Friends.
This is important.
I need you to hold your pinky up for me. We’re about to make a very important promise to one another.
I need you to promise me that you’ll never. ever.. ever… ever buy a store-bought pre-made pie crust again. Don’t do it. Promise me.
Those store bought pie crusts are full of all sorts of mystery fats, trans fats, dirty fats, mean fats… you don’t want all that mess in your pie!
Besides… I’ve come up with the pie crust recipe of your dreams. Seriously. Fluff the ingredients in a bowl, throw in some moisture, then press the dough directly into your pie pan. No chilling. No rolling. No stress. I’m looking out for you.
If you’re scared of pie, I’ve got you’re back…. promise… lemme show you.
The problem that I have with most No-Roll Pie Crust recipes on the Internet is that all of them simply use oil as the fat. Where’s the butter? Let’s not shun butter just because we’re not rolling the pie dough out! Butter is an important part of pie dough. It lends a little lift and loads of flavor.
My No-Roll Pie Crust recipe is a brilliant compromise. I mixed cold butter with vegetable (I used almond) oil, and the secret ingredient: a touch of cream cheese for binding and creamy flavor. The result is a crust somewhere in between a pie crust and a tart shell. It’s slightly sweet, browns beautifully, has a lovely hint of butter and a crisp texture from the oil. This dough is perfect for a custard pie or a pumpkin pie.
To pre-bake the pie crust for a chocolate cream or banana cream pie, line the chilled pie crust with foil, weigh down with beans and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes covered. Remove the foil and beans and bake for 4-6 minutes uncovered until golden brown.
If you don’t need to pre-bake the shell, chill the pie crust in the pie plate in the freezer while you make the pie filling. Buttermilk Pie with Warm Blackberry Sauce? Yum. Pumpkin Pie!? Heck yes! Coming soon!
Remember… this is only a bottom crust recipe. A top crust would involve some rolling, which would involve a different recipe. We’re keeping it simple.
What’s in my quick pie crust today!? A Good Old Fashioned Sugar Pie.
Easy No-Roll Pie Crust
makes 1 9-inch pie crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup (4 Tablespoon) frozen butter that has been grated on a cheese grater
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used almond oil)
1 Tablespoon cream cheese, at room temperature
2 Tablespoons cold milk
In a medium sized bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Whisk together.
Add frozen butter that has been grated on a cheese grater and tablespoon of cream cheese. With your fingers, work the cream cheese and butter into the flour mixture, breaking the butter and cream cheese up until they’re in well incorporated into the flour. Some butter bits will be tiny, other the size of small peddles. The dough may even begin to some together in a rough, sandy kind of way.
Combine the milk and oil. Whisk together. Add all at once to the flour and butter mixture. With a fork, begin to combine the ingredients, making sure that all of the flour mixture is introduced to the liquid. The mixture does not need to come together into a ball. Leave it a bit shaggy and dump the dough into a clean 9-inch pie plate. With your fingers, press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pie plate and up the sides. Try to get the dough as even as possible, but don’t worry too much about finger indentations. You can’t fight that.
Place the prepared crust in the freezer while you preheat the oven and prepare your filling. If you’re going to pre-bake your crust, heat the oven to 350 degrees F and line the chilled pie crust with foil, weigh down with beans and bake for 10 minutes covered. Remove the foil and beans and bake for 4-6 minutes uncovered until golden brown.
If you need an unbaked pie crust, simply remove the crust from the freezer once your filling is made, fill your pie and place in a preheated oven. Bake according to your particular recipe.
Good Old Fashioned Sugar Pie
from Sweets
makes 1 9-inch pie
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
4 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 cups evaporated milk
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large saucepan, combine the granulated and brown sugars, cornstarch, cinnamon, slat and nutmeg. Mix well. Add the eggs and yolk and combine well with a whisk. Gradually stir in the milk until well blended.
Turn the flame onto medium heat and cook ingredients, stirring constantly until the filling is thick and bubbly. This took me about 7 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla extract.
Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack until ready to serve. I like this pie best cold from the fridge.
Lori
Joy! Help! Sorry, first let my tell you that I admire you so much for how you’v been building your little Baking Empire, I’v been folllowing you for years so I have had the chance to see you push forward and change…way to go girl!
Now to the selfish purpose of this comment, For a year now I’v been having a major SALT PROBLEM. Most of the pies crust and cookies that I bake turn out waaaay to salty, the last ocassion been last night’s Pesach Seder for which I baked a pie using this easy-no-roll-pie-crust,, which was left half untouched, even though I followed the recipe word by word and spoon by spoon.
I live in Israel and I use supermaket coarse kosher salt, when I lived in Chile (my home country) and used iodized fine salt I didn’t have this problrem, but then again I was baking much less. Can the problem be resting in the size of the grain? According to the post you wrote on the subjec of salt this shouldn’t be the reason.
Anyway HEEELP! or I might be destituted from my position as the family baker
LOVE
Jason
I read your post and tried it home,it sounds very great. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
lem monade
Can i just tell you how you saved my life with this recipe?
For last nights dinner I had planned cigarette böreks (the turkish equivalent to taquitos, made of filled, rolled-up and fried yufka/filo dough); after having made the filling (garlicy sautéed radish greens, feta, cottage cheese) and a spicy tomato dipping sauce bubbling away, I realized that the filo sheets had gotten bad and i needed an instant change of plans: making filo dough from scratch– how does that even work? pasta dough for some kind of ravioli – no resting time!
Enter: your perfect quick pie crust! I had no cream cheese, so i used low fat cottage cheese instead and substituted half the milk with heavy cream to make up for the overall fat content; also olive instead of almond oil… it was super quick and easy to make; I added an extra egg to my filling and there i had a completely improvised but oh so delicious savoury pie / quiche, with a perfectly crispy and flaky crust.
So: thank you once again for your great, adaptable and always reliable recipes!!
Sophie
I was wondering, can you use a food processor for this? I don’t like getting my hands too greasy, even if it is for a pie :)
Fatema ( Abu Dhabi)
I tried your milk chocolate pancakes,they were divine….sent them over to my friends and she said they were gone in 3 mins…Thumbs up and wish you all the success for such delicious mouthwatering recipes you provide us…God bless you….
Is there anyway you will ever make a date and pecan pie mixture for i would looooove to try it….Its a cheeky request *_*
Kelli
I made this pie yesterday for the Super Bowl. Despite the fact that most of my friends are Pat’s fans, this pie brought a smile to all their faces. The crust was so easy to make and was the first pie crust I can honestly say that I’ve liked. Thank you so much for such a beautiful recipe!
Rebekah
Worked great for a pumpkin pie and maple meringue pie. Thanks!
Jeanne
I might be betiang a dead horse, but thank you for posting this!
PeridotOlivine
You saved my life!!! This is so awesome!!! You are the genius!!! I love how I don’t need to wait and roll down my pie crust and stress out about breaking crust and stuff!!! THANK YOU!!! :D
Sam
Just used this crust to make mini fruit mince pies, it worked out wonderfully (and beat store bought in a blind taste test). I will definitely be using this one again! Thanks Joy!
person
Thanks for the recipie! It turned out as a flavorfull crust in the pie I made.
Joan Edwards
What kind of beans are placed on the pie crust to set it?
Joan Edwards
I would like to make the no-roll pie crust for this Thanksgiving, what beans do I use to place on the aluminum foil?
Lillian
Hi Joy, you can find my post myeverydaybites.wordpress.com I translated your recipe to Spanish for my readers. Hope you don’t mind.
Thank you!
Lilly
Lillian
thanks!! My first apple pie and it was awesome!!! I will post it later in my blog and make reference to yours. Thanks!
Lilly
Grace
Joy, I have a question:
– What’s the difference between this pie crust recipe vs. the one in your Buttermilk Pie? I know there’s buttermilk in the latter one, but is there a difference in texture? I successfully made no-roll recipe and want to add the buttermilk/blackberry filling to it… is that okay?
Thanks!
Christyna
The man was craving a quiche after watching “throwdown” with Bobby Flay. After a run around town @ 7:30pm looking for an already made quiche, I said to him, “you know, you can easily prepare a quiche at home.” His response: “okay, can you make the crust?” My reply: “Why yes, yes I can.” I quickly went to your site and pulled this lovely recipe, and tada! A quiche crust was born. It was absolutely delicious. Nice balance between tender (the cream cheese, right?) and flaky (the box grated butter, yes?). This is now officially my go to pie dough recipe because I really hate rolling out dough. And, why should I considering how easy and delicious this one is?! As always, thank you Joy for your culinary awesomeness.
Kaberi
Hi Joy
Your website really is a complete joy to go through. I love how passionate you are about cooking. It really is inspirational. Plus I love how committed and confident you are about your recipes. For me, that is really important when I am looking for recipes online. I am definitely going to try out many of your recipes.
One question about this no-roll pie crust: What can I use as a substitute for the small amount of cream cheese? Thing is, in India cream cheese, believe it or not, is hard to come by, and also prohibitively expensive (because it is imported). Ridiculous, I know. So, what can I use as a substitute?
howtoeatacupcake
How do u like Sweets? It’s been on my Amazon wishlist for quite sometime, and I’m looking for a sign that I need it now! lol
Penny's PINK PIGGY
Where do you find almond oil in large quantities. I live in Michigan on the upper west side of the state. I am 63 and love to bake, make cookies, cupcakes and pies to supplement my SS. This no roll crust will be helpful. Have a Blessed week . Enjoy your site.
The salty pear
you rock. pie gods are happy in pie heaven. this is serious humanitarian work. joy joy joy!
hijabihoodlum
joy the baker, you’re the freaking man. BOX GRATING FROZEN BUTTER?! thank you for being awesome.
Belinda
You know what else works if you don’t like to use the rolling pin? you can whip up a batch of pastry, freeze it, and when you want to use it, grate it, from frozen into the dish and shape with your fingers like the one above – also works a treat.
Allegra
wow – I must delurk to say thank you! this crust was amazing, and perfect for my 1st stab at homemade pumpkin pie. I will only be making topless-crust pies from now on!
Tiffany Miller
you can make this crust and pat it onto a flat plate dusted with flour and then just slide or tip it onto the top of your pie for the top crust if you want. ive done it before and it came out pretty well. :)
Patrick
I made this pie crust today on a whim for a dinner of beef pot pie with loads of fresh vegetables and a new favourite merlot. I cut the sugar down a bit and added caraway seeds, pepper and thyme to the crust dough. Unfortunately it’s not really a meal that I can eat right now, but there were rave reviews around the table for the flavour overall and texture of the crust.
One possible caveat, and this could be entirely down to user error (I have worked in a bakery, but I think I’ve made pie crust 2 times before in my life), is that the crust wasn’t quite up to the task of holding together under a high pile of hot stew. Perhaps I didn’t pat it down firmly enough when I was pre-baking and it just baked too light, or perhaps this recipe is best suited for set custard type pies, where the filling adds some structure and cohesion between the filling and crust.
At any rate, I’ve copied this recipe down into my little pink book of elite recipes, and I cant wait till christmas when I commit to never buying pie crusts again, and make my original recipe for sweet potato pie and taste it against yours in a head to head battle!
cheerio!
sandra
amazing!!! thanks for posting this recipe!!! now quiches are easier than ever thanks to you.
Katie
THANK YOU! I made my first pumpkin pie from scratch yesterday and used this pie crust – it came out perfect! I wanted to make my own pie crust, but all the recipes I found had shortening (ewww). What’s the point in making your own if it’s going to be full of junk anyway? I’m always on your site drooling, but I’ve yet to use one of your recipes until now. You rock Joy!
sarcozona
This is the first time I’ve made a yummy crust. Thanks so much posting such a great recipe – I’m no longer terrified of crust!
Sean
Made your no-roll pie crust for pumpkin pie the other day. It works great! Perfect gateway dough for people who are scared to make traditional pie dough. Thank you for sharing!
Janice
No roll makes me super happy! As does how easy this looks. Thank you for sharing. Holiday pies, here I come!
Michelle from Taste As You Go
Thank you so much for sharing this pie crust recipe! I have very little counter space in my tiny New York City kitchen and no rolling pin (*gasp*), so this is perfect for me. Now, all I need is a pie plate and I’m good to start baking pies for the holidays!
Za
OOooohhhh….awesome! easy and fun! Thanks!
Courtney
WOW! A NO ROLL pie crust? Count me in!!!
roni
i don’t own a pie plate because i never wanted to try making pie from scratch until now. is there a diff between glass & ceramic? any recommendations? my grannie used to use the Pyrex glass ones. boy, miss her meat pies…
Amy
Can I just say how wonderful and easy this recipe was? And what a delicious, crumbly crust it made for my pumpkin pie! Store-bought shells no more! I used a cinnamon sugar mixture instead of plain sugar, giving it an extra spiciness. My dad’s already asking if I can make it when I go home for Thanksgiving – and he hasn’t even tried it yet :)Thanks, Joy!
Stephanie
Thank you!!!! I too had always caved and used store bought pie crust; I just have never been good at making my own…until now. Tried this yesterday with my 4 yr old son (who loves to bake!) and it was perfect! He loved mixing it with his hands and pressing it into the pie plate. This is perfect for doing with kids–he was so proud of himself…I was pretty proud too. Tasted awesome. Buttery and sweet–perfect with our (lactose-free) pumpkin pie. Thanks again!!!
Ruby
JOY !
I took this recipe to Italy with me (along with pecans) and made this pie crust.
THANK YOU !THANK YOU !THANK YOU !THANK YOU !THANK YOU !THANK YOU !THANK YOU !THANK YOU !THANK YOU !THANK YOU !THANK YOU !THANK YOU !THANK YOU !THANK YOU !THANK YOU !
I will never buy pre-made frozen again.
I will never ROLL again !
What a wonderful gift you have given to everyone.
Now onward to that Sweet Potatoe Pie !
I forgot to see if they have sweet pots in Italy :(
Ruby
Roberta
My husband loves chocolate cream pie, but I have always hated using the ready made pie crust from the store. Thank you, thank you, thank you :)
Carrie
Okay, so I really really really want to promise you that I won’t buy a pre-made crust, but truth be told, I’m not sure I can make that promise. I make chicken pot pie pretty regularly, and I only use a top crust. Do you have some super-easy top crust recipe? I just don’t have the time (or energy… or skills) to make a pie crust from scratch, especially when it involves, rolling, chilling, cursing at my dough for falling apart, etc.
Hannah
I made this today and loved it!
Hélène
This is a great recipe. Congratulations for your nomination. I just voted.
Food Hunter
This is perfect! thanks for sharing.
Moxiegirl
What do you mean by weighing down the crust with foil and beans. A can of beans? A bag of beans? What else can you use? (I have food allergies) I’m sorry if this is a stupid question! I’m new to your blog!
joythebaker
ooh no! not a can of beans. i’m talking dried beans. the foil lining and the dried beans will weigh the crust down a bit so it doesn’t puff up too much when it’s prebaked. usually the pie filling (say in a pumpkin pie that doesn’t need to be prebaked) will do this work for you. if you have an allergy, look into buying pie weights. they’re little metal balls that will do the work for you… beans are just cheaper.
shalini
Wow, that’s such a great recipe! I’ll definitely be trying this out.
Kristen McIntyre
Fantastic!! Can’t wait to get home and try this recipe out!
Erica from Cooking for Seven
My sister and I made squash pie tonight and used this recipe. Wow. I was so easy, and we substituted half of the flour for whole wheat & used coconut oil for the “vegetable” oil. It was crispy and tasty. Dad even liked it (he’s somewhat of a pie crust snob)! Thanks so much for the recipe! It’s a keeper.
joythebaker
awesome erica! i’m so glad you like the recipe!
Put a Lyd on it...
Thank you so much! I have to confess I have a store bought pie crust in my fridge right now… But I can’t wait to try this out, and if it works, then NEVER AGAIN! I just really stink at making pie crusts, so I’m super excited to give this one my last shot. :) Love your site! You have so many great ideas and recipes that I love to try out! Keep up the good work! I’m a fan!
Mrs.Joanz
It always makes me ill when a family member requests a specific pie for their b-day…….I make pie(s) once a year, maybe twice…..I purchase store bought pies just cause I hate making/rolling crust..too much rules for me. This, I can handle….watch out holidays, here I come! Pie anyone, bring it on! Joy, you rock! LOVE your stuff!
elissa
delurking to tell you that i was super skeptical of this pie crust, but i made it this morning for a quiche and it was great! far faster and easier than a traditional roll out dough, and loads better than a store bought dough. thanks so much! (i’m plotting where to fit the buttermilk pie with blackberry sauce in the next few days)
joythebaker
sweet! sweet! Sweet! i’m so glad you had success with this crust!
Theresa
This is great! Thanks so much! Store bought pie crust was a big dilemma for me when it came down to the trans fats, etc… and a lot of the time I just don’t have time for a more tradition crust!
I was curious, how would you go about incorporating cheddar cheese into this recipe? I really dig a tart apple pie with a cheddar crust and think with this recipe it would be just fantabulous!
WizzyTheStick
Joy I want to promise you that I will never buy frozen pie crust again but I don’t know if I can commit. I hate store bought frozen pastry but I live in the tropics and the heat and humidity does things to butter you Northern chefs can only dream about. And trust me not pleasant dreams either but nightmares. Oooooh your recipe cursed me with evil words that I have come to dread; it said bring butter to room temperature. Exactly whose room temperature would that be? Mine is currently an uncomfortable 102F and the oven hasn’t yet been turned on. …..okaaaaaay I’ll give it a try but only because you pinky promised that it will be alright!
Hundewanderer
I haven’t checked in for a little while and after the first initial scroll to the bottom of the page I am thinking: oh my! I need to make that, and THAT, and ohhhh look at that! Oh my goodness you’ve been up to good stuff! hugs from Hundewanderer.
Victor
Just wanted to say thank you for all the great posts. hilarious writing and beautiful pictures.
GinaE
Many thanks for this no roll pie crust recipe!!!! I recently found a no need bread dough recipe and now this pie crust. Thanks so much for solving this real problem for me. Love your blog.
Esme
Joy-how do you get the crust from the board to the pie pan without it splitting up. I have slowly managed the beginning steps-but am still stammering over this part?
I am so not my mother’s daughter-she made the best crusts in the world. I do not eat apple pie any more because nothing can live up to hers. She would go on a pie frenzy and freeze them.
Thank you.
joythebaker
Getting the rolled crust from the board to the pie tin is always a challenge. I think the trick is practice and prayer. Seriously.
Madeleine
I feel like you’ve read my mind – I was just looking for an easy, never-made-pie-crust before recipe and now you’ve posted one. Thank you! I’m going to try it this week-end.
Susan
This crust isn’t as easy as the one I have! A Paula Deen recipe that uses 1 1/4 c flour, pinch of salt, 1 stick butter and 2-3T sour cream. Try that one! using your pressing and baking method. It’s flaky and buttery and can keep pumpkin and pecan pies from getting that soggy bottom that we all hate.
joythebaker
Sounds like Paula has a great recipe for you! I’m glad you like it. Sounds full of buttery goodness!
Sondi
What a great, easy idea! Do you think it would work with gluten-free flours?
joythebaker
I don’t know if this recipe will work with gluten free flours. You’ll have it give it a try and let me know!
Hannah
Joy! you may have saved me here…pie crust is the bane of my existence.
Marie
This might be the answer for someone that is as “pie crust challenged” as myself. I will try this recipe for sure. Thanks for sharing.
Kevin
This crust sounds nice and easy! I will have to try it.
Heather
Joy,
I am so totally excited about this pie crust. My husband is the biggest pie junkie and I cannot make a rolled pie crust to save my soul. But I hate hate hate store pie crust.
Thanks!
Orit
You are seriously the best :) I’m gonna make this pie crust this week.
Peggy
Joy,
I love this recipe and can’t wait to try it. I am a big fan of no roll crusts and am so glad to see one with butter in it. By the way if someone wanted a top crust with this kind of crust they should crumble some of the pie crust on top og the pie. It doesn’t make a whole top crust but it does make a crumbly one.
joythebaker
Interesting. Maybe maybe a batch and a half of this recipe and crumbling some on top and a quick crust? Great idea!
Juni O
I love to bake but never attempted to make a pie because of the crust…you just gave me a good reason to make my first pie ever. Thank you for posting this
joythebaker
Awww heck! Let me know how your first pie comes out!
Helen K
I just made this, for chicken pot pie.. it was delicious and very easy!!
xoxo
Lisa Klein
You are a savior!! I have always been afraid of pie crust. Thanks to you we can actually have a pie for Thanksgiving this year instead of a cobbler! Brilliant, thank you!!
theUngourmet
I really must try this one! I love that the crust is so easy!
Millie
Joy…you just made my weekend. lol. I HATE making pie crusts because they’re always such a pain. I’m definitely going to try this the next time I make a pie. You ROCK!
Nicole (Cooking After Five)
I have a few pies on my list to make this season — I’ll definitely try this crust recipe out!
Jessanna
joy- I LOVE YOU!! (ok so we have never met- but you m;dear read hearts desire (ok not literally, but I am excited to try this! Can you tell?
joythebaker
try it! try it!
peachkins
this is great! thanks so much for showing how to do it..
Micah Rose
This post reminds me of “Pushing Daisies”. I really miss that show.
I’m going to try this tonight…
P.S. This blog makes me smile…
“I got your back”…priceless.
Dani
SUPER – ***ing – FANTASTIC!!! You are a Goddess! First, make your own cake flour, and now this. I cannot wait to try this crust. It’s not that I can’t make a flaky crust, but I definitely have problems getting it transferred to the pie pan without tearing. And I’ve never even heard of Sugar Pie before. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Vicki
Wow! Definitely going to pull up my boot straps and try this with Betty Crocker’s Almond Cream pie. Thanks Joy!
Jelli Bean
Joy, this is a brilliant post. So many people cringe at the thought of making the dough. This is as simple as it comes. Thanks for making lives easier, and showcasing one of my favorites– down-home sugar cream pies.
Karen
Brilliant!
Tara
looks delish as always!!
i got baggu in the mail last week and i love love love it already. it comes with me everywhere :), thanks again for the great giveaway!!
joythebaker
awesome! i’m glad you got the bag and love it! i’ve been using my baggu as a quick daytime purse…. love it!
jen
curses! I needed this yesterday… happy that I get to use it in the future tho!
Jacqueline Harrington
Pie Pie me oh my…how can I make the pie to die for? My favorite part of a bad John Travolta movie was the restaurant full of pies!
Tina T
Always been afraid to bake a pie. Hate ready made crusts and frozen dough. You have given me the courage to try!!
dawn
nothing like a good old homemade crust. I mean seriously. nicely done. I will never buy that chemical-laden stuff.
joythebaker
thank you dawn… thank you!
Jill in Atlanta
Just attempted my own pie crust with a recipe from Alton Brown that had vodka in the crust. It gave you extra moisture without being tough. For my first ever attempt, it was pretty good, but not something I’d do regularly. I’ll work up the courage and try yours soon. Apples beg for pie this time of year.
Jen
Definitely going to try these recipes. And. I had no idea there was an actual “Sugar Pie.” I just thought that was what my grandma used to call me….
snooky doodle
wow this is my perfect crust pie recipe :) I m not that good at making pastry. Really interesting and yummy !
Mandie
I have some purple sweet potatoes that are begging to be put in that pie crust!
The Duo Dishes
The rolling part is sometimes the least fun part. Sucks when your crust doesn’t come together in a nice ball and it breaks as you roll it, then breaks when you flop it in the pan, then looks crazy when you try to fix it! :) As long as it tastes good, that’s all that matters…
Shauna
Oh Joy, how do I love thee and thy awesome, make-my-life-easier recipes, let me count the ways… Can’t wait to give this one a try – the kids have been begging for pumpkin pie for two weeks, so I think this crust is a winner!
That said, I sure hope you’re going to have that pumpkin pie recipe posted soon so that I can appease the wee ones… ;)
Rose
yay! I’ll be trying this over the weekend, since I hate rolling out anything….this is perfect! :)
Matt
So I have attempted to make pie crusts many times and every time I have had to go to the store and by a god forsaken premade pie crust. I am not proud of this but alas it has happened TOO many times. NEVER AGAIN I say! NEVER AGAIN! I will make pies and people will love them!
But for serious. My fiance’s birthday is coming up in a few weeks and she always has her mom make her a pumpkin pie but since we moved she won’t have that this year (first in 23 years) so I have taken it upon myself to make her the pumpkin pie this year, which I have made before (thank you Grandma Kauffman’s recipe) but it was never nearly as good because of the *shudder* premade pie crusts. So I thank you and I’m sure my fiance will too. I love this site and I love your recipes. Thank you for sharing!
Jen @ MaplenCornbread
Oh this is perfect!!!!! I cant wait to try this crust out in a pie!
Mary
Is this the one from Cook’s Country? I saw one similar, it just didn’t use oil, from what I recall…it was very easy to work with…I’ll have to give yours a try!
christina
You’re right! I would totally bake more pies if it wasn’t for the the making, chilling, and rolling of the crust. Sure, most of those are double crusted, but I have a tendency to make my life complicated. This sounds delicious!
Kelly
I will definitely have to try this – I finally broke down and bought the last two pie crusts I needed because I HATE HATE HATE using the pastry blender (or substituting with two knives). I don’t know what it is but it was stopping me from making pies.
Anyway – hopefully this will cure me!
JennEJenn
Just in time for the holidays! I will have to try this with my favorite holiday pie. Thanks for having our backs!
Crystal
I love how rustic those look!
Erica from Cooking for Seven
That looks so simple. Of course we shouldn’t shun butter! I’ll bet I could sub some of the flour for whole wheat flour…
Jamieanne
This sounds like a life-saver! I will definitely be trying out the no-roll pie crust for pumpkin pies this year! Thanks!
The Waspy Redhead
What a great idea! I am a terrible specimen of a southern woman, my pie crusts are so ugly usually.
food librarian
You are going to win Evan’s pie contest with this one! – mary
Ginny
Thank you thank you thank you thank you!
Oh my goodness. I cannot roll out a pie crust to save. my. life.
Joy. Thank you. You certainly live up to your name.
Heather Rose
Ironically, I woke up today ready to make a pumpkin pie for my friend’s birthday, and was thinking that I wished I could make a from-scratch dough instead of the powdered stuff.
Lo and behold, a pie crust recipe from Joy! What a coinkidink. :-)
I *just* made this this morning. The crust scared me a little as it baked, because it was bubbling a little and I’d never seen that, but it was very easy to make (and I’ve never shredded frozen butter, that was a first, but kinda cool). I’ll get the scoop tonight on the taste from my friend!
Sara
I can’t believe this exists. It’s better than a unicorn!
So I need to
1. Try your apple pie pastry and
2. Make this no roll dough
I think I’ll try the apple pie first, I have a feeling after making this easy crust, I won’t ever go back to two crusted pies!
ingrid
Okay, I pinky promise! I’m printing this bad boy out! Thanks for sharing and twisting my arm!! :)
Happy Friday!
~ingrid
Bethany
What if I need to make this pie RIGHT NOW, but our other car is broken and I’m taking the stuck-at-home shift today where there is no cream cheese? What then? Will it still be delicious? Or will the dream of a butter, pat-in-pan crust elude me yet?
stephchows
seriously fabulous! Can’t wait to make some pumpkin pie!!
sassy
@diane: ooooh! I wanna hear about a good pie crust for apples.
@ joy: does this freeze well. I’m taking classes while working full time, so I have limited time. I would love to dedicate a couple hours to making several servings of pie dough that I can stick in the freezer and pull out as needed…
joythebaker
this is my favorite pie crust for apple pies. it’s a buttermilk pie crust recipe.
https://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2008/11/apple-pie-for-your-soul/
also… i only froze this pie dough for 15 minutes, but i presume that this dough will freeze well.
Anna
Aww, I had just got the hang of pastry and now you’ve tempted me back to an easier version!
Rachel
I could kiss you! I just made my own pie crust for the first time and while the taste was great, the crust fell down the sides when I was blind baking. I promise to try this for the holidays.
P.S. I promise not to use store bought crust (as soon as I use up what I have in the freezer). =)
Diana Samour
Promise made (pinky in air and all)!
I have been making my own pie crust for the last year, but find myself making less pies. The freezer has apples, blackberries and more waiting to be made into a pie. This is an easy pie crust for an open face pie, which I will try this weekend. Do you have a favorite (no crisco) version for say an apple pie? I’ll share mine if you share yours…
Jenn @ FFP
This sounds great. I’ve always used butter flavored shortening in my pie pastry since I don’t have a food processor to quickly combine the cold butter into the dough but, using frozen butter shavings may work better. Thanks.
By the way, we call this pie, Chess Pie in the south cause it’s ‘chess’ (just) pie! No matter the title, it’s yummmy goodness!!!
Dolce
Yeah! Great for last minute visitors :)
Brianne
Ick to store bought crust! I normally use my grammy’s recipe but this is intriguing…I must try it. And I have never heard of sugar pie. How can you go wrong with that?!
joythebaker
you can’t go wrong… fact.
kitti
I’m also going to try making the sugar pie with 1/2 and 1/2 instead of evaporated milk. Its supposed to be a good substitute, so we’ll see how it turns out. Will post about it on my blog here in a little while <3
Linds
Hey I was going to make a pie tomorrow morning! I usually have a go-to crust recipe, but maybe I’ll try this one out. No rolling is definitely a plus. I’ll quote your site if I try this out!
Chad
This sounds like a great idea. My only concern is that shredding the butter sounds like a lot of work. Wouldn’t it be easier and just as effective to cube it with a knife and then work it into the crust? Otherwise, great recipe. Thanks.
joythebaker
Shredding the butter is virtually no work at all… it honestly took me about 2 minutes. I think it’s a much better technique than cubing the butter. Grating the butter produces smaller flakes of butter, letting you handle the butter for less time once it’s in the flour mixture.
Melanie
OMG Joy…how did you know I was making pumpkin pie this weekend and dreading the crust part?? ;)
Perfection!
I too received the goodie bag and it’s amazing! Thanks soooo much! I’ll be blogging about it this week at some point. :)
Cheers!
Michelle
Great recipe for the up and coming holiday season! Thank you! Looks and sounds very easy, can’t wait to give it a try. Love your blog!!
janelle
Looks great and I can’t wait to try it! I have been scared of pie crusts but this is a great way to start! I also got my Baggu bag and love it! Thanks!
Jen Yu
Can I just tell you that you are delightful? I’m sorry we didn’t have more time to talk, but I was downright giddy after I got to meet you. You are the sweetest girl in the room and I think you pretty much rawk. If you ever find yourself in Colorado, drop a line. Boulder is a fun scene :) xxoo
joythebaker
Jen! I could just squeeze you! It was so great meeting you too! I am such a big fan of your blog… though I’m often lurking. You put such a smile on my face last weekend. Rad! I’ll let you know when Colorado is in my future.
Liz Brooks
this is amazingly cool, thanks for sharing!
Lynda
Oh thank you Joy ~ you are the best ever!! My rolling pin and I have not gotten along in years, so I can’t wait to try this recipe!!
arugulove
I am a recovering pie crust phobic so this is looking pretty spectacular right now. I bet the cream cheese makes the crust taste a little like rugelach. mmmm, yes please.
emily s
MMMMmm, good! I am making this next time I make pie. You can’t stop me :)) I can’t get vegetable shortening where I live and so pie crust has been a frustration for me. Thanks so much!!
Curvaliscious
Lovely idea… any pointers for making a pie TOP if the type of pie calls for it? I am scared to make pie crust lol
kitti
woo! i love you!! going to make this. question though –
do you think I could leave out the cream cheese and sub. heavy cream for the milk to give it the creamy-ness?
I never have cream cheese on hand!
joythebaker
how about sour cream or creme fraiche? do you have those on hand? I might suggest those before going to heavy cream.
Anna
A no roll pie crust..seriously what rock have I been hiding under!
I will definitely try this crust with my pumpkin pie.
Megan
1. I hate mystery mean jerkface fats.
2. That pie crust looks like a dream!
Kate D
Hi Joy! What fun! I’ve never made/eaten a sugar pie (and how on earth could such a thing be bad????). I’m curious though — what is the texture of the pie like?
Mama JJ
Did you really post this at 2 in the morning? Do you ever sleep???
joythebaker
hahahaa! I really do post at 2 in the morning… mostly because that’s when I have time and I’m a little bit crazy.
Evan
What a fabulous idea! I didn’t even know there was such a thing as no-roll pie crust! This is A-to-the-mazing!
joythebaker
thank you for saying A-to-the-mazing. Seriously. I love you.
Jessica @ How Sweet It Is
Perfect! Just in time for the holidays. :)
Rhubarb and Venison
How did you know I just threw out an ugly lump of pie crust dough last weekend in utter frustration with rolling it out? I had almost resigned myself to a life of cobblers and crumbles, but you’re saying there’s a chance…
linda
joy, since you’ve got my back…I PROMISE!!
btw: with love, apple pie is a great tutorial…