November is Gratitude: But I Hate Making Pie Crusts!
When I think of the month of November, my mind goes directly to gratitude, grace, and delicious food. I also think of the beauty around us, so vibrant in color and so rich with friends. And I think of what we’ve been given and how we are truly blessed, beyond what we deserve.
I’m not sure if you’ve read my new book, but several times I write about the great theologian Henri Nouwen. I really appreciated his book, The Return of the Prodigal Son, in which he says that gratitude is more than a mere thank you. It’s really a discipline that we live out and practice each day in a conscious way.
There are so many benefits to giving thanks. It actually can humble us when we realize all that we’ve been given. I know that where I am today and what I have today is because of grace.
Grace to me is also like a dollop of sweet cream on a warm piece of Pecan Pie.
But before I share the pie recipe, which you are going to love, I have to be honest with you and tell you this:
I Hate Making Pie Crusts
Yes, I HATE MAKING PIE CRUSTS.
So because pie season is officially here, whether we like it or not, I want to share with you today my Easy Press Pie Crust recipe. I am not a big fan of store-bought pie crusts or the mess involved in rolling out the dough, so this one works for me.
Easy Press Pie Crust
1/2 cup oil
2 T. milk
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 375. Whip oil and milk together with a fork. Add in the dry ingredients and continue to mix with a fork until well blended.
Press into pie pan (with a fork or your fingers) and poke with a fork. That is right.
There is no rolling involved.
Bake 12-15 minutes. Cool.
Soon I will share with you the amazing pie recipe that goes into this crust. (And 3 different sizes.) Perfect for Thanksgiving. You press, bake, fill, bake, and serve!
Do you enjoy making pie crusts or do you buy pre-made?
(This recipe is on page 49 in my new book, The Reluctant Entertainer.)
If you happened to miss my 31 Days series, to help with stress-free entertaining, you can read every post, here.
Too funny
On Friday I did a post on facts about me and one of the things was “I love to cook but I hate making pie crust”(it is just too messy)
I cannot wait to try this recipe it looks much nicer than the alternativE
Have a wonderful day Sandy
I like the press in the pan crust, but the problem arises when you want to make a double crust pie. I am still trying to perfect the perfect rolled out crust. My daughter’s mother in-law uses her fingers to incorporate the Crisco (the only brand she uses) into the flour. A pastry chef I know says to chill the dough overnight or a minimum of 4 hours. She say this is crucial. Joy of Cooking says a little vinegar and sugar make a flaky crust. I have tried all of these and I have to admit my crust are much better, but not perfect and I am a perfectionist. I need to work side by side an expert pie maker so I know how the dough should feel. Like my bread dough, I can tell just by feeling the dough if it is right.
I have never enjoyed making pie crusts. In fact, I’ve always thought pie crust was overrated! Before the pre made refrigerated varieties came along I used to use something that looked like a stick of butter that you crumbled up, added water to, mixed, and and rolled out. Too much work. I love the Pillsbury crusts that now unroll (they used to unfold and always had cracks that had to be mended). They are a lifesaver/time saver, taste great, and I’ll probably never make another homemade crust again unless I need to do a lattice top pie.
I’m so excited to try out this pie crust dough! I don’t know for sure if I’ve ever made it from scratch, but I don’t like the taste of the storebought ones or the way they crack as they are defrosting. :(
How about posts on relationships and entertaining? I wish I could entertain people a lot more…but my mom doesn’t. Our house is definitely less than clean and she points out all the remodeling that needs to be done and is just not comfortable inviting people over on a whim. I guess I’m wondering if there’s a way for me to practice hospitality more without making my mom crazy or undermining the validity of her worries.
I’m bookmarking this! So happy to find a pie crust recipe that does not use lard or crisco. Since moving to Australia, I haven’t seen Crisco anywhere. While, lard is everywhere. Cooking with lard is fine. It’s just that I don’t keep my pantry stocked with it. I always have oil, though.
Thank you!
Deborah
Homemaker Honey
homemakerhoney.com
I think I’m a pretty good baker, but pie crusts always frustrate me. I think it’s one of those things that you have to make a lot to get good at, and I probably only make pie a few times a year. My mom’s crusts are so flaky and wonderful, so it’s kind of intimidating when I try to make them. I’ll attempt your recipe,though!
I fail every time I try to make a crust. I don’t know what it is. I can’t crimp, I can’t roll it out, and I can’t move it from the rolling surface to the pie plate. It’s like you knew exactly what I needed. I owe big time for this post. Love it.
Thank You! Love pie crust, hate to make it! I’m all about easy but still home made! =]
My mom used to make the most amazing pie crusts ever! I tried to make them like her, but could never get it quite right. So I usually stick to the store bought kind that you unroll and place in the pan. At least I can flute the edges to make them look like homemade pie crusts, and a lot of the times, people think they’re homemade! :)
Still wish I could make them like Mom. :(
Sandy,
thanks for sharing….I hate it too…a couple of years ago I stumbled on a shortbread crust recipe and I do that for most of my pies now. It doesn’t work for apple pie and pies such as that, but it’s great on lemon chess, chocolate chess and I even use it for cheesecake instead of a traditional graham cracker crust….I’m looking forward to trying your recipe!
My Mom taught me to make pie crusts and I’m okay with it as long as I have a kitchen set up to do it! I tried the ready-made rolled up ones and they tasted nasty. Some of the preformed frozen ones work just fine for a one crust pie!
I have to try this. Because, because…. crusts are the bane, baby, the bane of my existence. That is all.
I so missed seeing you down here last week. I hope that it was an amazing adventure my friend.
I sometimes buy store bought dough (the pillsbury rolled up dough..I think it’s better than the frozen already in the pan crusts) when I don’t have time, but I too am not a fan of homemade only because I’m not that good at it, so I get frustrated. Love, love, love the taste, but have not mastered the art of making it. I’ve done the press in the pan kind and it’s awesome. I’ve also done pies with the press in bottom and crumble top!
Thanks so much for sharing the pie crust recipe. I too hate making them, but don’t care for the store bought much either. This sounds so simple!
I cannot say that I ENJOY making pie crust – for me it was a rite of passage I felt compelled to conquer: my mother made BEAUTIFUL crusts.
I never, never could get mine to come out just like hers. Many years, the day before Thanksgiving I barracaded myself in the kitchen in tears, at least one or more spoiled batches in the trash, before I was able to create something passable.
Finally, after 10 years of experimenting (and giving up on mom’s method entirely), I have a recipe that works quite reliably and, at least for me, the taste of a homemade crust far outweighs the trouble. I don’t do it very often, but when I do, I usually try to make four or five and freeze them!
This is very similar to the recipe that I use. And I really don’t mind making pie crusts now! My recipe is: 2 1/4 c. flour, 1 tsp. sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/3 c. cold water, 3/4 c. oil. I mix it up and then divide into 2 balls. Then I roll them each out between 2 pieces of wax paper. If it cracks I can easily fix it by pressing them together. This recipe makes the 2 crusts, but if I use my smaller tin pans I can squeeze 3 crusts out of it. I just made 3 crumb-top apple pies this weekend to put in the freezer. They will come in handy for some impromptu guests!
I am not the best at pie crust, but I do not have pre-made pie crust available to me here in Paraguay so I look forward to trying out your recipe! Thanks, Sandy!
And also, I really enjoyed the last month with you. I didn’t comment but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t take to heart your wise advice. May God bless you and continue to increase your sphere of influence for His glory!
Shilo
I usually make my own pie crust with the food processor, but I always hate the way it turns out. I get tired of rolling…
This is a great recipe so I am rethinking my decision to make something other than pie for our family Thanksgiving.
During the summer I spent a day on the farm with my mother in law, watching her make peach pies. She claims to use the standard Betty Crocker pie shell recipe, but she lost the book and doesn’t have it written down anywhere … after making maybe 2000 pies, she can do it in her sleep. It looked so effortless, cutting in the butter with an old fork and rolling it with just enough pressure to get it perfectly flat and uniform in about three rolls.
I think pie making is one of those artisan crafts, at the intersection of art and craftsmanship. It’s like a perfect j-stroke in a canoe or free-heel turn on telemark skies … you almost can’t teach it, you just have to do it.
Cheers!
I like to make my own- rolled out. :) I had a wonderful mentor when I was single who taught me how to roll them out and then roll them back over the rolling pin so they’d come right off into the pie plate. My husband needs a gluten free diet, and I hate making crusts for him- what a bear!
I do both.
But… I have to admit. I like the mix in pie plate crust – almost as good if not more then a regular crust. Because it’s super convieniant.
It’s really hard to admit that coming from a family tree that, all they did on Saturday’s was to bake Pies. Pies like; Shoe-fly, Funny Cake, Vanilla and Q-town Crumb Pies. With leftover crust… we would have Potato Pie served for lunch. :) I know I speak of only pies that are familiar of PA Dutch folk.
Rolling out Pie Crusts… and to get it just right… is certainly an artform. It takes Practice!!
I do both.
But… I have to admit. I like the mix in pie plate crust – almost as good if not more then a regular crust. Because it’s super convieniant.
It’s really hard to admit that coming from a family tree that, all they did on Saturday’s was to bake Pies. Pies like; Shoe-fly, Funny Cake, Vanilla and Q-town Crumb Pies. With leftover crust… we would have Potato Pie served for lunch. :) I know I speak of only pies that are familiar of PA Dutch folk.
In my family some people have what I call the “pie crust gene” and others don’t. I missed out. Pie crusts are a challenge for me so I’ll definately try this recipe. What am I going to do if it is a pie that needs a top crust tho? I usually get around that by doing a crumb type topping but sometimes that isn’t what I want.
Darla
Yum! I dread making pie crusts, so I usually buy premade ones, but it just makes the whole pie feel less homemade! This recipe looks great.