Do you have a recipe that calls for blind bake or prebake pie crust? In this tutorial, I am going to show you how to blind bake a pie crust for any pie you have.
Who can resist a sweet or savory pie? I want to share many pie recipes with you, some of them require half or full baked pie. Pre-baking a pie crust is essential in some recipes so let me teach you exactly how to do that.
Pie crust seems intimidating by itself let alone blind or pre-baking pie crust. But let me assure you that it is a very simple and easy technique and I am going to show you everything with some step by step photos and a video tutorial.
Why Blink Bake a crust?
Some pies have a no-bake filling, which means you will need to fully bake the crust then fill it with the filling. Like Fresh fruit tarts. Other recipes require a partially baked pie crust, this usually the case when the filling requires a shorter time than the crust to bake.
Do I need to pre bake the crust for a pumpkin pie?
Yes, pumpkin pies need to have a partially baked crust. This is done because the filling can make the crust soggy, so we give it time to partially bake before adding the filling and finishing it in the oven.
How do you par bake a pie crust?
It is simple to make and bake a pie crust, but there are some tips that you need to know.
Tips for making a perfect pie:
- Use a combination of butter and shortening. This tip is all over the world, seriously. The shortening makes the crust tender and flaky. The butter gives it this incredible flavor.
- Cut the butter and shortening into pieces. This reduces the risk of overworking the dough especially that we are using a food processor.
- Process almost half the flour with fat first. This is a tip I picked up from the cooking school book by America's test kitchen, will leave a link at the end of the post.
- Use iced water. I put some ice in a measuring cup, add water then and scoop from as I needed.
- Finish the dough in a big bowl instead of the food processor. Transfer the flour butter mixture to a bowl then add liquid and finish by hand. This is better to avoid overworking the dough.
- Chill the dough before rolling. After we finish the dough, divide it in half, wrapping each half with plastic wrap and refrigerate. This is done because by this time the fat in the dough has warmed up and it needs to be chilled again.
Pie crust tutorial
- In the bowl of your food processor, add 1.5 cup flour, sugar and salt, process for 5 seconds just enough to combine.
- Add cold butter and shortening then process for about 15 seconds.
- Add the remaining flour and pulse to combine about 5-6 times.
- Dump the ingredients in a big bowl and slowly add iced what.
- Mix the dough lightly with a hard spatula then by hand make sure to stop as soon as the dough comes together.
- Cut the dough in half, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple of hours at least.
- Now take out the dough and carefully roll it as directed in the instructions on a lightly floured surface.
- Fit two sheets of foil to your baking dish then take them off keeping their shape.
- Roll the dough over the rolling pin and carefully place in your baking dish.
- Fit snugly and tuck the overhang dough underneath to for a thick lip to the pie.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Line the cold dough with the previously shaped foil letting it cover the edges as well.
- Fill the pie with pie weights and distribute evenly. I've used those pebbles from my flat bread post here.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until it is lightly colored.
- Remove from oven and carefully remover the foil, watch out as everything will be really hot.
- Now if your recipe calls for a partially baked pie this is when you add the filling then complete the pie as directed.
- For a fully baked pie, return pie to oven for another 12-15 minutes. Let it cool completely before filling.
That was it folks. It looks overwhelming but seriously very manageable. If I can do it, you can do it too.
You Might Need
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This glass baking dish is best for blind bake any pie. And the book I mentioned is here.
Here is a super easy recipe for Butterfinger Pie {no bake} from Stephanie at Plain Chicken .
I hope you'll like this recipe and please if you make this recipe, snap a pic and hashtag it #amiraspantry — I love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter!
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How to blink bake pie crust
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour divided.
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt.
- 12 Tablespoons butter cut into ¼ inch pieces and chilled. (See note 1)
- 7 Tablespoons vegetable shortening chilled and cut into 2 Tablespoon pieces.
- 6-8 Tablespoons iced water. See note2
Instructions
Make the dough:
- In the bowl of your food processor, add 1 ½ cups of flour , sugar, salt and pulse for 4 seconds to combine.
- Add cold butter and shortening cubes and process ( not pulse) for about 15 seconds.
- Add the remaining flour and this time pulse for 5-6 times.
- Transfer mixture to a bowl, add cold water, 1 Tablespoon at a time, and mix with wooden spoon or hand until mixture comes together. (See note 3)
- Diced dough in half and flatten into a 4 inch disc then wrap each half with plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight.(see note 4)
Rolling the dough:
- Line up your pie plate with double layers of foil to get it shaped , then take them out keeping their shoe.
- If your dough is frozen then let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight before rolling out.
- Take your dough out of the fridge and let it soften a bit for about 7-10 minutes on the countertop. This makes rolling easier.
- Dust your working surface lightly with flour. Use gentle force to roll the disc starting from center and working your outwards. Give the dough quarter turn every few strokes. (See note 5)
- Keep rolling until you reach a 12 inch circle.
- Roll the dough loosely around your rolling pin then gently unroll the dough over your pie plate.
- Fit the dough snugly into your plate by pressing gently. Tuck any overhang dough underneath itself.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (See note6).
Bake your pie:
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Line the cold dough with the previously shaped foil letting it cover the edges as well ( note 7).
- Fill the pie with weights and distribute evenly. ( note8)
- Bake for 30 minutes or until it is lightly colored.
- Remove from oven and carefully remover the foil, watch out as everything will be really hot.
- If your recipe calls for a partially baked pie this is when you add the filling then complete the pie as directed.
- For a fully baked pie, this is usually the case for no bake pies. Return pie to oven for another 12-15 minutes until it is browned nicely. Let it cool completely before filling.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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