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I made an apple pie, but the crust was thick and not crispy. Why? What should I do to fix it?

For the crust, I used:

  • 1 cup of flour
  • Butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup of sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt

As for the apples:

  • 2 apples sliced to small cubes (without the apples cover)
  • 2 tablespoon of sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Thanks in advance.

Rodrigo de Azevedo
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evilReiko
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    Did you blind bake the crust? If you want it crispy, that's what you should do. As for thickness, it's as thick as you roll it. 250g flour + 125 g butter is enough for a 28 cm round pan. – rumtscho Apr 29 '11 at 12:34
  • @rumtscho I'm still a noob, so please be patient with me. I'll try your advice. Just another quick question: Do you advise me to use specific type of flour? Thanks again – evilReiko Apr 29 '11 at 12:52
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    If you are new to pie baking, there is lots you can learn. Find some good guide, e.g. http://allrecipes.com/howto/perfect-pie-crusts/detail.aspx, watch their videos if you need it. As for the flour, in Europe you should take the flour with the least share of bran. In the USA, try one with lowered protein. – rumtscho Apr 29 '11 at 13:19
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    Assuming the apple pie is a true pie and not a tart, and is thus covered, you shouldn't (indeed can't) blind bake the crust. – ElendilTheTall Apr 29 '11 at 13:25
  • @ElendilTheTall, thank you for clearing that. I was indeed thinking of an open pie (I regard the closed version as uncommon), and didn't know that there is such a language distinction in English. I agree that prebaking only applies to open shells. – rumtscho Apr 29 '11 at 13:42
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    @ElendilTheTall In the US, "tarts" are often (confusingly) referred to as "pies", *e.g.*, chocolate mousse pie, lemon merengue pie, and key lime pie. – ESultanik Apr 29 '11 at 13:42
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    @Esultanik. I know; when I think of apple pie I think of a closed pie (I don't think I'm alone in that), whereas if I think of an apple tart I think of an open top, _tartes au pommes_ style. – ElendilTheTall Apr 29 '11 at 14:45
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    And in fact you can definitely blind bake the bottom crust in a covered pie. Depending on the wetness of your filling, this helps with structural integrity. The top crust bakes normally when the pie is filled. –  Apr 29 '11 at 17:27
  • Ha, I never knew that. How do you crimp the two halves together? Just wrap the top over? – ElendilTheTall Apr 29 '11 at 17:46
  • @ElendilTheTall - wrap over the top with a lil' egg wash as glue. Obviously it won't seal like a prebake crimp, but works reasonably well. – rfusca Aug 10 '11 at 22:55
  • Shortening gives a flakier crust than a similar quantity of butter. They've got most of the trans-fats out of even cheap shortening now, so you're not taking your life in your hands by using it anymore. – Wayfaring Stranger May 03 '18 at 23:24

1 Answers1

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Gluten is what makes doughs chewy, and gluten is associated with high protein flour, so you should try and get low protein ("soft") flour. Also, the colder your fat (i.e., butter) the flakier and crispier your crust will be. You also may want to substitute some of the butter for lard or shortening; the lack of water in the lard will also help the crust become crispy and avoid gluten formation associated with hydration of the flour. Note that you cannot substitute lard/shortening for butter in an equal ratio; you should try and find a recipe that specifically calls for it to get the ratio correct. As rumtscho noted, you can also blind bake the crust to start its cooking process (but as ElendilTheTall warns, you may not be able to call it a "pie" after that!). Finally, it may be the case that your pie filling is too moist and therefore makes the interior of the crust very soggy. I've found that almost all good apple pie recipes call for pre-cooking the apples to remove a lot of their moisture before putting them in the crust.

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