EASY Pie Crust Recipe {made with oil} - Chocolate with Grace (2024)

FAQs

What is one thing you should not do when making pie crust? ›

Mistake to Avoid No.

Adding more flour is always an option, but add too much flour and your dough will end up like a cracker—not a pie crust. Remember: The more you mix your pie dough, the tougher it becomes. To keep the mixing to a minimum, try rolling out your dough between two pieces of parchment paper.

Make the dough: In a bowl, whisk together the salt, sugar, flour and cocoa. Use a pastry cutter to work in the butter, stopping when you have a mix of pea and kidney bean sized pats of butter. You can also do this in a stand mixer fitted with the spatula attachment. Make a well in the center and pour in the water.

#2—Add cold water

Before you start making the dough, fill a glass with ice and water. Add the ice water gradually to the dough, about one tablespoon or so at a time, and stop when the dough is just moist enough to hold together when a handful is squeezed.

Butter pie crust has the most flavor out of the three fats. This pie crust bakes up nice and golden brown, with plenty of flaky layers. Butter pie crust is the most sturdy and will support the weight of your favorite pie fillings.

With docking, the holes allow steam to escape, so the crust should stay flat against the baking dish when it isn't held down by pie weights or a filling. Otherwise the crust can puff up, not only impacting appearance but also leaving you with less space for whatever filling you have planned.

You do not need to pre-bake a pie crust for an apple pie or any baked fruit pie really, but we do freeze the dough to help it stay put. Pre-baking the pie crust is only required when making a custard pie OR when making a fresh fruit pie. you should probably get: Pie weights are super helpful to have for pre-baking.

Whether you use a food processor, a stand mixer, or your hands to incorporate the ingredients together, overmixing is a common mistake that leads to a chewy crust. It's tempting when baking to combine the ingredients completely, but the texture should resemble a coarse meal before adding your liquid.

Non-chilled crust is fairly crumbly and less smooth, which makes it harder to roll out and means it may not look as polished. It will brown more quickly and the final product will likely be tougher, heavier, and more doughy – none of those in a bad way. It will likely have a more intense, butter flavor.

The most important step is cutting the cold fat into the flour. If you don't do this, you'll lose the flakiness, which, for me, makes pie worth every single calorie. The easiest way to do this is with a food processor. Add your flour and then your cold fat (cut up into smaller tablespoon-size chunks).

Wet pie fillings + raw dough are a tricky combination. If the bottom crust doesn't set before the filling soaks in, it's going to be gummy. A metal pie pan placed on a preheated surface will set the bottom crust quickest; once cooked, the liquids from the filling above won't soak in, and as a result: no soggy bottom.

What is crack pie made of? ›

Since it was invented it has become one of the most popular desserts in the world probably. Crack Pie is made of an oatmeal cookie crust filled with rich buttery pudding made mostly out of sugar, butter, cream and egg yolks. After baking it receives a golden top that is especially attractive and tempting.

Traditionally, what you're looking for in a pie crust are three basic things: you want it to be fully cooked through, without any doughiness between the filling and the bottom crust, you want the crust to be light and flaky with discernible layers, and, of course, you want there to be a rich, buttery flavor.

Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, or up to overnight. Tip: Chilling hardens the fat in the dough, which will help the crust maintain its structure as it bakes. And the short rest before rolling relaxes the dough's gluten, helping prevent a tough crust.

Sugar: Not all pie crusts have sugar, but those that do will be more tender since sugar interferes with gluten development. In our experience, sugar can also make the pie dough so tender that it's hard to roll out and transfer to your pan without breaking. Egg: This makes the dough more pliable and easy to roll out.