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If you don't have the time (or desire) to make a from-scratch pie crust we've some great tricks for making homemade store-bought pie crusts. Translated, that means so beautiful and delicious, no one will know!
I've been playing around lately with store-bought pie crusts. It's not that I'm lazy... I started to write that but, to be honest, it's because I really am a little lazy. I love a good pie, quiche or tart... but don't like taking the time to put together a homemade pie crust. I don't know about you, but it seems that I'm always a bit pinched for time. So I bought a load of refrigerated pie crusts and decided to experiment and see if I could come up with some ways to make them delicious as well as beautiful. The result is this post, Homemade Store-Bought Pie Crusts.
We've got a wonderful pie recipe coming up, Annie's Easy Apple Pie (pictured above), that has a fun story to go along with it. Also some easy quiche and tart recipes are on The Café docket so, I decided to put all my tips and tricks for making Homemade Store-Bought Pie Crusts into one post that I could refer back to as I create new recipes. Away we go!
A little prep
I've discovered that just a few minutes of prep makes all the difference in the world in making a store-bought crust taste deliciously homemade. Here are my tips:
- Preheat the oven with a sheet pan on the lowest rack and set the preheat temperature higher than what's needed to bake the pie. Once your pie is in the oven on the hot sheet pan, reduce the heat to the recommended temperature. (I preheat the oven to 425˚F then reduce the temp to 350˚F when I add the pie to the oven.) This accomplishes several things:
- A higher temperature at the very beginning of baking gives the pie crust an initial boost of heat to promote flakiness.
- The hottest area of any oven is around the edges, in other words, the sides, bottom, and top. Preheating a sheet pan on the lowest rack gives the bottom crust a head start in creating that desirable golden hue and crisp texture.
- Lightly oil or spray the pie pan.
- If you look at the majority of pie recipes, most recipe creators assume that there's plenty of fat in a pie crust, so there's no need to grease the pan. Hence that first inevitably messy slice that we hold back for ourselves. If you lightly spray or oil the pan, every piece comes out perfect!
- A teaspoon of butter in addition to the oil or cooking spray.
- One teaspoon of butter rubbed with a paper towel to coat the pan enhances the flavor of the crust plus helps brown the bottom. It's a tiny trick that makes a big difference! (In case you're wondering, I tried using just butter but the first piece still came out messy. A double greasing kills a few birds with one stone!)
- Once the crust has been placed in the pan, brush it with a beaten egg. This helps seal the crust so when you add the filling, it won't get soggy.
- Refrigerate (or freeze) the crust while you prep the pie filling.
- One of the golden rules of pie baking is to start with a cold crust and a hot oven. Chilling the crust for 20-30 minutes helps the crust keep its shape when you bake it. It also, according to the baking gurus at Serious Eats, gives the gluten time to unwind and the fat time to chill, so the dough is cool and relaxed when it hits the hot oven, promoting a tender, flaky crust.
- Bake the pie on the preheated sheet pan on the lower rack.
- Just leave that preheated sheet pan right where it is on the lower rack. Again, this will give you a nice golden bottom crust and the sheet pan will also catch any potential drips as the filling gets hot and bubbly.
We eat with our eyes
There's a popular saying, "we eat with our eyes" and I believe it's totally true. Eating is a multisensory experience with research revealing that sight may be as important as taste. And if it looks like someone spent a little extra time to make something already delicious look beautiful, in some mysterious way, it tastes even better!
One way to do this with pie crusts is to employ a crimping technique. Crimping can take a pie crust from plain Jane to stunning in no time flat! That's why I decided to figure out the easiest way to make a pretty and professional-looking crimped pie crust.
How to crimp a pretty pie crust
You might be in the same boat as I was... crimping was not something I'd ever been proficient at. But after making a steady stream of pies over the past few weeks, I've discovered it's super simple and takes less than two minutes to crimp a whole pie. Scott shot a few pictures of the process to make it easy for you too!
- Let refrigerated crusts stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. For a classic 9-inch pie pan, there's no rolling needed with most refrigerated pie crusts. Center the dough in a 9-inch pie pan without stretching it. Press it firmly against the sides and bottom of the pan to anchor the crust to the pan.
- There should about ½-inch extra crust that extends over the top of the pan. Starting at one area of the edge, tuck the crust under (towards the pan) about ¼-inch, working your way around the pan.
- You now will have a lip or rim that extends ¼-inch above the top of the pan. This will not only look really pretty once it's crimped, it will also keep the filling of the pie from bubbling over the edge.
- With your two index fingers, go around the pan pressing gently to even and straighten the lip (rim).
- Start anywhere on the pie rim that you created. Make a V-shape with your thumb and index finger on the outside of the rim while you push gently with the index finger of the other hand inside the crust.
- Work your way around the rim of the crust, starting each new crimp where the one before it ended.
- The wider you make the V, the larger your crimp will be. I like to make my Vs about ½-inch apart, but you can go as narrow or wide as you like. For a professional look, try to keep the Vs all the same width.
- When you've worked your way all around the rim, you will have a pretty crimped edge that will extend about ¼-inch above the pie pan. Pop the lined pie pan into the refrigerator while you prepare your filling. It should chill for 15-20 minutes. If you're in a big hurry, you can freeze the lined pan for 10 minutes.
What's the best kind of pie pan to use?
The classic recommendation for the best pie pan is to use a metal or glass pan. The reason is that metal and glass are great conductors of heat and I agree. In my pie research over the past few weeks, however, I've discovered that ceramic pans also work well if you follow the steps outlined in this post.
How to handle deep dish pie pans
Using a refrigerated pie crust with a deep-dish pie pan creates a bit of a problem as the crust is too small to fit into these pans without additional rolling. When you roll a store-bought pie crust to accommodate a deep-dish pan it can result in a really thin crust that either breaks or easily burns. I've had the best results when baking a deep-dish pie if I double the store-bought crust and then trim it to fit the pan and allow for a nice crimp. Here's a collage showing the simple process:
Flip the crust over once or twice while rolling to make sure the two rounds of dough stick together. Roll the crusts until the thickness is approximately the same as a single crust right from the package. The crust will be larger than what you need, so you'll have to trim it.
For a special treat, sprinkle the trimmings with cinnamon and sugar and bake on a sheet pan until crisp and golden - delish!
Then proceed as directed above for tucking under and crimping the crust.
So there you have it, my tricks for making, what I call, Homemade Store-Bought Pie Crusts! I've added a few tips below that I thought might also be helpful. Have fun baking pies!
Extra Cafe Tips for Homemade Store-Bought Pie Crusts
- Just to clarify, we're talking about refrigerated pie crusts, not the frozen kind that come in the aluminum pan. That being said, you can use some of these tips for frozen pie crusts, especially preheating the sheet pan and baking the pie on the sheet pan on the lower rack.
- Don't use refrigerated pie crusts right from the refrigerator. Allow them to warm a bit before lining your pan or rolling. This will keep them from cracking. But do chill your crust before adding the filling and baking.
- Refrigerated pie crusts can also be frozen. Just thaw before lining your pie pan and chill the lined pan before baking as instructed above.
- I have tried a number of different brands of refrigerated pie crusts. Pillsbury is probably the most widely available but I prefer many of the generic store brands. Trader Joe's makes a great refrigerated pie crust and I also like the Aldi brand.
- Sometimes I line my pie pan, crimp the edges and pop the whole thing in the freezer. When I want to bake pie, I simply pull it out of the freezer, add the filling and bake. Such an easy dessert! And what's better than warm pie?
- My favorite pie pan? I really like this classic metal pan but if I'm serving a larger group or I want to be a little fancy, this beautiful deep dish ceramic pie pan (pictured above with the deep dish pie crust) is my choice.
- The tips and tricks for preheating the oven with a sheet pan on the lower rack also apply to making tarts and quiches in a tart pan as pictured below. A standard refrigerated pie crust fits perfectly into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. You will have to roll the crust just a little bigger for a 10-inch tart pan. If you have an 11-inch or bigger, I would recommend rolling the double crust as explained above for deep-dish pie crusts.
Thought for the day:
I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.
Psalm 13:5&6
What we're listening to for inspiration:
Alisha says
What do suggest to do when the recipe calls for a partial baked crust before filling the pie?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Alisha, You certainly could partially bake the crust but I have used this technique for both sweet and savory crusts that normally would be partially baked and have found that the bottom crust stays nice and crisp.
Kathy says
Ditto at our house! Whenever my mother made pie, our treat was eating the scraps, with butter and cinnamon warm from the oven. What a happy memory! I always made them for my children, too.
Chris Scheuer says
I love that, Kathy!
Nanci says
I can not abide the Pillsbury crusts. They’re too salty and have an odd taste and texture to me. It takes no time to make a homemade crust…and it can be done a day or two ahead. But God love y’a for helping those that can eat them. I look forward to the pumpkin praline pie recipe
Chris Scheuer says
I applaud you, Nanci! There are lots of people who are intimidated though by making a homemade crust so this is a great alternative and honestly, this pie is quite delicious!
Shirley Rubino says
After baking, My pie crust is flaky but after the pie is refrigerated it becomes hard. What do you do to keep it flaky!
Thanks- loved your tips!
Shirley
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Shirley, you could try rewarming it in the oven. I don't usually refrigerate leftover pie as we'll eat it up the next day.
Cathy Faulkner says
I have the frozen pie shells in the tin pan. I'm wondering how to get this crust out and into a pretty pie pan.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Cathy, I have tried this with frozen shells but it didn't work as well. The frozen pie shells I had seemed to be dryer and the broke apart when I removed them from the foil pan, even though I had allowed them to thaw.
Jennie says
Thank you for such helpful hints in using Pillsbury pie crusts. For Thanksgiving , store bought has to be my “go to “ for pies. When I am not cooking such a huge meal, I make my own pie crusts. I had great success with your hints and my crimping was the best ever. However, when it baked , the border was not nearly as neat and crimped. How do you get your crimping to resemble the “before baked “ crimp? I greased and buttered my glass pie plate as suggested. Should I have not greased the edge of pie plate where the crimped dough rests? Thank you kindly.
j says
Good morning Chris,
I just wanted to thank you for the lovely inspirational quotes that you put at the end of your recipes. They bring me such
joy and encourage me to spend more time reading His word.
May you and your family have a blessed Thanksgiving.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, for taking the time to leave a comment. I really appreciate it. Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Jenn Anderson says
I am definitely a user of refrigerated pie crust! I have tried to make my own with minimal success over my years of cooking, so I decided I don't have time to mess with that anymore. I prefer Pillsbury too, from the brands that I have tried. I'm definitely going to be using your tips when I make our Thanksgiving pie! Thanks for this fabulous post! I appreciate your expertise and wonderful recipes.
Ruth says
Hi Chris. I loved reading all your tips and tricks for purchased pie crust. I look forward to putting them into action and sampling the results. I am always trying too make my creations taste “even better”. 😋😋😋
When you did your research, did you by any chance test out Shauna Sever’s suggestion of rolling out the purchased pie dough on a surface sprinkled with finely crushed animal crackers, wafer cookies, or graham crackers? This is the link, in case you want to read about it. I must admit I have not tested it, but it sounds like a fun project......and something that you would want to know about.
https://www.shaunasever.com/journal/2010/10/how-to-make-store-bought-pie-crust-taste-better.html
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Ruth, I did see that post when I was researching. Thank you for sharing it!
It sounds really interesting (and probably very delicious) although I thought it made things a little more complicated - to pull out a food processor, grind the cookies, etc. I try to keep things really simple as I know many of our readers (myself included) are a bit pinched for time.
Ruth says
I totally agree with you. I feel sure that is why I have not tried it......an extra step.... and a messy one at that. Thank you, Chris. I love simple, too!
Sara H. says
Just curious if anyone knows of a gluten free refrigerated pie crust? I am celiac and also a little lazy ;). I can buy frozen pie crusts but so many times by the time I get my groceries home the frozen crust has broken and is rough looking. I've been tempted to thaw and re-roll it but haven't tried it yet. I realize this is not your area of expertise but maybe one of your readers may have some experience with this? or know of a gf refrigerated crust that exists? Thanks for all the wonderful recipes!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Sara, yes you're right, this is not my expertise but hopefully some of our GF readers might chime in here!
Elsa Moore says
I love love Trader Joe’s frozen pie crust. A pkg of 2 for $4.00
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Elsa!
Janet Sosnowski says
Wewalka makes an excellent refrigerated crust, as well as pizza crusts. Lowe's Foods and Harris Teeter. A bit higher cost but really worth it.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Janet! Good to know, I will look for Wewalka!
Karen says
Wewalka is the best ever pie crust.
Chris Scheuer says
That's good to know, Karen. I happened to run into our local store today for something and I checked. They had Wewalka and I hadn't seen it before. I did check the ingredients and saw that they used palm and canola oil but no butter either. I will pick one up next time I shop and try it out!
Pat says
Thank you for the all the suggestions. I wiil be sure to ty them.
I like frozen pie crusts when i really feel lazy. Any suggestions for those?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Pat, you can use the same technique with frozen pie crusts with the preheating the pan on the lower rack and baking the pie there as well.
Virginia says
Just in time for Thanksgiving...thank you so much! I’ve never been able to make a good pie crust. I especially like the idea of putting two together for larger pie tins. Can’t wait until next week to try this method!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Virgina! Hope you enjoy it!
Nina Pope says
I love so many of your recipes but, even more, I love the scripture messages that follow...
There has been so much strife, particularly in 2020, that it is an encouragement to
retreat to the eternal values and to remember to enjoy them in the day to day!
Thanks for feeding the body and the spirit all at once.
Chris Scheuer says
Thank you, Nina! Yes, I believe we all need spiritual encouragement right now! 💕
Kathy Parathyras says
Thank you so much for this timely post. I usually make my own pie crusts, but lately I have been feeling a little lazy about it -- and so your post has given me the incentive to try a store-bought crust. Like yourself, my sister-in-law has always had great results with Pillsbury so that is what I am going to buy. Thanks for your great photos and detailed instructions. By the way, I love your Ridiculously Easy Scone recipe. I have made them several times - my family loves them.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Kathy! Hope you enjoy these techniques!
rosemary merrill says
Pie info says to preheat baking sheet on the LOWEST shelf....do you BAKE the pie on the lowest shelf also/
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Rosemary, yes, bake the pie on the bottom shelf! That will give you a nice golden crust.
Paula says
I was given your ridiculous focaccia bread recipe from a friend. It was amazing so I signed up to receive your blog and I can’t get enough of it. I have tried several of your recipes and can’t wait to try this one. But I want to tell you the thing I love the most is your scripture versus at the end. Thank you for that.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Paula 💕💕💕
Diana says
Thank you! I love receiving your recipe blogs -- you are such an inspiration! And, thank you for the link to Alisa Turner's rendition of Psalm13~ lovely! Best wishes and God bless you and your family over the holidays.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Diana! I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment! We really enjoy Alisa Turner!
Helen Francis says
I am enjoying your website so much. Thank you. I have already tried 2 of your recipes with exceptional results. Once again, thank you.
Chris Scheuer says
Thank you, Helen, for taking the time to leave this kind comment! 🥰 I'm so happy you've enjoyed the recipes you've tried!
sharyn says
I never had any luck with pie crust of any kind, so in the 1970's I gave up and went to my thanksgiving stand by, the pumpkin roll. After reading your post I am going to try my luck this thanksgiving making pies. The 2 crust pie is absolutely ingenious. This is my new go to this holiday season. Yes, I am going to let everyone who is in ear shot know, that I made this pie crust. What they don't know won't hurt them.
Chris Scheuer says
Haha, I love it, Sharyn! Bravo to you!
Susan says
My mother used to roll out the pie crust scraps into a circle, spread with butter, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, then roll up, cut into pinwheels and bake. It was always such an amazing treat to eat those.
Chris Scheuer says
Yum, that sounds wonderful!
Carol Manning says
Hi Chris, Just a note of thanks ... I've always made my own pie crusts but with your encouragement I tried the refrigerated pie crusts at Whole Foods (I couldn't find Pillsbury). They were super easy to work with and I made the crimping around the crusts so it was also beautiful. Honestly, I'm not sure I could tell the difference once it was baked. Thanks ... you just saved me a lot of time!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Carol! That's awesome!
Jane says
Please look at the reviews for Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust. They changed the recipe and it is horrible. Many reviewers wanted to leave 0 stars. I checked too late as I used it for years.
Aldo is still very good.
Jane says
Darn auto correct. I meant Aldi
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Jane, Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment.
I've been using Pillsbury pie crust for pies and quiches for the last year. I've had great results and everyone (even friends who always make their own homemade pie crusts) have loved these recipes. Cook's Illustrarted has also rated refrigerated pie crusts and chose Pillsbury as the winner.
I've personally tried Aldi crust and didn't care for them as much. So I guess everyone is different.
Ann Light says
I'm with you. I wonder if different parts of the country have a different distributor. Several times I have brought my pie crust home to discover they thawed during shipping and were smunched down on one side or broken... I have always made my own and I found Pillsbury to not taste good - they don't even use any butter in the recipe. They use lard which has a distinctive flavor which I don't find palatable for sweet pies and the texture was not good. My friend uses Trader Joe's and I thought they tasted more like homemade but still the texture is not the same. Whole Foods pie dough is good...
Jane says
Hi, have you checked Pillsbury reviews lately? After finding a Pillsbury crust reined my pie I checked. I think it is the lard. 80% gif the reviewers hate it now.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Jane, I have looked at reviews. There are definitely varying opinions, with some people raving about them and others hating them. Personally, I have had good results.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Ann. You may be correct in your thought that there are different distributers - I've had good results and as I mentioned above, Cook's Illustrated did a review of refrigerated pie crusts, Trader Joe's being one of them and chose Pillsbury as the clear winner. I haven't seen the refrigerated pie dough at Whole Foods, only frozen, but I will look for that.
Sandra Hutchinson says
Thank you so much, can't wait to try this. I'm 83 yrs young & have never been able to crimp a pie worth a darn. You explain this so well & also the chilling before hand. I'm printing this off & keeping it in my recipe box so that maybe I too can make a good tasting crust & also a pretty one.
Chris Scheuer says
You can do it, Sandra! I promise! 💕
Cathy says
My mom used to make beautiful pies - with a crimped crust. She tried to teach me numerous times with no success. I usually just use a dinner fork and crimp them or if I want to look fancier, like for a holiday, I use the little stamps and stamp out holiday decorations and "hide" the crimping, especially for pumpkin or custard, otherwise, I think there is too much crust on the rim.
I am absolutely going to try Chris' technique though!
Several years ago when Paula Deen had a Food Network show, I think when she visited Jimmy and Roselynn Carter, she talked about store-bought crusts. I figured if it was good enough for the Food Network show and a former First Lady, it was good enough for this home cook. I have slowed down making pies but I used to make pie at least once a week and usually more than one as I have a large family. Saved my hours over the long run.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Cathy! Sounds like your mom was the pie queen! Love your rememberence of Paula Deen and Roselynn Carter!