Easiest Pie Crust Ever may sound like a cruel trick, but I promise it is nothing but the truth!

This light, buttery, and perfectly flaky crust has to be the quickest and simplest recipe ever. Well, besides buying a premade crust from the store, of course.

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Recipe from Grandma

Grandma always called this pie crust Pat-a-Pan, because that is exactly how you make it. You pat it down into the pan. No rolling pin required. Which I love because if the dough needs to be rolled out, I’m probably not making it.

It’s something I definitely need to work on, but rolling out dough is not one of my current culinary skills. You also won’t find me making cut out cookies for this exact reason.

Since I still need pie crust for making pies, this recipe is the perfect solution. No extra dishes, since you mix all of the ingredient right in the pie dish you are baking it in. Another plus!

Want me to love a recipe for life? Just reduce the number of dirty dishes I will have to make. I know my fellow moms, who wear many hats, can agree on that.

The only downside, this pie crust only works as a bottom crust. But honestly, most pies I make don’t require a top crust, so it has not been a problem.

Another plus? It is so quick and easy! I mean lightening fast. Basically as fast as your little fingers can pat that dough down into the pie dish. Voila! Pie crust. And not just any pie crust. Light and flaky, perfect texture, doesn’t get soggy pie crust.

So let’s head to the kitchen!

How do I make the Easiest Pie Crust Ever?

Supplies:

• a 9.5 inch pie pan
• measuring cups and spoons
• liquid measuring cup
• small whisk
• fork
• oven

Basic Ingredients:

• All Purpose Flour
• Granulated Sugar
• Cold Milk
• Salt
• Vegetable Oil

Simple Instructions:

• Add flour, sugar, and salt to a 9.5 inch pie pan.
• Mix with fingertips until evenly blended.
• In a measuring cup, combine oil and milk. Beat until creamy.
• Pour wet ingredients into pie pan over the flour mixture.
• Mix with a fork until the mixture is completely moistened.
• Pat the dough with your fingers, first at the sides of the pan and the across the bottom of the pan.
• Flute the edges of your dough.
• Pie shell is now ready to be filled.
• Note: If you are preparing a shell to fill later or your recipe requires a prebaked shell, preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Prick the surface of the pie shell with a fork and bake for 15 minutes. Check often and prick more if needed to keep the crust from lifting and bubbling up.
• Pro Tip: If your pie filling is liquid in nature, you may want to avoid pricking the dough with a fork and instead use pie weights.

Should you prebake pie crust?

It depends on what type of pie you are making, if you should prebake your pie crust.

If your pie filling is fruit based or has a creamy, custard type texture, you will want to prebake your pie crust. This helps give the pie more stability.

Your recipe for pie filling that you are using will typically mention if you will need to prebake the crust.

Should I egg wash the bottom pie crust?

An egg wash on your crust before prebaking will help to seal the crust.

Sealing the crust will help prevent a soggy bottom crust, and will provide a more structured crust for your pies.

I do recommend creating an egg wash of one egg white and 1 or 2 tablespoons of water. Whisk together briskly until combined and then use a pastry brush or spoon to coat the interior of the pie crust and the edge with the egg wash.

How do you know when bottom of the pie is done?

Pie crust isn’t necessarily the type of baked good that you can set it and forget it.

You want to be sure to keep an eye on your crust, and check it frequently to monitor it as it is baking.

How quickly the pie crust will be done depends on your oven and the type of pie pan you use.

On a pie shell, the outer edges will turn brown before the inner crust will. The browner the crust is, the sturdier it will be.

If you want to keep the outer edges of your pie crust from getting too brown or too crisp, you can use a pie crust shield like this one, or even use foil or parchment paper to cover the edges.

The easiest way to monitor the color of the crust, especially the bottom of the pie, is to use a glass pie dish like the one in the picture below. I used this one from Pyrex, and it works great!

Final Thoughts

Baking is such a labor of love. Most pastries and desserts take time, effort, plus lots and lots of dirty dishes.

You create a mess and then a masterpiece. Sometimes the final product looks magazine worthy, sometimes it all falls apart.

And sometimes even when it all falls apart, it still tastes great. If only the messiness of life could work that way, right?

Everything is a learning experience. We have to be willing to give ourselves room to grow, to learn a new skill (yes, I need to tackle rolling out dough), to take on a new hobby.

So much time can be wasted in the what ifs of life. In the fear of failure, in the professed lack of time, or even the compare snare of social media.

But just do the next thing. Even if its messy, or slow moving, or frustrating, or you have to try over and over again. Learn. Grow. Repeat.

Enjoy the process for what it is. Even when you are in a chaotic season of life. Even when the past tells you that you might fail. Even when you doubt yourself.

Lest you think I practice this perfectly, I am also preaching all of these nuggets of wisdom to myself. And some times I have to do that every day or every hour. And truly, that’s okay.

one last thing…

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