Vanilla Wafer Crust

Why have I not thought of this before?? Honestly, this crust is hands-down the best crumb-crust recipe I've run across. Make it tonight with your favorite cream pie filling and you don't regret it. (Although your thighs might.)

Vanilla Wafer Crust

Adapted from Ken Haedrich's PIE

(Printable Version)

1 ¾ cups finely ground vanilla wafers (start with about 4 cups crumbled crackers)

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Big pinch of salt

6 tablespoons melted butter

Crunch up crackers to make fine crumbs. Mix with dry ingredients.

Add melted butter and mix with fork until everything sticks together.

Epic fail: I only took two pictures of this process.

Press into 9-inch pie plate and bake at 350⁰ for 7 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before building your pie.

Oreo Crust

Usually when a recipe calls for an Oreo crust, I head to the store and pick-up something pre-made. Not this time! I stumbled across this recipe in Ken Haedrich's Pie and I don't think I'll ever go back to the store for an Oreo crust.

Oreo Crust

(Printable version)

Ingredients:

3 cups coarsely broken Oreo Cookies (18-20 cookies)

Pinch of ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2-3 teaspoons milk

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine cookies and cinnamon in food processor (or crunch them up in a ziploc bag like me). Pulse repeatedly to make fine crumbs. Transfer crumbs to large bowl. Add butter and mix well with a fork. Add milk and mix with fork until crumbs clump together when pressed between your fingers.

Press crumbs into 9-inch pie plate. Bake at 325 degrees for 6 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and cool completely.

Cinnamon Roll Pie Crust

I found this recipe on Pinterest (I'm officially obsessed with that website) and couldn't wait to try it out! I went ahead and made the complete recipe for Sweet Potato Pie; don't worry - I'll post that in a day or two. Consider this your sneak peek.

Cinnamon Roll Crust
(Printable version)

Ingredients:
1/2 recipe of All-Shortening Crust
Melted butter (2 tablespoons is fine)
Ground cinnamon

Make pie dough as explained in this recipe. Or, go ahead and buy pre-made pie dough - everyone will still think it's homemade, I promise!

Roll out dough on well-floured surface. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Tightly, roll up dough as if you're rolling a cinnamon roll. Cut into 1/2 slices.







Press sliced dough into 9-inch pie plate, make sure there are no cracks or holes in the crust - you don't want any spaces between the rolls.

This is not a crust that you need to prebake. However, since it is multiple sections pressed together, make sure you brush the crust with 1 egg white and 1 tablespoon water (beaten together) before pouring the filling into the crust.

I can imagine that this crust would be great for all sorts of pies: Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie, and of course, Sweet Potato Pie.

Better Homes and Gardens Pie Crust

Reason #128,974,957 I'm a terrible blogger: This is the only photo I took of the entire process.

Before I begin, I'd like to reiterate that there is a reason why I make the same pie crust each time. It's easy. It works for me. I know how it's supposed to look and feel. When it comes to pie crust, I'm a big believer in finding what works for you and sticking with it. Now that I'm blogging about pie, however, I'm forced to try new recipes - even when I don't want to. So here it is: a new crust recipe. (Don't get your hopes up.) Although I had mediocre results, maybe this will be "your" crust recipe.

Every Day Pie Crust

from Better Homes and Gardens

(Makes enough for 2 single-crust pies)
(Printable version)

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons cold butter (1 stick)

1/4 shortening

3 tablespoons ice water

1 egg, beaten

2 teaspoons white distilled vinegar

(I know: that's a lot of ingredients. Should have been my first clue.)

Combine dry flour, sugar and salt. Cut in butter and shortening using a pastry blender.

Combine eggs, water, and vinegar in a separate, small bowl. Add to flour mixture.

EPIC fail: I had to keep adding water to get anything to stick together and by then, it was too late. I had "manhandled" the dough waaaaaaaay too much; the result was a tough crust. Not light and flaky like it's supposed to be.

To pre-bake: (I did this, because I used this crust for my pumpkin pie.)

Preheat oven to 425. Place rolled out pie crust into pie plate; using a fork, prick the bottom of the crust 3-5 times. Line with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 6-8 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Favorite All-Shortening Crust

I'm a big believer in making your own crust. This is also something I struggle with when making pie because it never seems to turn out the way my mom makes it. I found this recipe on Our Best Bites and learned how incredibly easy pie crust can be! After I got the hang of it, I searched through my own recipe book to start an attempt at my mother's recipe... Turns out it's exactly the same :)

(Printable version)
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup and 2 Tbsp butter-flavor shortening
About 1/2 cup ice water
(This makes enough for a top and bottom crust. If you only need a bottom crust, cut the recipe in half.)

Mix together flour and salt.

Add shortening in small chunks. Use a pastry cutter to blend the shortening until pea-size shapes form.

Add water 1 Tbsp at a time. This part is important: do not stir. Using your hands, gently shift the dry mixture into the water so everything eventually becomes damp and sticks together. You are not mixing; you are just making sure water touches everything.

Eventually, you have dough. Separate into two discs, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Dough can last one day in fridge and longer in the freezer.