Top-Only Pie Crust of Overlapping Shapes

By Addie

In the past 24 hours, we've read two articles about this technique—one from Mark Bittman in yesterday's Times and one in Bon Appétit. Must be a trend. Both articles insist this method of pie crust is easier, but we're not sure. Get all the details, below... The appeal is this: Instead of rolling out a pie dough and carefully transferring it to your pie plate, you skip the bottom crust altogether. You still roll out the dough, but rather than laying it under (or over) your fruit in one sheet, you cut out shapes or even just cut it into squares or rectangles, then place them in an overlapping pattern.

Ingredients

• Here are the pros:
• If you have a hard time rolling the pie dough into something resembling a circle, you can breathe easy that the shape doesn't matter here; you're cutting it up anyway.
• No crimping the edges of the crust.
• No pre-baking the crust (if the recipe calls for that) or dealing with pie weights.
• According to Bittman, a top crust develops more browned, crispy edges.
• It looks pretty!
• Method:
• With a 2 1/2- to 3-inch scalloped cutter, stamp out shapes, spacing close together. Leave stamped dough on the baking sheet. Chill if needed before assembling on pie or assemble and chill pie before baking.

Preparation

Step 1

But we'd counter with:

• Is transferring a pie crust really that hard? If it breaks, you just pinch it back together.

• You're still rolling out the dough.

• Cutting out shapes and placing them one by one seems more time-consuming.

It does look lovely, and it's just a nice change from the everyday, bottom-crusted pie. What do you think?
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COMMENTS:

I do this with my pies all the time (well, the top crust. I still use a normal bottom crust). I use a star/flower shaped cookie cutter and put the cut out shapes overlapping on the pie. I think it looks a lot nicer than just laying the crust over the pie and it's far easier (for me, at least) than doing the lattice pattern.

I want to try this but agree that in order to be a pie needs a bottom. If it is top only it becomes a crisp, cobbler, brumble whatever...

I did this three weeks ago! I was making a blueberry peach pie. I wanted the filling to peek through, but I weaving lattice tops is a lot of work. I was thinking of the pies topped with cut out stars, but that is just too "Martha" and beside I don't have any cookie cutters. The overlapping circles was a sudden inspiration, and it was perfect.

It's pretty, but I can't wrap my head around a pie without a bottom crust. I think I'd just use this technique on a classic two-crust pie instead.

Oh, I made it with a bottom crust and the cut our circle top. It's just not a pie otherwise....it's a crisp.

I really like crust, so I would never make a bottomless pie! I also agree that if you're rolling the dough out anyway, it's not that much more work to transfer the crust. And I feel like you would end up with a lot more leftover crust-dough this way. On the other hand, I do think that it could be a nice-looking change to top a pie with.