Whoa, it’s suddenly getting chilly all across the country. It snowed in Colorado yesterday after days in the 70’s, even 80’s. They’re talking about snow and rain here in the Northeast tonight. Great time to fire up the oven and slide in a pie. Just think how comfortably the oven will heat up the kitchen, the fantastic smells in the air, and the soul-satisfying flavors when you bite into a slice of pie served up fresh and warm.

Sure, pie fillings are usually pretty easy to make. But what about pie crusts - aren’t those a bit of a pain? I used to think so until I made one for the first time last year to go with a pumpkin pie made with fresh pumpkin - also a first for me. While I was looking at a recipe I found online, I kept hearing that age-old line in my head that goes something like, “you can improvise when you cook but have to stick to the rules when you bake”. I like improvising too much. The recipe for the crust looked kind of bland, and I wanted a crust that was going to be more than just a convenient container for the filling. So that’s what I made. Yah, I was smiling all the way substituting whole wheat flour for white flour, adding vanilla extract and cinnamon on the fly, using coffee instead of water, and tossing in ground almond and ground flaxseed both to add flavor and give the crust some real teeth satisfying texture. Rules? Ha!

And then there was that part in the recipe about refrigerating the dough before rolling it out that, you bet, ha!, I completely blew off. You know what they say about the last laugh. I rolled out that dough evenly and easily between two pieces of waxed paper - and then spent the next half hour peeling warm goo off that same waxed paper and patching together a crust that looked nothing like the one at the top of the page, though it sure baked up fine. Here’s how it looked.

Lesson learned: refrigerate before rolling.

If you’re new to making pie crusts, here are the ingredients and pieces of equipment you’ll need along with plain English directions to make a crust that’s quick, easy, fully flavorful and goes great with fruit or pumpkin filling (more about that soon). As always, for complete, free, step-by-step picture book directions, just click any picture on this page.

Ingredients
(for one 10 inch diameter pie)

2 Cups Flour (I use whole wheat flour, but any flour will work)
½ Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar
4 Tablespoons Butter
4 Tablespoons Canola or Vegetable Oil
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
Ground Cinnamon (optional but adds warm flavor for pumpkin or fruit filled pies)
Cold Water or Black Coffee (I like using coffee for more flavor but either will work)
Cooking Spray

Equipment

Large Mixing Bowl
Measuring Cup
Table Knife
Fork
Large Cutting Board
Wax Paper
Rolling Pin
Pie Pan

1. Measure 2 cups of flour, and pour the flour into a bowl.

2. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon sugar, 4 tablespoons butter (4 tablespoons = 1/2 stick of butter), 4 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, and a good shake (or 1 teaspoon) ground cinnamon (optional but adds great, warm flavor for pumpkin or fruit filled pies).

3. Use a fork to mash the butter into the flour, and mix the ingredients together until the butter has been broken into small, flour covered pieces.

4. Add and mix in small amounts of coffee (or water) to the bowl until the dough mix sticks together loosely and is still thickly granular.

5. Use your hands to form the dough into a ball. Put the dough ball back in the bowl and let the dough cool in the refrigerator for at least an hour to make the dough less likely to stick to the waxed paper when the dough is rolled flat.

6. When the dough has cooled, and you’re ready to bake a pie, cover a large cutting board with a sheet of waxed paper sprinkled with a light layer of flour to help keep the dough from sticking to it during rolling. Put the dough ball on the floured wax paper, flatten it a bit with the palm of your hand, and top with a light shake of flour. Cover the dough with a second sheet of waxed paper cut the same length as the first waxed paper sheet, and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough by working from the middle of the dough piece to the outside edges. Alternate between rolling the dough front to back and side to side until the dough is sightly larger in diameter than the diameter of the pie pan when the pan is held upside down over the dough. (If the diameter of your dough piece isn’t bigger than the diameter of pie pan, keep rolling the dough until it is.)

7. When the dough is rolled out to fit your pie pan, remove the top layer of waxed paper, and spray the inside of the pie pan with a light, even coat of cooking spray. Then place the pie pan upside down on the dough, put your hand under the cutting board, and maintain pressure from both hands to keep the cutting board and pie pan together as you turn the pie pan right-side up.

8. Remove the waxed paper, and use your fingers gently to press the dough evenly and snuggly onto the sides and surface of the pie pan. Use a knife to remove any excess dough from the edge of the pie pan, and fill in any holes in the dough using excess dough you cut away from the pan edge. You’re now ready either to fill and bake a pie or bake the crust by itself according to your specific recipe instructions.