Ellen Straus’ Pie Crust Recipe

November 14, 2022
Recipes

This hefty, absolutely unbelievable crust is what our founder Albert Straus and his siblings grew up on. This recipe was created by Albert’s mother Ellen Straus. This pie crust is thick and tastes almost like shortbread, but better. It is a perfect crust for any type of fruit (strawberries, Santa Rosa plums, or apples). In the spirit of Ellen, we recommend that you use all organic ingredients.

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 40 min

Ingredients

2 cups organic flour
1/4 cup organic sugar (or to taste)
2 organic egg yolks
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup Straus Family Creamery Organic Unsalted Sweet European Style Butter

Instructions

Step 1

Put the flour in a bowl, add sugar, egg yolks, salt and butter cut into pieces. Work by hand until you have a smooth ball. Then press it into your ungreased 10" spring form. Make a bottom and sides with the dough. If you want to fill the crust later with fresh, uncooked fruit, then poke the bottom and sides with a fork and bake the crust by itself at 350 degrees for at least half an hour or until golden.
Step 2

You can also make an Apple Crumb Torte by slicing apples (Granny Smith or Gravenstein apples work best) and laying them in the bottom and adding the juice of one lemon. Make a topping separately of a cup of flour mixed with three quarters of a stick of Straus Family Creamery Organic Unsalted Sweet European Style Butter and three quarters cup of packed light brown sugar and cinnamon to taste. Crumble the mixture over the apples and lemon juice and bake in the oven for at least one hour or until the top is brown and the apples are bubbling. Serve warm or cold.