I go on all the time about my mom’s crust. That’s because I never knew crust could actually be good. Now hear me out. I am 32 years old. Never in my life had I ever said, “oh, pie!! I love pie,” and never would you ever catch me saying “oh I love crust.” I never understood pie, and I never understood how people could prefer it over cake.
Flash forward to this past Thanksgiving. My mom said she was tired of me downplaying pie. She was going to show me why pie people love pie and why people love crust. I just rolled my eyes. People don’t actually love crust. I mean crust is just something to hold the pie filling together. No one actually wants to eat the crust. Well, I am here to tell you… that… is… not… TRUE.
So after my eye roll, my mom went off to the kitchen to set the record straight. She made me a coconut pie. IT WAS AMAZING!! I had never tasted pie crust so yummy. I mean, I actually ate the crust and wanted the crust. It was so flaky and tasty like my mouth is seriously drooling over the thought right now. It was so good that I begged her to make me another one before she left, and thus the pie crust enthusiast you see before you was born.
**This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase from one of my links, I may receive a commission or credit at no additional cost to you. For more info, please read my disclosure policy.**
PRO TIP #1 Your Butter MUST Be Cold
Cold butter is the key to flaky crusts. Do not skip this step. You must put your butter in the freezer to get it nice and cold. Many people do not like working with frozen butter, but it makes all the difference in the world when you create your pie dough.
PRO TIP #2 Your Liquid MUST Be Iced And Cold
Yeah, I know this one sounds weird, but your ingredients need to remain cold, and your dough needs to remain cold. This tip will help in that process. During the mise en place process of baking (find out why mise en place is so important here), place ice cubes in your liquid ingredients. Then remove the ice before pouring the ingredient into the mixture.
PRO TIP #3 Blind Bake Pie Shells BEFORE Filling Them For Cooked Pies
Have you ever put together a beautiful pie and have been so proud of it only to later cut into it to discover raw dough? Never have raw dough again by blind baking your pie. Blind baking is a simple process where you cover the dough with parchment paper, fill with pie weights such as uncooked rice, bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-15 minutes.
PRO TIP #4 DO NOT Overwork Your Dough
Do not overwork your dough. You will break down the gluten and make your dough rubbery. Only mix until everything is incorporated.
PRO TIP #5 Chill Your Dough BEFORE Rolling it
Let me repeat this tip. Chill your dough BEFORE rolling it. When you do not chill the dough before rolling it, you will warm up your butter. The cold butter is essential for the flaky crust of your pie.
There you go. You are now ready to take on pie crust if you have the time, then we have the knowledge to share with you. However, remember if you don’t have the time or you are struggling with the process, we’ve got you here. Skip the kitchen and have one of our delicious flaky pies delivered directly to your home. Get it in time for the holidays here.
Better yet, impress friends and family with these adorable mini pies here. I mean just look how cute these are. Mini pies are perfect for all occasions, and they are great because you get to eat delicious pie while pretending to have self-control. Check out all our cute mini pie options here.
If you found this article helpful, then check out our article on how to quickly scale a recipe for any production yield here.
Join our Cool Club and never miss out on our business advice and business tools. Sign up below to be on our mailing list.
Oh, you didn’t know we do wholesale? Yes, we do. We service the St. Louis area and Southeast Missouri. Go here to learn about our wholesale business.
