I used to have a pie crust recipe that almost impossible to screw up. No rolling no kneading, none of that. Using it would have gotten you thrown out of any respectable culinary program, but for Thanksgiving dinner around the family it worked every time.
It had few ingredients - flour, oil, salt and a smidgen of water, IIRC - but I don’t remember the proportions.
Unfortunately I’ve lost it. Does this ring a bell to any pastry chefs in the house?
I don’t know that one, but smash graham crackers/cookies into a powder, add melted butter until they come together, is the one I generally use for pumpkin pies and cheesecakes. That’s about as foolproof as it gets. (I can make a proper pastry crust, but I prefer cookie crusts for these types of pies.)
A pastry made without cold butter or lard is hard to imagine being edible, but I’m not a pastry chef.
There is also the frozen pie crust option, if you’re keeping it simple…
I’ve made pies, both sweet and savory, with a rice crust. I take cooked rice and a binder (I usually use an egg and maybe a little milk) and pat it into the pie pan and then fill it. I don’t think a two-crust method works with this; I’ve only made one-crust pies by this method.
The crust is solid and doesn’t crumble much.
It sounds like a pat in the pan pie crust. Does this look familiar?
I learn something new every day.