Easy No-Roll Pie Crust
Written by joythebaker on October 2, 2009 – 2:55 am -
Friends.
This is important.
I need you to hold your pinky up for me. We’re about to make a very important promise to one another.
I need you to promise me that you’ll never. ever.. ever… ever buy a store-bought pre-made pie crust again. Don’t do it. Promise me.
Those store bought pie crusts are full of all sorts of mystery fats, trans fats, dirty fats, mean fats… you don’t want all that mess in your pie!
Besides… I’ve come up with the pie crust recipe of your dreams. Seriously. Fluff the ingredients in a bowl, throw in some moisture, then press the dough directly into your pie pan. No chilling. No rolling. No stress. I’m looking out for you.
If you’re scared of pie, I’ve got you’re back…. promise… lemme show you.
The problem that I have with most No-Roll Pie Crust recipes on the Internet is that all of them simply use oil as the fat. Where’s the butter? Let’s not shun butter just because we’re not rolling the pie dough out! Butter is an important part of pie dough. It lends a little lift and loads of flavor.
My No-Roll Pie Crust recipe is a brilliant compromise. I mixed cold butter with vegetable (I used almond) oil, and the secret ingredient: a touch of cream cheese for binding and creamy flavor. The result is a crust somewhere in between a pie crust and a tart shell. It’s slightly sweet, browns beautifully, has a lovely hint of butter and a crisp texture from the oil. This dough is perfect for a custard pie or a pumpkin pie.
To pre-bake the pie crust for a chocolate cream or banana cream pie, line the chilled pie crust with foil, weigh down with beans and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes covered. Remove the foil and beans and bake for 4-6 minutes uncovered until golden brown.
If you don’t need to pre-bake the shell, chill the pie crust in the pie plate in the freezer while you make the pie filling. Buttermilk Pie with Warm Blackberry Sauce? Yum. Pumpkin Pie!? Heck yes! Coming soon!
Remember… this is only a bottom crust recipe. A top crust would involve some rolling, which would involve a different recipe. We’re keeping it simple.
What’s in my quick pie crust today!? A Good Old Fashioned Sugar Pie.
Easy No-Roll Pie Crust
makes 1 9-inch pie crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup (4 Tablespoon) frozen butter that has been grated on a cheese grater
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used almond oil)
1 Tablespoon cream cheese, at room temperature
2 Tablespoons cold milk
In a medium sized bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Whisk together.
Add frozen butter that has been grated on a cheese grater and tablespoon of cream cheese. With your fingers, work the cream cheese and butter into the flour mixture, breaking the butter and cream cheese up until they’re in well incorporated into the flour. Some butter bits will be tiny, other the size of small peddles. The dough may even begin to some together in a rough, sandy kind of way.
Combine the milk and oil. Whisk together. Add all at once to the flour and butter mixture. With a fork, begin to combine the ingredients, making sure that all of the flour mixture is introduced to the liquid. The mixture does not need to come together into a ball. Leave it a bit shaggy and dump the dough into a clean 9-inch pie plate. With your fingers, press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pie plate and up the sides. Try to get the dough as even as possible, but don’t worry too much about finger indentations. You can’t fight that.
Place the prepared crust in the freezer while you preheat the oven and prepare your filling. If you’re going to pre-bake your crust, heat the oven to 350 degrees F and line the chilled pie crust with foil, weigh down with beans and bake for 10 minutes covered. Remove the foil and beans and bake for 4-6 minutes uncovered until golden brown.
If you need an unbaked pie crust, simply remove the crust from the freezer once your filling is made, fill your pie and place in a preheated oven. Bake according to your particular recipe.
Good Old Fashioned Sugar Pie
from Sweets
makes 1 9-inch pie
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
4 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 cups evaporated milk
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large saucepan, combine the granulated and brown sugars, cornstarch, cinnamon, slat and nutmeg. Mix well. Add the eggs and yolk and combine well with a whisk. Gradually stir in the milk until well blended.
Turn the flame onto medium heat and cook ingredients, stirring constantly until the filling is thick and bubbly. This took me about 7 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla extract.
Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack until ready to serve. I like this pie best cold from the fridge.
Tags: easy pie crust, holiday baking, pie crust, pie dough
Posted in In the Kitchen, Pie, Recipes, Tips and Tricks | 146 Comments »
wow this is my perfect crust pie recipe
I m not that good at making pastry. Really interesting and yummy !
Definitely going to try these recipes. And. I had no idea there was an actual “Sugar Pie.” I just thought that was what my grandma used to call me….
Just attempted my own pie crust with a recipe from Alton Brown that had vodka in the crust. It gave you extra moisture without being tough. For my first ever attempt, it was pretty good, but not something I’d do regularly. I’ll work up the courage and try yours soon. Apples beg for pie this time of year.
nothing like a good old homemade crust. I mean seriously. nicely done. I will never buy that chemical-laden stuff.
thank you dawn… thank you!
Always been afraid to bake a pie. Hate ready made crusts and frozen dough. You have given me the courage to try!!
Pie Pie me oh my…how can I make the pie to die for? My favorite part of a bad John Travolta movie was the restaurant full of pies!
curses! I needed this yesterday… happy that I get to use it in the future tho!
looks delish as always!!
, thanks again for the great giveaway!!
i got baggu in the mail last week and i love love love it already. it comes with me everywhere
awesome! i’m glad you got the bag and love it! i’ve been using my baggu as a quick daytime purse…. love it!
Brilliant!
Joy, this is a brilliant post. So many people cringe at the thought of making the dough. This is as simple as it comes. Thanks for making lives easier, and showcasing one of my favorites– down-home sugar cream pies.
Wow! Definitely going to pull up my boot straps and try this with Betty Crocker’s Almond Cream pie. Thanks Joy!
SUPER – ***ing – FANTASTIC!!! You are a Goddess! First, make your own cake flour, and now this. I cannot wait to try this crust. It’s not that I can’t make a flaky crust, but I definitely have problems getting it transferred to the pie pan without tearing. And I’ve never even heard of Sugar Pie before. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
This post reminds me of “Pushing Daisies”. I really miss that show.
I’m going to try this tonight…
P.S. This blog makes me smile…
“I got your back”…priceless.
this is great! thanks so much for showing how to do it..
joy- I LOVE YOU!! (ok so we have never met- but you m;dear read hearts desire (ok not literally, but I am excited to try this! Can you tell?
try it! try it!
I have a few pies on my list to make this season — I’ll definitely try this crust recipe out!
Joy…you just made my weekend. lol. I HATE making pie crusts because they’re always such a pain. I’m definitely going to try this the next time I make a pie. You ROCK!
I really must try this one! I love that the crust is so easy!
You are a savior!! I have always been afraid of pie crust. Thanks to you we can actually have a pie for Thanksgiving this year instead of a cobbler! Brilliant, thank you!!
I just made this, for chicken pot pie.. it was delicious and very easy!!
xoxo
I love to bake but never attempted to make a pie because of the crust…you just gave me a good reason to make my first pie ever. Thank you for posting this
Awww heck! Let me know how your first pie comes out!
Joy,
I love this recipe and can’t wait to try it. I am a big fan of no roll crusts and am so glad to see one with butter in it. By the way if someone wanted a top crust with this kind of crust they should crumble some of the pie crust on top og the pie. It doesn’t make a whole top crust but it does make a crumbly one.
Interesting. Maybe maybe a batch and a half of this recipe and crumbling some on top and a quick crust? Great idea!
You are seriously the best
I’m gonna make this pie crust this week.
Joy,
I am so totally excited about this pie crust. My husband is the biggest pie junkie and I cannot make a rolled pie crust to save my soul. But I hate hate hate store pie crust.
Thanks!
This crust sounds nice and easy! I will have to try it.
This might be the answer for someone that is as “pie crust challenged” as myself. I will try this recipe for sure. Thanks for sharing.
Joy! you may have saved me here…pie crust is the bane of my existence.
What a great, easy idea! Do you think it would work with gluten-free flours?
I don’t know if this recipe will work with gluten free flours. You’ll have it give it a try and let me know!
This crust isn’t as easy as the one I have! A Paula Deen recipe that uses 1 1/4 c flour, pinch of salt, 1 stick butter and 2-3T sour cream. Try that one! using your pressing and baking method. It’s flaky and buttery and can keep pumpkin and pecan pies from getting that soggy bottom that we all hate.
Sounds like Paula has a great recipe for you! I’m glad you like it. Sounds full of buttery goodness!
I feel like you’ve read my mind – I was just looking for an easy, never-made-pie-crust before recipe and now you’ve posted one. Thank you! I’m going to try it this week-end.
Joy-how do you get the crust from the board to the pie pan without it splitting up. I have slowly managed the beginning steps-but am still stammering over this part?
I am so not my mother’s daughter-she made the best crusts in the world. I do not eat apple pie any more because nothing can live up to hers. She would go on a pie frenzy and freeze them.
Thank you.
Getting the rolled crust from the board to the pie tin is always a challenge. I think the trick is practice and prayer. Seriously.
Many thanks for this no roll pie crust recipe!!!! I recently found a no need bread dough recipe and now this pie crust. Thanks so much for solving this real problem for me. Love your blog.
Just wanted to say thank you for all the great posts. hilarious writing and beautiful pictures.
I haven’t checked in for a little while and after the first initial scroll to the bottom of the page I am thinking: oh my! I need to make that, and THAT, and ohhhh look at that! Oh my goodness you’ve been up to good stuff! hugs from Hundewanderer.
Joy I want to promise you that I will never buy frozen pie crust again but I don’t know if I can commit. I hate store bought frozen pastry but I live in the tropics and the heat and humidity does things to butter you Northern chefs can only dream about. And trust me not pleasant dreams either but nightmares. Oooooh your recipe cursed me with evil words that I have come to dread; it said bring butter to room temperature. Exactly whose room temperature would that be? Mine is currently an uncomfortable 102F and the oven hasn’t yet been turned on. …..okaaaaaay I’ll give it a try but only because you pinky promised that it will be alright!
This is great! Thanks so much! Store bought pie crust was a big dilemma for me when it came down to the trans fats, etc… and a lot of the time I just don’t have time for a more tradition crust!
I was curious, how would you go about incorporating cheddar cheese into this recipe? I really dig a tart apple pie with a cheddar crust and think with this recipe it would be just fantabulous!
delurking to tell you that i was super skeptical of this pie crust, but i made it this morning for a quiche and it was great! far faster and easier than a traditional roll out dough, and loads better than a store bought dough. thanks so much! (i’m plotting where to fit the buttermilk pie with blackberry sauce in the next few days)
sweet! sweet! Sweet! i’m so glad you had success with this crust!
It always makes me ill when a family member requests a specific pie for their b-day…….I make pie(s) once a year, maybe twice…..I purchase store bought pies just cause I hate making/rolling crust..too much rules for me. This, I can handle….watch out holidays, here I come! Pie anyone, bring it on! Joy, you rock! LOVE your stuff!
Thank you so much! I have to confess I have a store bought pie crust in my fridge right now… But I can’t wait to try this out, and if it works, then NEVER AGAIN! I just really stink at making pie crusts, so I’m super excited to give this one my last shot.
Love your site! You have so many great ideas and recipes that I love to try out! Keep up the good work! I’m a fan!
My sister and I made squash pie tonight and used this recipe. Wow. I was so easy, and we substituted half of the flour for whole wheat & used coconut oil for the “vegetable” oil. It was crispy and tasty. Dad even liked it (he’s somewhat of a pie crust snob)! Thanks so much for the recipe! It’s a keeper.
awesome erica! i’m so glad you like the recipe!
Fantastic!! Can’t wait to get home and try this recipe out!
[...] of the crust, this is my new favorite recipe. No rolling required, and the result is a crispy, tasty crust. My [...]
Wow, that’s such a great recipe! I’ll definitely be trying this out.
What do you mean by weighing down the crust with foil and beans. A can of beans? A bag of beans? What else can you use? (I have food allergies) I’m sorry if this is a stupid question! I’m new to your blog!
ooh no! not a can of beans. i’m talking dried beans. the foil lining and the dried beans will weigh the crust down a bit so it doesn’t puff up too much when it’s prebaked. usually the pie filling (say in a pumpkin pie that doesn’t need to be prebaked) will do this work for you. if you have an allergy, look into buying pie weights. they’re little metal balls that will do the work for you… beans are just cheaper.
This is perfect! thanks for sharing.
This is a great recipe. Congratulations for your nomination. I just voted.
I made this today and loved it!
Okay, so I really really really want to promise you that I won’t buy a pre-made crust, but truth be told, I’m not sure I can make that promise. I make chicken pot pie pretty regularly, and I only use a top crust. Do you have some super-easy top crust recipe? I just don’t have the time (or energy… or skills) to make a pie crust from scratch, especially when it involves, rolling, chilling, cursing at my dough for falling apart, etc.
[...] No-Roll Pie Crust from Joy the [...]
My husband loves chocolate cream pie, but I have always hated using the ready made pie crust from the store. Thank you, thank you, thank you