You’re Using the Wrong Pan to Bake Your Pie

Who doesn’t love the aroma of freshly baked pie wafting through the house? The smell of buttery crust and sweet, spiced bubbling filling is like a big warm hug that instantly gets you in the mood for dessert, the holidays, and the nostalgic feelings of being home sweet home. There’s no question about it: Homemade pie is wonderful. But that doesn’t mean that it’s always a low-maintenance job!

If you’ve ever baked a pie, you probably know the common struggles that often come with the process. Whether you’re a professional pastry chef or a beginner home baker, the woes are often quite similar, like proper greasing of the dish, achieving the perfect filling-to-crust ratio, slicing and serving struggles, and when it’s all said and done, cleaning and removing those stubborn remnants off of your pie dish.

The great news is, you can say farewell to all of the above by trying a tested and approved tip for baking pies. The trick is to bake your pie in a parchment-lined cake pan, rather than an unlined, greased pie dish. After seeing this tip on Instagram, Allrecipes culinary producer Nicole McLaughlin couldn’t wait to put this tip to the test in her own kitchen! Check out more of Nicole’s best tips for baking pie here.

Why You Should Bake Your Pie in a Parchment-Lined Cake Pan

Slicing pie has never been easier. Ah, the dreaded first slice of pie! It’s like throwing away the first pancake (or two). McLaughlin says the main reason she wanted to try this method was because “getting the first slice of pie out is always the worst, and the crust always breaks when you try and get your pie server between the crust and the pan.” She explains that this method allows you to pull the whole pie from the pan and then cut it. Her final consensus? “It worked perfectly!” 

Clean-up is an absolute breeze. The last thing anyone feels like doing at the end of a long day of hosting the holiday is battling their pie dish. If you’ve ever worked with a stubborn pie dish, you know what a headache it can be to clean. From scrub to soak and then back again, the process can feel utterly hopeless. Thankfully, this method makes clean-up easy breezy because of the parchment paper lining. McLaughlin suggests crinkling the parchment first, and then spreading it along the bottom of the pan, allowing for any excess to hang over the sides to serve as little handles later on, when the times come to pull the pie out of the pan. 

The filling to crust ratio is on point! I don’t know about you, but when it comes to pie, I’m all about that crust—and so is McLaughlin. The hardest sell for me on pie is usually the disappointing ratio of filling to crust. I want every mouthful to have a hearty bite of sweet and flavorful filling, and a generous serving of buttery, flaky crust. “A bonus finding was that this method delivers a true deep dish pie and the crust to filling ratio is spot on,” McLaughlin says. “Because everyone knows the crust is the best part!” Couldn’t agree more, my friend. Discover the “best ever pie crust” here.

Bottom Line

McLaughlin is happy to report that this hack absolutely works, and is totally worthy of a try this holiday baking season. In raving about the concept, she says that “the pie looks impressive and I will be using this method again!” She loves that this method makes it more accessible for people to bake a beautiful pie. “Not everyone has a deep-dish pie plate or, they may want to showcase a pie out of the pan on a pedestal plate or platter, instead of in the pie plate,” she says. That’s why baking your pie in a parchment-lined cake pan is the perfect shortcut to try this holiday baking season. Learn more about cake and baking pan size conversions here.