Low-fat, foolproof 9″ pie shell

By SusieJ

* 1/3 cup rolled oats (not the instant kind) or almonds or pistachios or walnuts
* 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 14 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut in slices.
* 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar — I learned this from Aunt Joyce. (This keeps the crust flaky and light, and no you can’t taste it. Technically, it keeps the gluten from forming in the dough, which would make the pie crust chewy.)
* 3 tablespoons sour cream (Low fat is fine.)

If you want to quadruple this recipe, which I highly recommend to save yourself some time, just multiply all the quantities times four. Today, I multiplied everything by 5, and ended up with six shells. (Might have had something to do with all the distractions I had today with the Legos?)


1. Grind the oats or nuts in a food processor for about 30 seconds until they form a fine coarse grain, 30-45 seconds.
2. You can continue to use the food processor here, and add the flour, baking powder and salt. Or mix these ingredients into a bowl.
3. Add the butter slices. If you’re using the food processor, add the butter slices all at once. If you’re doing this by hand, add the butter into the dry ingredients a bit at a time, and work the mixture with your fingers until it is a coarse meal.
4. Sprinkle in the vinegar, then add the sour cream all at once into the food processor. If you’re working by hand, only add a tablespoon of the sour cream at a time.
5. Knead the dough on a floured surface, preferably on waxed paper a couple of times.
6. Set the ball in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes

# If you have doubled or tripled the dough, divide the dough into the appropriate quantities and pull out enough for one pie shell.
# I used two sheets of waxed paper to make the dough wide enough to fit into my 9″ pie shell. I smeared a bit of olive oil on the sheets and my rolling pin to keep the dough from sticking.
# Once I had the disc in the right shape, I laid a fresh waxed paper sheet into the pie pan, smeared on a little olive oil and carefully laid this disc on the waxed paper, letting the dough take on the shape of the pie shell.
# I continued the steps, pulling a new ball of dough out until I had the six, with waxed paper layered between each shell. The whole time I was thinking about how to make sure I had enough left-over dough to make pinwheels. Whenever my Mom baked a pie, she would cut off the leftover dough around the edges, and make pinwheels. She’d slather the dough with butter, cover in cinnamon and sugar and roll the whole pastry piece up into a roll, about 1 inch around. Then she’d slice them and bake them in a pie shell.
# Once I had rolled out each disc, and layered them in the pie shell, they are ready for the freezer. Tonight, once they are firmly frozen, I will CAREFULLY, as they are fragile, remove the pie shell from underneath, and place the entire stack into a large freezer bag. They will keep for three months