Shoutout to my grandma's pie crust recipe - butter vs. shortening debate started a fight at Thanksgiving

I grew up on my grandma's all-butter pie crust, flaky and rich, but my aunt swore by shortening for structure. At our 2022 Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh, my cousin brought a side-by-side comparison and people actually argued for 20 minutes about which was better. The butter crust browned faster but fell apart, while the shortening one held shape but tasted... plain. Has anyone else seen a family recipe change like that over the last decade, and what caused the switch in your house?

2 comments

2 Comments

victor_butler5015d ago

Gotta side with the shortening camp on this one, butter crusts are overrated for anything that needs to hold its shape (like a pot pie or hand pie). My grandma switched from butter to lard in the 80s because her crusts kept caving in during the holidays, and nobody could tell the difference taste-wise after the filling went in. A well-made shortening crust gives you that tender flake without the sogginess at the bottom, plus it doesn't get that weird greasy mouthfeel when it cools down. Butter browns too fast so you end up with a dark edge and raw center, which is just sad for a Thanksgiving pie. Maybe it's the Pittsburgh thing but I'll take a solid structure over a rich melt-in-your-mouth disaster any day.

luna_sanchez15d ago

Totally agree with the solid structure take. The flake from shortening is just unbeatable for a hand pie.