The Foolproof Method For Perfectly Flat Pie Crumb Crusts

Pastry and pie crusts have long been the stuff of cooking legend and lore. Everything from icy cold water to kitchen glasses have been recommended to keep crusts flaky, crispy, and, hopefully, without the dreaded soggy factor. That said, there's another type of pie crust that deserves attention and that's the crumb crust. 

This humble, yet irresistible crust serves as the base for the creamiest cheesecake, the tangiest key lime pies, and more. While it is easier to use crumbs made from store bought cookies, if that crust isn't perfectly even, that ideal pie or cake just isn't happening. You'll likely end up with a mouthful of dry crumbs or a piece of pie that lacks crust completely. Luckily, there's a hack for that. And it's made with a kitchen tool you most likely have hanging out in your cabinets.

Because crumb pie crusts are most often made by mixing crumbs with melted butter and pressing the crumbs into a pie pan, the crumbs can end up a bit lopsided. It's impossible to get a perfectly even layer by using your fingertips, and even with a glass, the shape is often different from the shape of the pie dish. That's where this rather genius hack comes into play.

In order to solve this issue, you should use a similarly sized pie pan to press the crumbs into an even layer. Just pour the buttery crumb mixture into your pie pan, then gently place a second pie pan on top of the crumbs. From there, apply pressure to make sure the crumbs are evenly distributed and packed, and there you have it: One perfectly formed crumb pie crust. The bottom is perfectly even, so there are no risks of miniature peaks and valleys, and the sides of the interior pie pan are sloped, as are the sides of the pan where the crumbs are poured, which helps ensure even dispersion. 

If you use a metal pie pan, the risks of the crumbs sticking to the pan are very low, unlike the residue that ends up all over your fingers or on the rims of drinking glasses. You can always use parchment or plastic wrap over the crumbs before flattening the crumbs with the second pie dish if you want to doubly ensure no sticking.

If you don't have multiple pie pans in your kitchen, feel free to use a disposable pie pan for this exercise. Additionally, you can use a pan that is exactly one size smaller than the one in which your dish is being made in order to properly press down the crust. That way, you'll have a simpler time pressing down the crust because the pan will naturally disperse the crumbs in a relatively convenient way.

Now it's time to get going with the best crumb crust of your baking life. If you need any more inspiration, then look no further than the most iconic pie in every state.