Blind Baking

Blind Baking

When a recipe calls for a pre-baked pie shell you will need to blind bake the crust before adding the filling.  Blind baking is easy but there are a couple of steps that are necessary to ensure a perfectly baked crust. Not properly preparing the crust in the pie plate prior to putting it in the oven will produce disappointing results. Without placing weights inside of shell, the crust will shrink from the sides of the plate when baking.  Here are easy steps to blind bake a perfect crust.

Step 1

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Place crust in the pie plate then use a fork to prick the shell. Prick both bottom and sides.

Step 2

If using a crust protector, put in place on pie crust shell. Place a a 12 in sheet of parchment paper inside the crust.  The parchment paper will hang over the sides of the plate.  Pour a 16 ounce bag of dried beans into the shell.  Smooth beans to ensure that they are snuggled up to the sides of the shell.  Place pie crust in oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Step 3

Remove pie from oven and lift parchment paper and beans out of shell and place them aside to cool. Return the crust to the oven to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes. Watch carefully that the crust does not overbake. It should be a light golden color when fully baked.

Step 4

Remove crust from oven and cool on wire rack.  When beans have sufficiently cooled, place in a plastic bag or storage for repeated use.