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Hotler

(13,647 posts)
Sat Nov 22, 2025, 01:44 PM 11 hrs ago

Key lime pie with a standard pastry crust instead of graham cracker.

I have enough key line juice for a pie and an a regular pie crust that needs to be used. Maybe sprinkle the crust with sugar before filling. What do you think.

6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Key lime pie with a standard pastry crust instead of graham cracker. (Original Post) Hotler 11 hrs ago OP
With an amazing pie crust any pie filling will be spectacular. Tikki 11 hrs ago #1
Sounds like a great idea Jilly_in_VA 10 hrs ago #2
perhaps these crusts? justaprogressive 10 hrs ago #3
it will be fine, don't bother with the extra sugar Kali 10 hrs ago #4
i always make my crust darker. more flavor + never a soggy bottom. pansypoo53219 9 hrs ago #5
You could do a classic pate sucree Warpy 8 hrs ago #6

Jilly_in_VA

(13,570 posts)
2. Sounds like a great idea
Sat Nov 22, 2025, 02:16 PM
10 hrs ago

I'm not a great fan of graham cracker crust anyway except for certain things, and key lime pie is one of them. I have a jar of biscotti crumbs that I intend to use for such. I also prefer vanilla wafers to graham crackers for piecrust, which is weird since I like graham crackers plain.

justaprogressive

(5,970 posts)
3. perhaps these crusts?
Sat Nov 22, 2025, 02:25 PM
10 hrs ago
Go-To Pie Dough

It’s no mystery why I call this my “go-to” dough: It’s so versatile that I use it
for perhaps four out of every five of the savory (and sweet) pies that I make.
You can’t beat it for reliability, and it bakes up to a beautiful texture, perfectly
balanced between flaky and short. This is the single crust recipe; the double
crust version follows. The recipe calls for a food processor; to make the
dough by hand, see the Note.

MAKES ENOUGH FOR 1 (9½-INCH) PIE OR TART SHELL

8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter plus 2 tablespoons cold
vegetable shortening (or 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter), cut into ½-inch cubes
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons white vinegar
Scant ⅓ cup cold water

1. Put the butter and shortening cubes in a single layer on a flour-dusted
plate, with the shortening off to one side of the plate by itself.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Combine the flour, cornstarch, and
salt in a bowl and refrigerate that mixture also. Pour the vinegar into a 1-
cup glass measure. Add enough cold water to equal ⅓ cup liquid.
Refrigerate.

2. When you’re ready to mix the pastry, transfer the flour mixture to a food
processor. Pulse several times to mix. Remove the lid and scatter about 6
tablespoons of the butter—a little more than half of the total fat—over
the dry mixture. Pulse the machine five times—that’s five 1-second
pulses—followed by an uninterrupted 5-second run. Remove the lid and
add the remaining fat. Give the machine six or seven 1-second pulses.

3. Remove the lid and loosen the mixture with a big fork; you’ll have a
range of fat clods, most quite small but a few larger ones as well. With
the lid off, drizzle about half of the liquid over the mixture. Replace the
lid and give the machine three very quick, half-second pulses. Remove
the lid, loosen the mixture with your fork, and add the rest of the liquid.
Pulse briefly three or four times, just like before. The mixture will still
look crumbly, but the crumbs will be starting to get a little clumpier.

4. Transfer the contents of your processor to a large bowl, one large
enough to get your hands in. Start rubbing the crumbs together, as if you
were making a streusel topping—what you’re doing is redistributing the
butter and moisture without overworking the dough. (Note: If your
dough mixture came out of the food processor more clumpy than crumblike,
don’t worry. Just pack it together like a snowball, knead it very
gently two or three times, and proceed to step 5.) You can accomplish
the same thing by “smearing” the crumbs down the sides of the bowl
with your fingers. When the dough starts to gather in large clumps, pack
it like a snowball and knead gently, three or four times, on a lightly
floured surface.

5. Put the dough on a long piece of plastic wrap and flatten it into a 1-inch
thick disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1½ to
2 hours; overnight is fine. (You can also slip the wrapped dough into a
gallon-size plastic freezer bag and freeze it for up to 2 months. Thaw
overnight in the refrigerator before using.)


NOTE: To make the dough by hand, chill all of your ingredients as
specified in step 1, but increase the flour to 1½ cups plus 1½
tablespoons.

Remove the butter and shortening from the refrigerator 5 to
8 minutes before mixing; it should have a little “give” to it when
squeezed between your fingers. Add about 6 tablespoons of the butter to
your dry mixture; toss to coat with flour Using your pastry blender, cut
in the butter until the largest pieces of fat are pea-size. Add the
remaining fat, toss to coat, and cut that in.

The entire mixture should look like it has been “touched” by the fat,
and nothing should be larger than pea-size. Pour half of your liquid
down around the sides of the bowl, but not in any one spot. Mix well
with a large fork, moving the mixture in from the sides and up from
the bottom. Repeat with the remaining liquid, but add the last few
teaspoons only if needed. Rub and smear the crumbs as specified in
step 4 until a dough starts to form. Pack the dough and knead gently
a couple of times. Flatten into a disk, then wrap and refrigerate.

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

In case you’re wondering why there’s vinegar here and in some of the
other pastry recipes, it’s because vinegar is an acid, and acids tenderize
things made with wheat flour. That’s why sour cream pancakes and
buttermilk biscuits have that melt-in-your-mouth softness. Don’t worry:
You won’t taste the vinegar in the finished crust.

From "Savory Dinner Pies" by Ken Haedrich

****************************************

Extra-Flaky Pie Pastry

This is perhaps the best behaving of all the pastries in this collection,
thanks to the addition of cake flour. The benefit of cake flour is
twofold: it makes the pastry more shrink-resistant when it is prebaked,
and it makes the pastry extra tender and flaky, due to the soft nature of
the wheat used in the flour. This pastry can be used for just about any
pie, but it's a particularly good choice when the filling is somewhat
refined or delicate. Make it by hand or with an electric mixer if you
don't have a large-capacity food processor.

MAKES A SINGLE OR DOUBLE CRUST FOR A 9-INCH STANDARD PIE OR 9½-
INCH DEEP-DISH PIE

FOR A SINGLE CRUST

1 cup all-purpose flour
⅔ cup cake flour
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup (½ stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces
5 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
¼ cup cold water
FOR A DOUBLE CRUST
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
½ cup cold water

1. TO MAKE IN A FOOD PROCESSOR Put the flours, sugar, and salt in the
food processor. Pulse several times to mix. Scatter the butter over the
dry ingredients and pulse 5 or 6 times to cut it in. Fluff the mixture
with a fork, lifting it up from the bottom of the bowl. Scatter the
shortening over the flour and pulse 5 or 6 times. Fluff the mixture
again. Drizzle half of the water over the flour mixture and pulse 5 or 6
times. Fluff the mixture and sprinkle on the remaining the water. Pulse
5 or 6 more times, until the dough starts to form clumps. When it
reaches this point, do not continue to process. Empty the crumbs into a
large bowl.

TO MAKE BY HAND

Combine the flours, sugar, and salt in a large bowl
and mix well. Scatter the butter over the dry ingredients and cut or rub
it in, using a pastry blender, 2 knives, or your fingertips until the butter
is broken into fine pieces. Add the shortening and repeat. Sprinkle half
of the water over the dry mixture. Toss well with a fork to dampen the
mixture. Add the remaining water in 2 stages and continue to toss and
mix. Add more water if needed. Typically, hand-mixed pastry will
require a little more water than machine-mixed.

TO MAKE WITH AN ELECTRIC MIXER

Combine the flours, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter
and toss with the flour. With the mixer n low speed, blend the butter
into the flour until you have what looks like coarse, damp meal, with
both large and small clumps. Add the
shortening and repeat. Turning the mixer on and off, add half of the
water and mix briefly on low speed. Add the remaining water, mixing
until the dough starts to form large clumps. If you're using a stand
mixer, stop periodically to stir the mixture up from the bottom of the
bowl. Do not overmix.

2. Using your hands, pack the dough as you would a snowball. If making
a double crust, divide the dough in half, making one half—for your
bottom crust—a little larger than the other. Knead each piece 2 or 3
times. Put each in the center of a piece of plastic wrap and flatten it
into a disk about ¾ inch thick. Wrap in the plastic and refrigerate until
firm enough to roll, about an hour or overnight.

Recipe for Success

If you don't have cake flour, substitute ¼ cup of the all-purpose
flour. Sift it into the flour, then proceed as directed.The dough may be frozen for up to a month.

Those Pastry Trimmings

Every time you trim the edge of a double-crust pie, you're left
with a small handful of dough. What should you do with it? It's
not enough to make another pie, and if you're not making
decorative cutouts, it seems simpler just to toss it.

Here's a better idea. Flatten it into a ¼-inch-thick disk, wrap
it in plastic, slide it into a zipper-topped plastic storage bag, and
put it in the freezer. After you've done this 3 or 4 times, you'll
have enough dough to make another pie shell. Just take the bag
out of the freezer the day before you plan to use it and leave it in
the fridge. Then unwrap and stack the disks, loosely cover with
plastic wrap, and let sit at room temperature until they're soft
enough to roll; they'll fuse together as you do. Don't worry if the
pastries aren't all the same sort; nobody will notice the
difference.

From "Pie" by Ken Haedrich


Kali

(56,519 posts)
4. it will be fine, don't bother with the extra sugar
Sat Nov 22, 2025, 02:31 PM
10 hrs ago

I actually prefer a regular crust

Warpy

(114,242 posts)
6. You could do a classic pate sucree
Sat Nov 22, 2025, 04:35 PM
8 hrs ago
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-make-pate-sucree

It would give you the same subtle sweetness of the graham crackrs but not the flavor profile of the graham flour, itself. It also might not make that huge a difference.

If I were stuck in a blizzard with everything for th pie but the graham crackers, that's what I'd do.
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