2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cold butter, cubed
4 tbsp Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Shortening
1 tbsp sugar
½ tsp sea salt
⅓ cup ice water

Instructions:

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.

Add the chilled butter cubes and shortening to the flour mixture. Using your thumb and pointer finger, smash each piece of butter into the flour until only lentil-sized pieces remain.

Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of ice water at a time, stirring with a fork after each addition. Continue until the dough begins to clump together into a dough when squeezed gently. It may take a few rounds, and you probably will not need all of the water, but if it’s very dry you can add a little more.

Pour the mixture onto a clean surface and gently pack it together into a square. Cut the square in half and stack it, pressing down to flatten. Repeat one more time, adding flour if needed to prevent sticking.

Cut the dough in half again and shape each half into a 1-inch disk. Wrap each piece tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight for best results. The dough can be left in the fridge for up to 3 days, or frozen for a month.

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Want more baking tips? Check out our guide to baking perfect pies, learn the difference between baking powder vs. baking soda, or try Dan Pelosi’s pumpkin bread recipe.