Basic Crumb Crust Recipes

Steps:

• Make the crust: Whisk the flour, granulated sugar and salt in a large bowl. Rub the butter pieces into the flour using your fingers until pea-size pieces form. Drizzle in the vinegar and ice water; stir gently with a fork to combine. If the dough doesn't hold together when you squeeze it, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Turn out the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and form into a disk; wrap tightly. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 13-inch round. Ease into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim the edges, leaving a 1-inch overhang, then tuck the overhanging dough under itself; crimp the edges with a fork. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Meanwhile, make the crumb topping: Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Rub the butter into the mixture with your fingers until no longer floury and crumbs form. Freeze until ready to use.
• Make the filling: Place a foil-lined baking sheet on the lowest oven rack; preheat to 400˚. Mix the apples, melted butter, both sugars, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Spoon the filling into the chilled pie crust. Pat the crumb mixture on top.
• Bake the pie on the hot baking sheet until lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350˚ and bake until the apples are completely soft when pierced with a paring knife, 60 to 80 more minutes. (If the topping is getting too dark, cover loosely with foil.) Transfer the pie to a rack to cool completely.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, stir the crumbs, sugar, if using, and salt together to combine. Stir in the melted butter and mix to combine. The crust should easily hold together in clumps when you press it together between your fingers (if it doesn't, add a little more melted butter, 14 g / 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does).
• Press the crust evenly into the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9-inch / 23-cm pie plate: First make an even layer in the bottom of the pan, then press the rest of the crumbs up the sides. Sometimes I use the bottom of a small dry measuring cup to help press the crust in evenly; this is especially helpful in the corners of the pan.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C (don't use a Baking Steel/stone when baking a crumb crust). To parbake the crust, bake (no docking or pie weights required) for 10 to 12 minutes, until it begins to lightly brown at the edges (or, for darker crumbs, smells lightly toasty). To blind-bake the crust, bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until it is deeply golden brown and/or smells toasty.
• Do Ahead: This crust is best used the day it's made but can be parbaked or blind-baked up to 1 day ahead and stored at room temperature.
• Variations:
• Mini (Two-Bite) Crumb Crusts: Grease the cavities of a mini muffin pan with nonstick spray. Crumble or spoon 15 g / 1 tablespoon of the prepared crust mixture into each of the cavities. Press each portion with your fingers to be flush against the base and up the sides, taking care to press evenly all the way around. Chill the pan in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes, before baking at 350°F / 175°C for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely, then use a small offset spatula to unmold the shells before filling. Alternatively, the mini crusts can be frozen for 2 hours after assembling before using a small offset spatula to unmold the pie shells. Keep frozen until ready to fill.
• Unbaked Crumb Crust: For cream, chiffon, and cold-set pies, the crust doesn't need to be baked at all! After lining the pan with the crust, freeze it for at least 15 minutes before adding the filling.
• Pie Pep Talk
• What to do when a crumb crust shrinks: One of the most common problems I've seen with crumb crusts is that they can shrink or slump down the side of the pie plate when the crust is parbaked. Luckily, this is easily corrected. If you notice that your crust is starting to shrink, remove it from the oven and use a crust tamper or a small metal measuring cup to press the crust that slumped down back up the sides of the pie plate. If this happens consistently when you make crumb crusts, try tamping them down more aggressively and/or refrigerating for 30 minutes before baking.

Steps:

• Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, melted butter or margarine, and cinnamon until well blended . Press mixture into an 8 or 9 inch pie plate.
• Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 7 minutes. Cool. If recipe calls for unbaked pie shell, just chill for about 1 hour.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grind the cookies and sugar in a food processor. Add the melted butter and pulse until moist. Press into a 9-inch pie plate and bake until firm, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool before filling.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar and flour. Mix in butter with a fork or stand mixer just until the topping is crumbly. Top your pie before baking.

Steps:

• In a bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup light-brown sugar, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and cinnamon.
• Cut 1 1/2 sticks chilled unsalted butter into pieces. With your hands, work in butter pieces, until large clumps form. Divide mixture in half; freeze in plastic storage bags.