Last night while shopping for some
un-pan apple pie and pumpkin pie ingredients for Thanksgiving, I was able to pick up Trader Joes Frozen Pie Crusts. I never had tried them before, or knew anyone who had used them, so I was curious how they would be. I know many of
Trader Joe's frozen bakery products are high quality, so I had high expectations.
I am really scared of making my own pie crust, which is why i usually default to
Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts. While they aren’t the worst in the world, they certainly aren’t the best.
Trader Joes Pie Crusts are made with butter, and are meant to get nice and flakey like homemade pie crusts. Each box comes with two crusts, already shaped in a 10 in circle, so no unrolling or unfolding required. Just defrost, and drape into the pie pan.
I baked a
un-pan apple pie last night as a tester, and used the pie crusts. They were the perfect thickness, so I didn’t have to roll it out. The pie baked for 40 minutes, and the crust came out nice and golden brown. The bottom was browned and not soggy at all. It was also cooked all the way through, which I have had problems with in the past.
The crust itself, while didn’t taste like homemade crust, it was pretty good, Nothing like Pillsbury. It was very flaky and light.
My taste testers all agreed that the crust was very good, and since it baked really well, we would be using it again.
Using pre-made pie crusts are really helpful if you have a small kitchen, or don’t want to deal with a big flour mess. I think that the difference is negotiable, and as long as the filling in the pie is good, you will end up with a very delicious pie!
