Desperately Seeking Pie Crusts

Meet my Guest:
Kim from Mommy Knows

I met Kim at the Kraft Foods Blogging tour this summer. I loved this Canadian girl from the minute I met her, and was thrilled when she agreed to be my guest. Please welcome Kim, from Mommy Knows- her blog will make you smile as it’s full of great information about products, family and life in general!

Raise your hand if you’re afraid of pie crust. I’ve got both of my hands raised high above my head, and I am waving frantically. The fear stops here! There is no need with this EASY NO ROLL PIE CRUST.

I’ve long heard the ’secrets’ of good crust from both of my grandmothers. One insisted it was the ice cold water and no over mixing. The other cold lard and no over rolling. Both of these ladies could make a mean pie (one still does) and I’ve been lucky enough to spend most of my forty years, a pie crust virgin. Oh I dabbled in it in my twenties, turning out tough crusts that tasted inferior to even store bought. It didn’t seem worth the work … and I was happy to give it up. Frankly, the rolling scared me.

When my mom asked me to ‘buy’ some Costco pies for Thanksgiving this year (Canadian Thanksgiving is in October), my first questions was, “I thought Grandma was coming for dinner?”
“She is my,” mom said. “I thought it would be nice for her to not to have to cook for a change.”
“HUH? Seriously Ma, are you losing your mind?! Why would the woman want to quit making pies now? Call her back,” I demanded.
“No, I won’t. I don’t have time to make a bunch of pies though, and everyone raves about the Costco pumpkin. I thought you wouldn’t mind bringing a couple with you?” She asked.
–> Silence –>
“I’ll make a couple,” I sighed. I mean really what self-respecting 40 year old woman with four ravenous kids and bottomless-pit of husband shows up with store bought pies for Thanksgiving dinner? NOT I … no way!
I starred long and hard at my grandmother’s ‘prize winning crust recipe’ — seriously that’s what it says, “prize winning.” Then I decided to surf the internet, surely there had to be an ‘EASY prize winning pie crustí out there. It turns out there is … honest, MommyKnows!

Easy No-Roll Pie Crust thanks to Joy the Baker
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 Tablespoons) frozen butter that has been grated on a cheese grater
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon Philadelphia Cream Cheese, at room temperature
2 Tablespoons cold milk

In a medium sized bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Stir 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 theyíre in well incorporated into the flour. The dough should start to come 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 spread as smoothly as possible. Don’t worry too much about finger marks, no one will see them anyway.

Place the prepared crust in the freezer while you preheat the oven and prepare your filling.
May I suggest: Libby’s (R) Famous Pumpkin Pie — it’s delicious.

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.

Enjoy and to all of my American Friends — Happy Thanksgiving!

(Hungry for Oreo Truffles? I’m over at Skip to my Lou’s today! Come back tomorrow for an exciting “cupcake” giveaway!)