As a published baking cookbook author, I’ve tested MANY baking tools. And I’m happy to recommend my favorites to fellow home bakers. I believe these are the best pie baking tools, and along with the pie recipes and tutorials on my website, will set you up for pie success.
I’ve developed and published dozens of pie recipes on my website, in addition to helpful tutorials on how to make successful pie crusts. Starting with how to make the BEST homemade buttery flaky pie crust, a perfect graham cracker crust, and how to par-bake pie crust; then moving on to more advanced skills like how to crimp and flute pie crust, how to lattice pie crust, how to braid pie crust, and other pie crust designs.
All this recipe testing, photographing, and filming video tutorials means that I have made a LOT of pies!
From fruit pies like apple pie, cherry pie, peach pie, and blueberry pie; to rich and smooth cream pies like French silk pie, pumpkin pie, banana cream pie, and cheesecake pie…
With all of this pie-making practice (including recipe fails!), I’ve learned which kitchen tools are most helpful for making homemade pies. And I’m so happy to share it all with you.
Stock Your Kitchen With These 10 Pie Baking Tools
All of the pie baking tools in this list are items I own. I list 10 here, but some include more than 1 item. Use your best judgment on which items you would use based on my descriptions. None of this post is sponsored, and I’m not working with these brands; they’re truly just items I love and am happy to recommend to fellow home bakers. A lot of these links are affiliate links.
1. 9-INCH GLASS PIE DISH
What I own and love: Pyrex Bakeware Scalloped Pie Plate
One of the most essential pie baking tools is a quality pie dish. Though I also own ceramic and metal pie dishes, my preferred choice is glassware. Glass heats slowly, and this gradual heat is perfect to evenly cook pie, including the bottom of the crust, the filling, and the edges. You can also SEE the bottom of the crust browning, which is helpful for dishes with long bake times. This Pyrex pie dish has fluted rims, allowing you to crimp the edges of your crust with ease. It has thick glass and has never warped—even through my hundreds of pies!
I also love my Emile Henry French Ceramic Ruffled Pie Dish because the pies are consistently gorgeous and so is the pie dish! However, ceramic pie dishes heat slowly and your pies may take longer to bake.
2. PASTRY CUTTER, AKA DOUGH BLENDER
What I own and love: OXO Dough Blender
Pie dough, biscuits, scones, streusel, and other delicious miracles are made with a pastry blender. It’s handy for breaking up cold fat into tiny little pieces among your other ingredients, without completely incorporating it. Cold butter bits = flaky dough. A metal pastry cutter keeps your butter cold where other tools (or your hands) might warm it, which is the opposite of what you’re trying to accomplish.
You need a lot of arm muscle and twists of the wrist, and while you CAN use 2 forks for this, sometimes using forks to cut in hard cold butter just doesn’t… well, cut it. This pastry cutter has a soft non-slip grip and sturdy stainless steel blades that make the process a whole lot easier and quicker. Bonus: it’s dishwasher safe!
I prefer doing this by hand, but if you’d rather use a food processor, I love this food processor.
3. ROLLING PIN
What I own and love: Wood Rolling Pin and French Kitchen Marble Rolling Pin
A rolling pin is an essential pie baking tool in any baker’s kitchen and it’s not only for pies. You use it to roll out dough for cut-out cookies, croissants, berry turnovers, cinnamon rolls, and even pizza dough. This particular wood rolling pin is long and sturdy, and has held up well through years of frequent use.
A marble rolling pin is excellent, too. It’s cool to the touch, which makes it perfect for rolling out pie crust (which you want to keep cold). This one is beautiful enough to display—and it even comes with a stand to make that possible!
4. PASTRY WHEEL
What I own and love: Norpro Grip-EZ Pastry Wheel
A pastry wheel is helpful for cutting pie dough, particularly when you’re making a lattice top crust. This fluted pastry wheel cuts with a beautiful wavy edge, which instantly adds flair to your lattice. It’s what we use for these homemade cheese crackers, and it’s also used for making homemade ravioli.
If you don’t want to overstuff your kitchen gadget drawer, a simple pizza cutter also works well for cutting pie dough strips.
5. PASTRY BRUSH
What I own and love: Bristle Pastry Brush and OXO Good Grips Silicone Brush
A pastry brush is an essential pie baking tool and what you need to brush egg wash on pie dough, for that beautifully shiny golden crust. Brushing on an egg wash also helps seal the dough into itself, so it serves a functional purpose as well as an aesthetic one.
You’ll also use a pastry brush to brush melted butter on dinner rolls, and buttermilk on biscuits; and when you make homemade caramel candies, homemade puff pastry, pastry braids, biscotti, scones, croissant bread, berry cobbler… the list goes on!
I have both types of pastry brushes, but I really like this silicone brush because it can go in the dishwasher.
6. PIE CRUST SHIELD
What I own and love: Adjustable Silicone Pie Crust Shield
I use a pie crust shield just about every time I bake a pie, whether it’s a traditional pie crust or a graham cracker crust. A shield keeps the crust edge covered, but the center of the pie exposed, protecting the edges from browning too quickly or, worse, burning. Let the pie bake for a while uncovered, but check it often to see how the edges are looking.
You can also make a pie crust shield out of aluminum foil, and here’s how: Take a piece of aluminum foil and fold it in half. Cut out a half circle. When you open it back up, you’ll have a square of foil with a circle cut out of the center.
7. PIE CRUST WEIGHTS
What I own and love: 2 packs Ceramic Pie Crust Weights
If your pie recipe requires a fully baked or par-baked pie crust before adding the filling, follow the directions in this How to Par-Bake Pie Crust guide. You’ll need 2 packs of pie weights, which are metal or ceramic beads that serve to weigh down the crust to prevent puffing/shrinking. You can also use dried beans instead. Be sure to line the crust with parchment paper first.
Here’s why pie weights are needed when baking pie crust without a filling: As the pie dough bakes, the fat melts. And as the fat melts, it creates steam, which lifts up the dough. Steam is both good and bad. It creates all those delicious flaky layers, but it also causes the dough to puff up. If nothing is weighing it down, the bottom of the pie crust will puff up, then shrink down the sides of the pie dish.
8. SILICONE PASTRY MAT
What I own and love: Silicone Pastry Mat
The silicone mat creates a non-stick surface for rolling out pie dough, that is also non-slip, to keep everything in place. The handy measurements are useful for rolling and shaping pie dough into the right size circle, and the large surface area keeps your work surface clean.
In my pie videos, you’ll typically see me rolling out pie dough right on my counter, but I’ll admit, things can get pretty messy in my kitchen on pie-baking days! A silicone mat can help cut down on kitchen cleanup.
9. DIGITAL FOOD SCALE
What I own and love: OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Food Scale
For more accurate measuring, definitely pick up a food scale. This OXO food scale is the one I use. A gram is always a gram. An ounce is always an ounce. A cup is NOT always a cup, and therefore weighing is the most accurate way to measure. My team and I include weight measurements in all my recipes.
You can also use it to weigh the halves of your pie dough after you cut it in half, to make sure the 2 crusts are equal in size.
10. STORAGE & TRANSPORT CONTAINER
What I own and love: Cupcake Carrier
Yes, a cupcake carrier—not a typo! This is actually what I use to store and transport pies, cupcakes, AND cookies. A 9-inch pie dish fits well in this carrier, and there’s a little extra room on the side for napkins and serving utensils.
But if you want something round, this 10-inch portable pie carrier looks like a great option, and comes with inserts for safely transporting eggs, cupcakes, and more.
Fun Extras
I try not to overload my kitchen with unnecessary gadgets, but for the pie-loving baker in your life (whether that’s you or someone you know!), here are a few fun extra pie-baking accessories:
- Rolling Impression Pie Crust Cutter
- Fall Impression Pie Crust Cutters: For all your Thanksgiving pies!
- Hand Pie Molds: For apple hand pies and homemade brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts.
- Bench Scraper: Handy for scraping and lifting the dough off your work surface.
- Olivewood Pie Server
- Wood & Marble Cake Stand: Not just for pretty cakes!
If you’re looking for more baking-related gift ideas, check out 100+ Gifts for Bakers.
More Baking Tool Recommendations
- 14 Best Baking Tools Every Baker Needs
- 10 Best Cake Decorating Tools
- Favorite Candy-Making Tools
- 10 Best Cookie Baking Tools
- 8 Best Baking Pans
- Top Recommended Cookie Decorating Supplies
I’m looking for a multi-tiered pie carrier to transport 2-3 pies with one handle. Ideally the tiers could be separated and interlocking, so I’d only take what I need. So each tier/carrier could be used on its own, with its own cover, handle, and vent, but tiers could be stacked and locked together to accommodate more pies. But I could carry with one hand. Anything like this exist?
I noticed that the link to the Pyrex pie plates goes to 9.5″ pie plates. All the pie recipes I’ve used on this plate have always seemed a bit short. Advice or alternate recommendation?
Hi Joce! You can certainly try adding more filling to your pies, but our recipes should all work well in the pie dish linked – we use that one often! Any true 9 inch pie dish by Pyrex or Anchor would also be a great choice.
The aluminum foil hack is brilliant! I am so excited to not be trying to get strips of aluminum foil to stay put anymore! Thanks 🙂
I have 2 Pyrex glass pie plates…one is like the dish you recommend, but the other is only 1 1/4” tall. What type of pie would be best baked in the shorter dish?
Hi Noreen, likely something without a ton of filling OR a tart recipe that’s used for a tart pan (which are much thinner).
Hi Sally…You said you recommend using Glass Pie Dishes for Baking, So you May See the Crust, BUT What Do you Ise IF you are Baking To Sell??
Thank you SOooo Much…
Cindy…
P.S. I did see Nice Pie Containers online a little steadier and nicer for presentation, than the Flimsy Light Weight Tin Ones??
Hi Cindy, You can bake most pies in disposable pie dishes and the baking times should be about the same.