Last Updated on December 9, 2017
EDITOR’S NOTE (December 2017): Earlier this year Aldi discontinued these crusts as a Regular Buy, but reintroduced them around the holiday season as a Seasonal Buy:
In other words, this isn’t a Regular Buy, but it’s not a short-run Special Buy (ALDI Find) either. Instead, this product seems to run for at least a couple of months during the winter holidays … but probably not long after.
Gone are the days when everyone made homemade pie crusts. Now, it’s easier to buy ready-made pie crusts at the store, and they taste just as good as the homemade variety, with much less work.
Today, we’re looking at Aldi’s Regular Buy Bake House Creations Pie Crusts. These come in a box in the refrigerated section. Two pie crusts come in a box, and they are individually rolled up and packaged in plastic sleeves inside the box. You can make two open pies with no crust on top, or you can make one traditional pie with a crust on the bottom and top. The box advertises these crusts are for a 9-inch pie and are “simple to prepare.”
The box front states your pie bakes in just 9-13 minutes, but that depends on your recipe. If you’re making a basic fruit pie with pre-cooked fruit, your bake time may be that short. However, I made a quiche recently with one of these crusts that baked for 60 minutes, with foil around the crust edges to keep them from over baking. My daughter and I made a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving with the other crust in our box, and that baked for about an hour.
The box contains quite a bit of information related to baking directions. First, it is recommended to bring the refrigerated crust to room temperature. If you don’t do this, your crust will break and crumble when you try to unroll it, but you can let come to room temperature and gently squish the crust back together. (I know from experience!)
To start, the instructions say, “Remove sleeve(s) from box. Let stand at room temperature for 15-20 minutes OR microwave on defrost (30% power) for 10-20 seconds per sleeve. If frozen, thaw for 50 minutes at room temperature. DO NOT THAW FROZEN CRUSTS IN MICROWAVE.”
To unroll the crust, “place crust in an ungreased 9-inch pie pan (glass recommended). Press crust firmly against sides and bottom.”
For a one crust pie, “using forefingers and thumbs, pinch crust to create a scalloped edge. Trim excess if necessary.”
For a baked shell for ice cream or pudding pie, “generously prick bottom and sides with fork. Bake at 450 degrees until golden brown: 11-13 minutes in glass pan. 9-11 minutes in aluminum pan. Cool before filling.”
For a filled pie for pumpkin or sweet potato pie, “add filling to unbaked crust. Bake according to recipe. To avoid excessive browning, cover edge with strip of foil.”
For a two-crust pie, “trim bottom crust even with pie pan edge. Add filling. Top with second crust. Using forefingers and thumbs, pinch crust to create a scalloped edge. Trim excess. Cut four slits in top crust. to avoid excessive browning, cover edge with strip of foil. Bake at 425 degrees until golden brown; time according to recipe.”
The box advertises that it contains recipes inside as well. If you open and unfold the box, four pie recipes are printed on the inside, including the same pumpkin pie recipe I got from the can of pumpkin I purchased at Aldi to make pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. The other recipes are for a chocolate pudding pie (made with vanilla ice cream), a lemon chiffon pie (made with lemonade drink mix), and a French apple pie.
The pie crusts can be kept frozen or refrigerated. For best results, use before the date on the box. My crusts I bought the week before Thanksgiving had a best before date of December 11 of the same year, so these crusts are good in the fridge for only a few weeks.
The Verdict:
Aldi’s Bake House Creations Pie Crusts taste as good as homemade crusts and are worth using in your next pie-baking venture. They can be stored in the fridge for a few weeks or frozen, and the box comes with several recipes. Recommended.
Where can I purchase the bakehouse crust that Aldi discontinued? As pie bakers we absolutely loved it!
It was two unrolled crust in a box.
I checked last week with a manager and she said it is now a seasonal item. What?! People make and eat pie year round. I’m a little put off by that. There is so much gluten free and organic stuff now. Wish they would remember regular eaters shop there too!
Hi Rose, I remember a few years ago asking an Aldi’s emplyee why they didn’t carry more organic labels. Her response made me shake my head when she told me that the store really is meant to appeal to the pocketbook and while they would carry ‘some’ organics the bulk of their products would remain non-organic. I guess the worm has turned because somebody ‘told’ me that Aldi’s is going completely organic. I agree about the pie crusts. I just took my last package out of the fridge to bake a quiche. My interest is actually how the flour is processed and there’s no label that will tell me that. Today factory farms actually kill the ripe wheat with herbicides like glyphosphate. It’s left in the fields to dry and die for a couple of days and then harvested and processed into flour etc. Seems that it’s more cost effective to harvest dead wheat than living wheat. Go figger. I mostly buy my flours from King Arthur Flour (I bake bread) and realize after reading this post that I really need to find a pie dough recipe that will turn out to be pie dough. Not my forte. In our world today, grocery shopping has become a marathon of label reading as well as trial and error. Good luck to you AND me.
Here’s a pie crust recipe I was given by a pie teacher in our local country church. I love it. It makes two crusts with extra dough for bigger pie pans or the cinnamon butter rollups made from left over dough:
Baking with Treeva Pie Crust
2 cups all purpose flour
1 TspSalt
1 C Butter flavored Crisco
3/4 C Cold WAter- may not use it all
Mix flour, salt and Crisco in bowl using pastry blender, work until crumbly.Add just enough cold water so the dough sticks together,mixing with a fork. Split the dough in half.Form each half into a ball. Lay out pastry cloth and sprinkle with flour.On the pastry cloth, rollout one ball of dough a little larger than the pie pan and place on the pie pan .Repeat with the second ball of dough.
I have used aldis bakehouse pie crusts since we finally go a store in Harrison Ar, they are better than my homemade crusts and I have made pie crusts for years. Where can I find these crusts? I love baking pies. These crusts are the best!!
We believe Aldi discontinued them as a Regular Buy. (We’re disappointed, too.)
Their “seasonal” items are sometimes weird. Ricotta cheese is seasonal now, but lasagna noodles are regular items. Are we supposed to settle for cottage cheese half the year?
I went to Aldi’s this morning only to find they do not have the Belmont pie crusts anymore. I would have loved to use them to make my blueberry pies but guess I have to go elsewhere. I talked to someone else there and they said they are asked for on a daily basis. I wish they would ge them back in since Aldi is my go to store.
I went to my neighborhood Aldi store and I didn’t see the ready made pie crust. These were very good, easy to use andconvenient. I wish Aldi would bring them back, especially for the holidays: Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Used to buy them regularly for chicken pot pies. Was told at our local aldi in VA that they are now only a seasonal item. Just spent almost $7 for two at a “real” grocery store next door. Hate it when aldi doesn’t have something I need, I always feel like I got ripped off when I shop anywhere else. Hopefully the Lidl that opens here soon will have all our staples!
I’ve been told they are a seasonal item (weird!) and will be back in October. Fingers crossed!
I don’t get the whole ‘seasonal item’ nonsense on kitchen staples such as pie crust. I think Aldi needs to stop focusing on baby/pet/camping/whatever stuff and go back to their roots… groceries.
We’re also starting to have issues here in Maryland where advertised products never arrive in the store.
I agree! Also all the gluten free and organic everything. Just real food appeals to more people, I’d be willing to bet!
The new stock is in for 2017, and although they bear the same company label as last year, the ingredient list now includes
lard instead of a vegetable shortening. Very sad!!! And disappointing.
I bought 10 boxes today at my local Aldi in Ohio. The freeze wonderfully for months in fact. I may buy a few more next week.
Just bought these last week at my Aldi (mid-November 2017). $1.89 per box. Made mini apple pies and the crust was delicious, browned perfectly, and great thickness.
Why don’t they make this a staple item? I also want them permanently on the rack just like canned biscuits. Hard hard caN that be?..
On the other hand, Marie Callendar Frozen Pie crusts are to die for. If you can find them.
Anyone know if any peanut allergens or exposure in the crust?
No mention of peanuts. After ingredients was : CONTAINS WHEAT.
That’s it.
These are very good pie crusts. I could make my own but at 73 I really like shortcuts.
I bought my pie crusts in December and now won’t to use them. I just u wrapped and they have small white flowery spots. Safe to use?
I don’t know for sure, but it’s probably safe. The white spots might be bits of lard or shortening in the dough, or they might be some harmless freezer burn.
Aldi bakehouse pie crust absolutely terrible at least the one that I got. it tasted like old lard. I had to throw the whole pie out because of this garbage product. I will never buy this again and it was the first time .spend a little more money and buy Pillsbury trust me on this.
Oh, not to mention when I slowly unrolled it out both of them were severely cracked.
I stopped at two different Aldi stores for these pie crusts and each store only had two packages. I hope that they aren’t going to discontinue these as I love them!
I have tried the Aldi’s Bake House Pie Crust twice in the last month. The first time at my mother’s place, and well, we figured it was probably expired by whom knows how long. This week I pick up a crust knowing I had extra apples in the house, and I am getting that same distant flavor. Now I know the crust I just used is thinner but the ingredients shouldn’t have changed just thinned out. So, I am just saying, it is clearly not as good as it was a few years ago, when it was thicker, and I was making more pies. … did I add anything? apples, butter, sugar, cinnamon, and when I tasted the crust it was strictly just the crust.