Blind Baking Pie Crust

4.84 from 6 votes

I will show you just how easy it is to blind bake a pie crust! This means pre-baking the empty crust to fill later with cream filling or fresh fruit filling. There are a few important details you need to know to avoid a bottom crust that bubbles up, and edges that stay tall and firm instead of slumping down into a sad mess. Chilling the crust and using pie weights are essential!

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Freeze Time1

Total Time1 40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 791kcal

Author: The Food Charlatan

Ingredients

1 pie crust half this recipe or a store bought pie dough
parchment paper or tin foil
pie weights dry beans, dry rice, loose change, etc.

Instructions

First do yourself a favor and make a homemade pie crust. (Or a store bought pie crust is fine!) Check out my post for How to Make Flaky Pie Crust. This recipe makes 2 crusts; you can either halve the recipe or make both and save the second one in the freezer for next time (it will keep for several months).
Roll out your pie crust and transfer it to a 9 inch pie plate. See pie crust post for details on rolling out the crust.
Gently fold the trim hanging over the edges underneath itself so that it lines up nicely with the pie plate. You can trim it if you want, but I prefer to just fold it under. If your dough is crackly, that's okay. Use your fingers to mold the dough back to a smooth edge, dipping your fingers in ice water if necessary. Pretend it's play dough. Smoosh it together until you have a nice non-jagged edge.
Use your fingers or knuckles to flute the edges of the pie. See photos. You can also press the edge with a fork. It looks pretty and it's super easy!
Refrigerate your pie crust for 1 hour for best results. If you only have 30 minutes, that's okay. The longer you chill, the colder the fat in your pie crust will be when it hits the hot oven, making a tender, flaky pie crust. I like to drape plastic wrap loosely over the top of the chilling pie so it doesn't dry out.
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F for at least 20 minutes, to make sure it's nice and hot. Place a pizza stone or a metal baking sheet in the oven while it preheats. (Baking on a really hot surface helps cook the bottom edge of the crust.)
Line the crust. Get a large square of tin foil or parchment paper. Crumple it up so that it is nice and soft, you don't want to tear your pie crust. Smooth it out and lay it in your pie crust. (Make sure there is enough overhang that you will be able to lift the heavy weights out of it when the crust is baked.)
Fill with weights. You can use pie weights, marbles, loose change, dry rice, dry beans, anything that won't be bothered in the oven. You can even use sugar. Make sure your weights go up the sides of your pie crust. You are not just preventing bubbles from forming on the bottom of the crust; you want to keep the edges of your pie crust from slumping down into a sad droopy mess. You need to hold them up with the weights, so be sure to use plenty. I used about 2 and 1/2 pounds of beans.
Bake your weighted pie at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes, until the edges of the crust are a very light golden color. Don't take it out until you see some color on the edges of the crust.
Remove the pie crust from the oven and shut the door. Carefully lift the parchment paper or foil to remove the weights.The bottom of the crust will look shiny and raw on the bottom (because it is).
Prick the bottom of the pie crust with a fork to prevent bubbling.
Make a tin shield for a full blind bake pie crust: I like to use a pie crust shield to line the edge of the crust so that the edges don't get too brown. Get a square of aluminum foil a little bigger than the size of your pie. Fold it in half, then in half again so that it's in quarters. Then use scissors to cut out the middle section. When you open it, you will have a square of foil with a circle cut out from the center. Mold this around the edges of your pie.
For a full blind bake pie crust: Place the pie crust back in the oven at 425 for another 12-18 minutes, until the bottom of the pie is starting to turn golden light brown. (Bake this long if your pie crust is NOT going back in the oven at all)
For a par-baked pie crust: There is no need to make a tin foil crust shield. Place the pie crust back in the oven at 425 for another 3 minutes, until the bottom of the pie is matte and no longer shiny. It will be blonde and not golden at all. (Par-bake if your pie crust is going back in the oven to finish cooking the pie filling.)
Remove from the oven and follow the instructions on your pie recipe for filling. Most recipes call for letting the crust cool completely.

Nutrition