The Reason You Should Consider Using Saltines For Your Pie Crust

With the turning of fall, pie-making season is in full effect. As the temperatures outside continue to drop, we're turning up the heat in the kitchen for some of the season's best pies. From the classic pumpkin pie, key lime pie, pecan pie, apple pie, and more, it seems like before the last slice of pie is taken, there's already a new one in the oven ready to serve. Even more Americans are buying pies, averaging around 186 million pies sold in grocery stores every year (via KSDK). Add that to all the homemade pies in the making and we have a pie frenzy on our hands.

Throughout the centuries, pies have come a long way. While they were first made with a tough crust used just to hold the filling inside,  now there are different types of pastry and cracker crusts that are edible and equally — if not more — delicious than the filling. And, with all the new options and methods of pie-making, we recently came across a sure-win hack to make your life easier and tastier when it comes to your next homemade pie crust.

Move over pastry crusts, crumb crusts are here to make the trials and tribulations of pie-making a thing of the past. Instead of forming a pastry crust from butter and flour, crumb crusts give pies a crumbly and tasty textured bottom, usually in the form of crushed cookies or crackers. Because you're mixing these crushed crackers with melted butter, sugar, and spices, recipes often call for the addition of salt to help level out cooking time and counteract any bitterness. So, doesn't it make sense to use the best-salted cracker out there?

According to My Recipes, using Saltine crackers could just change your life when it comes to pie-making. Because it's already in the cracker, it saves you time in the kitchen adding salt to the pie crust mix and gives it a deeper, saltier taste to the crust than just adding salt. Additionally, because Saltine crackers are less buttery than most other traditional crackers, they make a great neutralizing crust to more sweet or savory pies. If you want to level up your pie crust next time at your family gathering, consider using Saltine crackers for a delicious cracker crust.