How to Blind Bake a Pie Crust

Blind baking is just fancy talk for baking a pie crust before filling it. This technique is essential for pies that don't get baked at all (like a lemon meringue pie), but it's also very important for custard pies (like pumpkin pie or a chess pie) to keep the crust from getting soggy, puffing up, or shrinking and slumping. Today, I'm going to show you how it's done!

Is blind baking a pie crust before filling always necessary?

Nope! Not all pies require a blind baked crust. Blind baking is usually only used for pies that have a very moist filling or a filling that doesn't get baked. My Dreamy Apple Pie and pecan pie recipes, for example, just call for dumping the filling right in an unbaked crust and baking it all together! My advice is to simply follow your recipe. If it calls for blind baking or par-baking, come here and find out how it's done.

Is par-baking the same as blind baking?

The technique is the same, but the difference between the two methods comes down to time in the oven. If you're par-baking a crust, you're just lightly baking it with plans to add a filling and bake it longer. When blind baking a crust, you're fully baking it in order to add a no-bake filling. The tricky thing is, people use the terms interchangeably! Have no fear: This recipe will show you how to do both.

How do you blind bake a pie crust without pie weights?

If you don't have pie weights on hand, you can use dried beans or uncooked rice instead. You just need something that is dry and will weigh down the crust so it doesn't puff up when it bakes.