Here are some tips on how to bake the best pie crust.
Have you heard the term “easy as pie”?
However, pie may not be so easy after all!
At least not until we can master some of their finicky behaviors; and depending on what type of pie you are making those behaviors can change like the wind!
There are 2 kinds of pies, 1 that we call “cold preparation” and one that we call “baked preparation”
What I mean by “cold prep” it is basically a pie filling that is not going to be baked in the crust but rather poured into the baked crust
For example: Chocolate Cream, Banana Cream, Coconut Cream or Summer Fruit Pies just to name a few.
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- Banana Cream Pie
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- Coconut Cream Pie
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- Fruit Tart
For this style pie, you will have to pre-bake the crust first
Also known as Blind Baking the pie shell
I use dried beans or rice as my pie weights and a piece of parchment paper to make sure my dough doesn’t go flopping!
To fully blind bake a pie crust it will usually take about 20 minutes on 350°F
Then I will remove the parchment paper and beans or weights and bake it for another 10 minutes longer depending on how brown I want my crust to be.
For a semi blind baked crust I will only bake it for about 15 minutes just enough to set the crust and get a good head start on some bottom browning before I pour in my filling to bake the rest of the way.
In my opinion, pouring filling into a raw pie shell and baking it altogether will often times leave you with a soggy bottom crust.
Especially in the case of liquid fillings like pumpkin pie.
That liquid filling makes it near impossible to ever bake the bottom crust properly.
When I owned my bakery many moons ago, I had what is called a “deck oven” more commonly referred to as a pizza oven.
You know, the kind the guys at the pizzeria use everyday and bake your pizza directly on the”deck” giving your pizza a nice browned crispy crust on the bottom.
Well, that kind of oven is superior for not just Pizza Pies, but bakery pies too!
Now of course we don’t have deck ovens in our homes, so I recently came up with an idea to simulate the professional bakery oven and that is: baking your pie on a pizza stone.
Simply get your oven preheated to whatever the recipe calls for WITH THE STONE IN THE OVEN to get it nice and hot!
Then bake your pie directly on the stone and you will have a nicely browned NON-soggy crust for all your pies!
Alternatively, for those who do not have a pizza stone, you can go the method of blind baking the crust first, but not all the way- just until it is starting to turn pale not even golden, then add the filling, top with your other pie crust if you are using one, and that’s it!
Perfectly baked bottom crusts every time!
*Note: In the case of an apple pie though or a 2 crust pie (where there is a top and bottom crust) I don’t typically do a blind bake at all. These types of pies will almost always take close to 45 minutes or more to fully bake so it is not necessary to do a blind bake and the pizza stone method really does a great job!
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT PIE CRUST
In the video tutorial I make the dough in a food processor but you can do this all entirely by hand
How to Make the Best Pie Crust
Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour 2 cups (250g)
- Sugar 2 Tablespoons (28g)
- Salt ¼ teaspoon
- Vegan Butter Cold ~frozen 6 Tablespoons (85g)
- Shortening or Solid Coconut Oil~ cold frozen 4 Tablespoons (56g)
- Liquid Vegetable or Coconut Oil 2 Tablespoons (30ml)
- Cold Water 3 Tablespoons (45ml)
Instructions
- First get the vegan butter and shortening or coconut oil to the freezer while you measure the rest of the ingredients.
- Combine the flour, salt, sugar in a food processor (or you can mix the entire recipe by hand with a pastry cutter or fork) process to distribute the ingredients evenly.
- Add the cold vegan butter and the shortening or coconut oil and process until it is mealy and course crumbly texture.
- Add the cold water and the oil through the feed tube while pulsing and then process until a soft crumbly dough forms.
- Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and gather the dough together to a soft ball that stays together.
- Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour to relax the dough and allow the flour to absorb through.
- Once chilled, roll the dough on a lightly floured surface (this dough is much easier to roll between 2 pieces of parchment or wax paper) to about 12" diameter (¼" thick) and line your pie plate. Trim the excess and re-roll to cut out the optional leave shapes to adorn the rim of the pie.
Notes
Pie dough is best rolled out and formed into a pie shell, then frozen or used right away
Hi Gretchen,
I can’t wait to try this pizza stone on my pies! Also, how long would I cook an apple pie if I have already made the homemade pie filling?
Thanks,
Donna Kennedy
Meaning a cooked pie filling? Like my Apple Topping Here ? then I would just be sure to bake it as long as it takes to get the pie crust nice and browned and not raw. (I wold also use a COOL cooked pie filling)
Thank you so much for this awesome post! I was wondering if I could substitute the white flour for whole wheat flour & also can I use brown sugar for the sugar portion?
Hi April! Thank you! The trouble with using all whole wheat flour in a recipe that was designed for regular flour, is that whole wheat flour does not have the gluten structure that a plain flour does. If you have ever worked with gluten free pie dough, it’s kinda a pain! So while yes you can definitely do it, you may have to add a little bit more water to get it to come together, just be careful you don’t add too much so that the dough is sticky and gummy!
Thank you for the information! I appreciate it & I love watching your youtube videos!
Hi Gretchen !
Thanks for this recipe!
A lil question; what kind of vegan butter you use / recommand, please?!
Greetings from switzerland ! 😉
Hey there! I like to use Earth Balance whenever possible, but it is very $$
I have been using a vegan margarine called Gold ‘n’ Sweet lately though!
Short answer, any will do fine here!
Hi, how long will this pie crust be baked and in what temperature? Thanks
Hi Meryl, It’s hard to say exactly because I am not sure what kind of PIE you are making. I tried to NOT be too confusing in explaining this on the written post (I am not sure I did a good job! LOL)
But basically there are several ways of going about PIE CRUSTS depending on the actual pie.
Meaning an Apple Pie will get baked with the filling & top crust on it for probably close to an hour!
But for a poured filling like pumpkin or even a cold mousse filling that won’t get baked, you will blind bake first.
But her is a highlight from my written post::
To fully blind bake a pie crust it will usually take about 20 minutes on 350°F
Then I will remove the parchment paper and beans or weights and bake it for another 10 minutes longer depending on how brown I want my crust to be.
For a semi blind baked crust I will only bake it for about 15 minutes just enough to set the crust and get a goo head start on some bottom browning before I pour in my filling to bake the rest of the way.
Also:: On each specific recipe post for example : Apple Pie / Pumpkin Pie / Cream Pie etc… I will include further information for how to bake the crusts(s)