Wham Bam Pie Crust
I will be the first person to tell you that I am not great or anywhere near awesome at baking. I mean, I manage, and with practice, I’ve gotten better over the years. I’ve developed a lot of shortcuts and helpful tricks to make it easier on me. And, I’ll also admit, I don’t have a lot of patience for baking. Don’t get me wrong. I love the outcome of all those efforts. But if you’ve ever seen my kitchen after I’m done baking, it is like there were 10 people in there whipping up massive amounts of baked goods rather than one simple Momma just trying to bake a cake. It is a disaster. Flour and egg shells, measuring spoons, bowls and vanilla extract are all over my counters. Why do I feel the need to use 3 sets of measuring spoons and 7 different measuring cups? I have no idea. I never said I was efficient.
Golden, Flaky Crust
Anyhow, I often use shortcuts. I like frozen pie crusts. Many of them are really good these days since many companies have really stepped up the quality of ingredients. But sometimes I want to use my own pie pans instead of the one that comes with the frozen crusts. And sometimes, that rustic look of a totally homemade pie just does something to me. I love the look of an imperfect, golden, flaky crust that has been crimped by my fingers (ok, my slightly arthritic fingers.)
No rolling pin, no cold butter, no special tricks
But I need that crust to be easy to make. This crust is perfect for any one-crust pie. Like my Brown Sugar Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie or Farmhouse Strawberry Pie. Or even for savory pies like Tomato Bacon Pie. It’s called Wham Bam because you don’t have to worry about cutting in cold butter or shortening like you do normal pie crusts or add in super cold ice water.
Also, there is no rolling out of the dough. You stir it together and push it around with your fingers into the pie pan. It takes just a bit of time to spread it all around. But keep in mind, it’s the bottom part of your pie crust, it doesn’t have to be showcase beautiful. It’s very forgiving. But it’s also tender and flaky and bakes up to a beautiful golden color.
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp. water
Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt. Stir in oil and water.
Mix until combined. Then form it into a ball.
Spray your pie pan with nonstick cooking spray. It’s not really necessary but I just want to doubly make sure there is no sticking and it makes this dough just a bit easier to spread in the dish.
Now, start pushing down on your ball of dough and begin spreading it towards the sides.
Do as best as you can to evenly pull it up the sides. You’ll want plenty of dough up the sides too so you can crimp it at the top edge.
You can even get in there with your knuckles if you need to.
This is very forgiving dough. See that little tear there where I pulled the dough a little too hard?
Just smush around the dough with your thumb or fingers. It’ll seal right back up.
Make sure you also press down into the bottom rim of the pan too to spread out the dough and so it’s not too thick.
And then you can start to go around and crimp the top edges of the crust.
Now, this does not have to be perfect. I don’t know about you, but I like those little imperfections in baking.
It lets folks know you made this all yourself. It’s rustic and it’s homemade. It should look that way. I used it here for my Butter Crumble Apple Pie.
It bakes up beautifully golden and tender and flaky. It makes the perfect base for any of your one crust pies. And even the least-experienced of bakers can manage this easy and forgiving crust.
To Prebake: Poke crust with a fork, all over the inside of the crust (so it doesn’t puff up too much while baking). Or if you have beans, you can line your crust on top with foil and then put beans inside to weigh it down to keep it from puffing up. Then bake at 400F degrees for about 10-15 minutes (maybe a tad longer). It should be golden in color.
Enjoy!
Wham Bam Pie Crust
Wham Bam Pie Crust is the easiest pie crust ever! No rolling pins, no cold butter and no fuss! And you still get a tender and flaky pie crust!
Print Pin RatePrep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 289kcal
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp water
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt.
- Stir in oil and water.
- Mix until combined.
- Then form it into a ball.
- Spray your pie pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Put the ball of dough in the middle of your pie dish.
- And start pushing down on your ball of dough and begin spreading it towards the sides.
- Do as best as you can to evenly pull it up the sides.
- You'll want plenty of dough up the sides too so you can crimp it at the top edge.
- You can even get in there with your knuckles if you need to.
- Make sure you also press down into the bottom rim of the pan too to spread out the dough and so it's not too thick.
- And then you can start to go around and crimp the top edges of the crust.
- Once it’s ready, fill with your favorite filling and bake according to your pie’s directions.
Video
Notes
If you are using this crust in a recipe that calls for a pre-baked pie crust. Before baking, just make sure you use a fork and prick lots of little holes all over the crust. This will keep the crust from puffing up too much while baking. Remember, this does not have to be perfect. It’s a bottom-only pie crust.
It's rustic and it's homemade. It should look that way.
It's rustic and it's homemade. It should look that way.
Nutrition
Calories: 289kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Sodium: 194mg | Potassium: 39mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 1.7mg
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Like Patricia commented above, this is the way my mama taught me to make a pie crust (the recipe varies just a tiny bit, but not much), and I think she learned it from her grandma. And as another commenter mentioned, I just put all ingredients into the pie plate, mix it with my hands, and pat it out. I want to dirty as few dishes as possible. 🙂 I would like to add that it turns out much better in a glass pie plate than it does in a metal, so if anyone tried it in metal and didn't like it, give it another chance in glass.
Thanks Kath001- this one is my old stand by and never fails me. So glad you are enjoying it as well.
I have a recipe almost the same as this using Mazola Corn Oil that you form into a ball,place it on Saran Wrap,tear off Saran Wrap and place on top of ball mixture and use a rolling pin to spread the dough.Works really good on 2 crust pies
I have used this recipe for about thirty years and would never go back to old way. So easy and so good.
I have always been afraid to make a pie. My crust always was too hard. This one is easy and flakey. Thanks!
So glad you were able to master this easy pie crust!
I would like to know how to use yeast for breads and also make a cheesecake
This was HEAVENLY. and ridiculously easy! Like another commenter said above – why have I been making it so hard on myself. This was AMAZING!
This was the only recipe I have used ( For Years ) Next pie I make will try yours They are pretty near the same. 1 CUP Flour 1/2 cup Crisco 1/4 cup water dash salt. I have always rolled mine out.
Yep, mine just uses oil instead of shortening but it really couldn’t be simpler! I think we sometimes think pie crust has to be difficult by cutting in butter or using some special ingredient. But this truly comes out flaky without any tricks needed! 🙂
I made this yesterday and the taste was wonderful. I did find that it was hard to spread it in the pie plate so I ended up heating the dough in the microwave for 20 seconds and that seemed to help some, but there was no way I could roll it even between wax paper it was way to crumbly which was disappointing because the flavor and flakiness were perfect after baking and I would love to be able to use it for a two crust pie . Maybe next time I will add a bit more water and see if that helps.
I use (Sam’s) Pancake Mix = AP Flour for this & many other things. Tried your recipe yesterday & it was great. Suggest only use 1/4 tsp Salt . Also, Used your Strawberry Pie Glaze recipe, but used 1/2 package of Strawberry Jello + the rest of ingredients & cooked the berries in the glaze sauce to low boil rather than pouring over the berries.. Mashed the berries a little. Put Vanilla pudding in shell first, let set, then added cooled glazed berries. Perfect.
Thanks for a great pie crust that is easy.
I hate making pie crust. Really excited to try out your recipe. Can
I use olive oil instead of vegetable oil. .
Thanks.
Diane
Thank you! As much as I love baking (I call it my therapy lol) I absolutely hate baking pies because of all the hassle making the crust. This is so freaking easy and only messes up a bowl and measuring cup…oh and a fork, I’ve been busy baking all day for Christmas when I realized I had forgotten about dinner – had some leftover booked bacon in the freezer, some shredded cheese that needed to go plus I had bought more eggs than I needed so I used this recipe to throw together a quiche. I will definitely use this recipe the next time I need a last minute pie of some kind!
I have never heard of this before. I am so surprised. Thank you so much! I will try this with your crock pot chicken pot pie.
Hope you love it Dolores!
My mother discovered this recipe and used it forever after. She urged me to try it and I’ve been using it forever after!
I pass it on to friends constantly. It is so very easy and the taste and texture are great! Like some other commenters, I roll it between sheets of waxed paper. So easy! Now I will try your method of just using the pie plate to form it. I also love the name Wham Bam. It’s very fitting. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Hi – I’m wondering what size pie plate I should use. Is this for an 8” or 9” standard size (not deep dish)? Also, if I want to make a bigger pie, can I just double the recipe? Many thanks ❤️
Hi Vera, this will work for an 8-inch pie pan. Hope that helps! 🙂
Was just wondering; I’m making your pecan pie, do I bake the piecrust first for a bit before adding the pie filling? I hate when the piecrust is mushy on the bottom.