No Fail Vegan Pie Crust

Sarah K., Savvy Vegetarian: "The secret to successful vegan pie crust is to chill every single ingredient, plus the pastry blender and the bowl."

Use this vegan pie crust recipe for any pie, vegan or not. Makes enough for one single crust 9 inch pie. Double the recipe for pies with a top crust.

You'll have a bit of crust left over for a few tarts or pie crust cookies, invented by children for children (cut out shapes with cookie cutter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon :-)

For best results handle the dough with your hands as little as possible and begin with thoroughly chilled ingredients

For quick and easy pastry making, and a lifetime investment of under $30, it's great to have:

1. A heavy wooden or marble rolling pin something like this. By the way - for years of faithful, trouble free service,don't immerse your wooden rolling pin in water, or put it in the dish washer. Just wipe clean with a damp cloth and air dry.
2. A sturdy pastry blender with flat blades, not wires. here's a good example. Or this one. You can use two knives, or a fork, but it's laborious.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup frozen Earth Balance veggie spread
• 2 T sugar (optional, for sweet pies)
• Ice water

Directions:

1. Chill flour in large mixing bowl for 1/2 an hour - the freezer is ideal
2. Mix in sugar if using
3. Cut the frozen veggie spread into the flour with a pastry blender or a fork until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
4. Gradually add the ice water, mixing it in with the pastry blender or fork
5. Add water gradually, mixing with a fork, just until it starts to clump together
6. Handling the dough as little as possible with your hands, form a ball of dough
7. Chill the dough for 1/2 an hour before rolling
8. Press the dough flat into a disk and roll out on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin
9. If the dough is too crumbly to handle allow the dough to warm up a bit before rolling
10. For the best results, roll away from your body and after every one or two strokes with the rolling pin give the dough a slight clockwise turn
11. Continue rolling and rotating until the crust is about 3 inches larger in diameter than the rim of the pie plate
12. Carefully transfer the crust to the pie plate by folding the dough in half and quickly lifting it to the pie plate and than unfolding it
13. Center the crust and trim so that the crust hangs slightly over the edge.
14. Flute the edges by placing the thumb on the outer side of the crust and the two index fingers on either side of the thumb in the inside of the crust. Push the thumb forward while pulling the index fingers toward you
15. Continue clockwise in this manner until you have gone all way around the rim of the pie
16. For a double crust add the filling and the top crust before trimming and fluting
17. Slash 3 steam vents in the top crust in a spoke pattern or just make a large 'V' if your pie will be served alongside other non-vegan pies