How To Blind Bake Pie Crust

5 from 1 vote

This baking guide will teach you how to blind bake pie crust like a pastry pro! It's an essential technique that ensures your crust turns out perfectly flaky, golden brown, and sturdy enough to hold all your favorite sweet and savory fillings!

Prep Time5

Cook Time50

Resting time2

Total Time2 35

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 367kcal

Author: Katalin Nagy

Equipment

Ingredients

Pie dough

250 g All purpose flour
180 g Unsalted butter 82% fat, use it very cold
80 g Water use it very cold
½ teaspoon Salt

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Prepare the pie dough as per the instructions in this pie crust recipe.
If you are using a Pie dish 9 inch / 23 cm, roll the dough to 10 inch / 27 cm in diameter. Remember, do not force the dough, after rolling, it should stay smooth and cold, and easy to work with. The most common reason for pie crust shrinking is forcing and stretching it.
Carefully place the dough into a Pie dish 9 inch / 23 cm. Flute it with your fingers, if desired.
Chill pie dough in the freezer for 30 minutes while pre-heating the oven to 200 C / 372 F (no fan).
After 30 minutes, line the pie crust with parchment paper and fill it with pie weights. Blind bake pie crust for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, remove the pie weight, and with a fork, prick holes all over the crust. Bake for another 15 minutes. You might need to apply a pie shield at this point, which can be as simple as placing aluminum foil around the edges.
Then, apply a thin layer of egg wash (using egg white only) on the bottom and side of the pie crust, this will support the crust not getting wet from the filling eg when making pumpkin pie.
Alternatively, for an even better shine, apply a light egg wash (egg yolk + splash of milk) on the edge of the pie crust.
Bake until the crust is golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Notes

tAll ingredients incl. butter, flour, and water should be very cold
Making this pie crust will take less than 5 minutes. If you are assembling the dough for more than 5 minutes, then you are overworking it
Resting the dough in the fridge is a must - you won't be able to roll it out without appropriate resting time (min. 2h)
Do not begin trying to roll the pie dough until it is at the proper temperature. If it's too cold it can crumble and if it's too warm it can tear
Pie weights are needed for the dough not to puff up during baking, but halfway through you will need to remove it so the crust can be nicely golden brown
Do not force the dough when placing it into the pie dish. Instead of "pulling", try more "pushing" movements down into the pie dish, this will help avoid shrinking it during baking
Egg wash will seal the bottom of the crust that contributes to no soggy pie
You can add 1-2 tablespoons of granulated sugar to this pie crust if you prefer it sweet

Nutrition