This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at Wash U chapter.

Ok, whoever came up with the saying “easy as pie” had a dark sense of humor, because in our experience pie is never easy – there’s all kinds of mincing, mixing, refrigerating, rolling, and tearing that have the potential for disaster, not to mention the debate over using butter, lard or Crisco in the crust. If you’ve ever been at the point of tossing the whole thing in the trash and trekking to the local bakery, despair no more. There exists a pie crust recipe that really gives truth to “easy as pie.” It only requires four vegan ingredients and, best of all, it’s ready to mix and roll with minimal hassle.

Medium

Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: Dependent on pie filling

Servings: 1 single-crust pie

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons ice water

Photo by Sharpay Zhang

Directions:
1. Combine flour,

Photo by Sharpay Zhang

vegetable oil,

Photo by Sharpay Zhang

ice water

Photo by Sharpay Zhang

and salt in a large mixing bowl (or whatever you have).

Photo by Sharpay Zhang

2. Mix until dough clumps. Be careful not to over-mix as your crust will become tough.

Photo by Sharpay Zhang

3. Prepare a surface to roll out your dough, ideally something like aluminum foil or wax paper that you can pick up. Before you start rolling, dust your surface and the top of your dough with flour to prevent sticking.

Photo by Sharpay Zhang

4. Roll the dough from the center out until it is approximately 11 inches in diameter. (Ideally, use a rolling pin. An empty paper towel roll could also work… get creative. )

Photo by Sharpay Zhang

5. Transfer your dough to your pie tin by placing the tin face down in the middle of the crust, sliding your hand underneath your surface and flipping the whole thing.

6. Crimp the edges of your crust by pinching the dough into small points all around the edge of the tin.