How To Make Your Own Pie Crust

The Best Homemade Pie Crust For All Kinds Of Pies

I have said many times on this site that pie making isnt my favorite Up until about 5 years ago I wasnt even truly confident in making pie crust from scratch. I would sub in a graham cracker crust wherever I couldnot that theres anything wrong with that, but the two arent always interchangeable. So I would stress about making them, or I would buy pre-made crustswhich are fine in a pinch, but they just arent the same as homemade.

Then one day I decided to end the drama. Its a pie crust, which is really only a few ingredients and few easy steps. I dove into different pie crust recipes and tinkered around with the best way to make what I felt would be the perfect pie crust. And guess what? Turns out making homemade pie crust isnt as hard as I used to think it was. In fact, it is downright EASY if you have the right pie crust recipe.

So today Im breaking it down for you. If I can do it, you can too.

How To Make A Homemade Pie Crust Shield

Taste of Home

The first step of creating your own pie crust shield is to tear off a square sheet of aluminum foil thats big enough to cover your pie. You dont need to use heavy-duty foil, but it certainly doesnt hurt. Pick up this bulk-sized roll and youll be set for years of serious pie baking.

Then fold the foil in half, then in half againthe same way you would if you were making paper snowflakes. Cut a curve around the edge making sure that the circle youre forming with this cut is large enough to fit around the outside edge of your pie dish. Cut another curve about three inches inside of your first slice.

You should end up with a large ring. This is your pie shield .

Taste of Home

How To Transfer The Crust To A Pie Plate

There are 3 different ways to do this. After you make a ton of pie crust , youll try all three and pick your preferred method.

Once youve transferred the dough, youll gently press down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate.Use a pair of kitchen scissors or sharp pairing knife to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish. But, wait! Youve got some tears and theres much sadness. DONT FRET! Just simply use your fingertips and gently press together any tears or cracks.

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Colorado Springs Cooking Instructor Gives Tips For Making Pizzayour Browser Indicates If You’ve Visited This Link

So today we’re focusing on the basics: howtomake a simple pizza at home. Once that’s under your belt, you can move on to something more exotic. To break down the making and baking, we turned to someone who teaches a class called Pizza Party at her cooking school: Cortney Smith,

The Gazette

Use A Spatula To Incorporate Water

Your processed flour and butter are sitting there in the bowl of your food processor and you’re tempted to save yourself a bit of cleanup by just adding the water directly in there, right? Don’t do it! Sure, it’ll work out okay, but you won’t form nearly the same level of flakiness as you do if you incorporate with a spatula. Here’s what a crust made 100% in the food processor looks like:

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Compare that to the crust I made with the spatula:

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

See the difference? By using the spatula to fold the water into the dough, you’re even more likely to end up with flaky layers.

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Use A Tapered Rolling Pin

While a ball-bearing-based heavy-duty cylindrical rolling pin might fit in a Norman Rockwell painting, the slender, slightly tapered French-style rolling pin offers far more control when rolling dough, is easier to clean and store, and is usually cheaper.

And that’s basically all I know about pie crust.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

For a more traditional dough that’s extra flaky but a little less beginner-friendly, check out our old-fashioned flaky pie dough.

All Butter Vs Shortening Vs Mixed Crusts

Pie crusts are made by working fat into flour when the fat melts during baking, it leaves behind layers of crispy, flaky crust. Yum. But just what fat you use in your pie is a matter of much debate one that really boils down to personal preference. While some people prefer lard and shortening crusts because they can be easier to work with, I prefer all-butter crusts because of their lovely, rich flavor. Here, Im sharing my go-to method for making an all-butter pie crust, which I promise is practically foolproof.

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Super Easy Homemade Pie Crust Recipe

My grandma knew how to make the best pies every year for Thanksgiving. Aside from the absolutely divine fillings, the crusts she made were always tender and flaky! Every year we would look forward to going to my Grandmas for Thanksgiving. She was the BEST cook. She raised 8 kids and had a home-cooked meal on the table for them each night. Everything she made was from scratch. Growing up, I remember staying a few weeks in the summer with her and she was always baking bread or a batch of peanut butter cookies. As soon as the warm bread came out of the oven she would slice it up and we would eat an entire loaf. You can find that recipe here and join in on the deliciousness!

But really, the best part about Thanksgiving was her pies. You couldnt wait to finish the meal to have a slice of her cherry pie. In all honesty, I have yet to try a better pie. She would make them all herself and you couldnt get enough! Her crusts were tender and perfect. In my opinion the best! Sometimes making any kind of dough from scratch can seem intimidating, but today I am going to show you how easy it is! The crust comes together in just a matter of minutes and you probably already have all of the ingredients on hand. Trust me, its going to enhance any pie you make! If any recipe is a staple, its this one! Ive included a printable graphic to have on hand for all of your baking needs. Lets keep the tradition going!

Can You Freeze Pie Dough

Yes! I love freezing pie crust before baking because then anytime I want to make a pie all I have to do is thaw it out and roll. Making and freezing pie dough ahead of time is also a great way to save time during the hectic holiday season.

There are two options for freezing pie dough.

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Be A Pie Crust Hero With Just Some Aluminum Foil You Can Make Your Own Pie Crust Shield

Its every pie bakers worst nightmare: You pop your gorgeous pie in the oven and before the center is completely cooked, the edges have burned to a crisp. Such a shame for a perfect pie crust!

To rectify the situation, you might, like me, haphazardly scrunch strips of foil onto the edges. I can tell you, this doesnt work so well. The foil falls off more often than not. But that doesnt mean that aluminum foil isnt the right tool for the job. In fact, you can make a pie crust shield from foil that actually works. Heres how to do it.

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How To Make A Gluten

I have tested making this gluten-free pie dough in two different ways.

If you dont have a stand-up mixer or hand mixer you can still make this crust the traditional way by hand.

All of the ingredients and recipe instructions are at the bottom of the page in the recipe card.

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Top Tips For Ingredients

Flour: For a tender crust, choose a low-protein flour. Pastry flour, with a protein content of about 8-10%, ranks between all-purpose flour and cake flour. All-purpose flour works just fine for pie crusts, while cake flour might lack enough protein to form a workable, elastic dough.

• Depending upon your tastes and the recipe, you can substitute nut flours or whole wheat pastry flour for part of the mixture.
• If you’re a novice crust-maker, start with a plain all-purpose or pastry flour dough.

Fat: Flaky pie crusts can be made from a variety of fats: butter, lard, shortening, duck fat, vegetable oil, or nut oils.

• Crusts made with all butter are very flavorful, though they are generally not quite as flaky as crusts made with shortening or lard.
• Vegetable shortening pie doughs are easier to work with and hold their shape better than all-butter crusts, but the flavor won’t be as rich.
• Lard produces the flakiest crust, but processed lard can have a chemical aftertaste. Some butchers or farmers’ market stands might sell fresh rendered lard.
• Some of the best pie crusts are made with a combination of fats: half butter, for flavor, and half shortening or lard, for flakiness.
• Fans of crispier crusts use melted butter or oil for the fat, resulting in a mealier dough that bakes up as a fine-textured, crisp crust.

Salt: don’t forget to add a pinch of salt to enhance the flavor of your crust.

Make Your Own Pie Crust

Paula’s old fashioned sweet potato pie

Tara Donne, Food Network

Theres something extraordinary about pastry. Its the perfect combination of crisp, delicate, flaky and tender. Ready-to-bake versions from the store promise convenience but you can make your own in a matter of minutes. Something this special deserves a homemade touch — make yours now and freeze it for Thanksgiving.

The Price of Convenience

Packaged refrigerated and frozen pie crusts use trans fat-laden partially hydrogenated oils or lard. They are also expensive, costing $3.00-4.00 each on average.

Pastry 101

Pie dough is one of the easiest pastries to make. You want it light and flaky and the secret is using cold ingredients. When the cold crust enters the oven, steam is produced, which incorporates tiny pockets of air between the layers of dough. Most recipes can be made by hand or with a few pulses of a food processor. Once the ingredients are combined, they make another visit to the fridge for more chilling before rolling and baking. You can also freeze finished pastry for 3 to 6 months for easy holiday prep.

Flour, salt, water and maybe a pinch of sugar are the basic ingredients of any dough. Another necessity is a source of fat while none of them are low in calories, you can decide which type you prefer.

Butter

Nutrition information per tablespoon: 100 calories 11 grams fat 7grams saturated fat

Vegetable ShorteningOilCanola Oil Pie DoughDishing Out Servings

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Homemade Pie Crust Recipe

An easy tutorial on how to make your own homemade pie crust! This recipe uses just a few simple ingredients and turns out perfect every single time. This post also includes several different ways that you can use this pie crust recipe!

Making your own pie crust should never be intimidating. In fact, if you have a good recipe and instructions its actually pretty easy.

If youve been following me for a while youve probably seen this pie crust recipe at some point. But today I wanted to share this simple recipe with you again because its one that I use all of the time! Youll absolutely love this recipe because its:

• Super flaky
• Uses simple pantry staples you likely have on hand
• Tastes better than anything that you can buy at the store

Trust me when I say that youll never go back to buying store-bought pie crust again once you learn how to make your own!

How To Make A Pie Crust: A Simple Step

The key to any good pie starts with the dough. In order to achieve tender, flaky and golden-brown pie crust, there are a few simple techniques and tips to follow.

Basic pie dough contains few ingredients: flour, water, sugar, salt and butter . Many people like to sub in vodka or vinegar to their pastry to make the crust more tender, but I’m going to make a controversial statement and say those things are not necessary. If you have the proper dough technique down, you don’t need anything other than water to make a delicious crust.

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Important Tips To Remember: