You already have a pie plate and a rolling pin but if you want to up your pie-making game this year, here are five essential "tools" (all under $17) you didn't even know you were missing...
1. Dried Beans: Skip expensive pie weights, the only thing you need to successfully blind bake a crust (read: bake an empty crust before filling) is a bag of dried beans. They're inexpensive and you can use the same bag for up to one year. Check your grocery store for sales.
2. Coarse Sanding Sugar: Even the worst crimping disaster can be fixed with a sprinkling of coarse sanding sugar. It's bright, sparkly and a totally eye-catching! Before baking, brush your top crust with some heavy cream or egg wash (that's the glue) and add this sugar for a professional-looking finish.
3. Dual-Blade Pastry Cutter: Sure, you could just use a chefs knife but how's that lattice working out for you? Rotary cutters are a known time-saver when it comes to trimming. This double-sided pastry cutter offers a scalloped option, which gives pie crust a fancy AF look with literally no extra work!
4. Commercial Plastic Wrap: One thing you learn in culinary school, industrial-grade plastic wrap is the bomb! It's wider, longer and way easier to work with. You could use regular wrap to ace my pie-crust molding trick but, to be honest, industrial food wrap works way better.
5. Alphabet Cookie Cutter Set: Turn any pie into an adorable, edible message with one easy set of ABC Mini Cookie Cutters. Save your dough scraps, re-roll and cut out a word or phrase (like lyrics from your favorite Adele song)! I like to bake mine on a separate cookie sheet, then attach with egg-wash just before the pie's done. The letter's cook faster than the pie itself, 2 to 3 minutes tops!
What did I miss? Are there other cool pie tools you can't live without? Spill the (pie) beans in the comments, I'd love to hear about your tips! -Erin
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