This Cream Cheese Pie Crust has only 5 ingredients, needs no added liquid, and produces a tender, flaky crust. Sound easy? It is.
Par-baked cream cheese pie crust...
I have to admit, making pie crusts is not my favorite thing. I find it intimidating - until now. I've spent many years trying to come up with the perfect pie crust. I've tried many recipes out there when my own didn't satisfy me only to find that I wasn't satisfied with any of those. It's the uncertainty of how much water or which type of fat to use or even worse, rolling out the dough only to find it cracks and splits on you. You basically end up with a mess. I ended up pressing it all in the pie plate trying to mend the broken pieces. Then it shrunk when I baked it. I gave up on pie crusts for a while. I just didn't make pie that required anything but a graham cracker crust.
But Thanksgiving is around the corner and I am going to make pies. Yes, I could buy a ready-made pie crust. Some of them are really good. This has been a challenge that has beaten me until now. I have finally come up with an easy, delicious, pie crust. There's no fancy stuff, no liquor, no ice water that can range from 4 tablespoons to ½ cup, no special flours, and no real skill needed. I mean, hey, if I can do it...
I use a Cuisinart Food Processor 14-Cup Vegetable Chopper for Mincing, Dicing, Shredding, Puree & Kneading Dough, Stainless Steel, DFP-14BCNY, throw in 5 ingredients, and pulse. That's it. Five ingredients. No water. No uncertainty. Sound good? Another great thing? Rolling it out does not require additional flour.
Unsalted butter and cream cheese, cubed...
Don't be intimidated by the amount of pictures in this post. I wanted to make it easy for you to follow. I also try to show some tricks I picked up while making this dough that I would like to share with you.
Add butter and cream cheese to flour...
Pulse until dough starts to form a ball...
With this dough, pulse until it starts to form into a ball.
Form dough into a disc...
Next, form the dough into a disc. Place on top of a piece of parchment paper.
Rolled pie dough...
Place another piece of parchment on top. Now roll until the dough is a few inches bigger than your pie plate.
Place a damp paper towel underneath parchment to prevent sliding when rolling out dough...
I discovered when I started to roll, the paper started to slide around. So I placed a damp paper towel underneath the parchment and this prevented any sliding.
Fold in dough into pie plate...
Another great thing about this dough? It doesn't tear easily. The dough held up beautifully when transferred to the pie plate.
Peel off the top piece of parchment and fit the dough into the pie plate, pressing down gently.
Peel back parchment...
Then peel off the other piece of parchment.
Press in dough...
For the edges, fold them in underneath to double the thickness. Then you can pinch them together to make them look nice if you like. I'll be honest, it doesn't always come out perfect for me because that requires patience. Ask my family. I seem to be lacking in that area.
Add in pie weights or dried beans...
Next, place a piece of parchment - same one you used for rolling - on top of the dough and fill in with pie weights or dried beans. Instead of placing in the fridge for an hour, I decided to place this in the freezer to set for 15 minutes while I preheat the oven. Of course, I had to empty an entire shelf to do this because unlike the cooks on TV that conveniently have an empty shelf, mine is pretty full with items.
After 15 minutes, place into the oven and bake for 25 minutes. You now have a par-baked pie crust that can be used for your favorite pie.
Be happy, eat well...
Cream Cheese Pie Crust
PRINT PIN SAVEIngredients
- 4 ounces cream cheese cold and cubed
- 1 stick unsalted butter cold and cubed
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar*
- ½ teaspoon table salt
Instructions
- Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
- Add the butter and cream cheese.
- Pulse until the dough begins to form a ball.
- Place dough on top of a large piece of parchment. Place another piece on top. Roll dough out from center to edge until it is about 14 inches.
- Transfer the dough to a 9 inch pie dish. Fit the dough to the plate by pressing gently around the bottom rim and then up the sides.
- Fold the overhang under then crimp the edges to decorate.
- Place in the freezer or fridge for 15 minutes while oven is preheating.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place another piece of parchment on top - reuse the one for rolling - and fill with pie weights or dried beans.
- Bake for 25 minutes.
Notes
Nutritional Information
I don't post the nutritional value because I don't trust the accuracy of the nutritional apps. I’m not a nutritionist and don't want to post misinformation.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!