The Nutritional Facts For Pie Crust

If you have ever enjoyed a delicious pie, you know that the crust can make all the difference. With a flaky consistency, the crust adds texture and flavor to the experience of eating pie. However, that flaky crust is generally made with hydrogenated oils, which lead to health problems. In general, pie crust adds fat and calories to your diet, without much nutritional value. However, you can make pie crust with unsaturated oil instead, to enjoy a healthier version of the pie you love.

Ingredients

To make a pie crust, the ingredients you require are all-purpose flour, butter or margarine, vegetable shortening, salt and water, according to "The All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook." The butter adds saturated fat to the pie, margarine might add trans fats and vegetable shortening is full of trans fat. Recipes use shortening to give the pie crust a flaky consistency, notes the cookbook.

Nutrition

A one-piece serving of a 9-inch single ready-to-bake pie crust, which is 1/8 of the whole, has 82 calories, 8 percent fat and 8.5 percent saturated fat, according to CalorieLab. This resource does not list the trans fat amount, as trans fat is not required on a food label, but pie crust does contain trans fat if it is made with shortening or hydrogenated oils. The pie crust contains empty calories, as there is no significant nutritional value listed. CalorieLab offers the insight that homemade pie crust actually contains more calories and fat than the store-bought variety, with 121 calories, 12 percent fat and 10 percent saturated fat in one slice.

Considerations

The nutritional facts listed here are for the pie crust itself and do not include the fillings. Fruit, custard and other popular pie fillings often add high amounts of sugar, fat and calories. Another consideration is that the calories and fat amounts listed here are for a single pie crust, such as for a pumpkin pie. Many fruit pies include a top and bottom, so they will have double the number of calories and fat.

Effects

The trans fat used in pie crust can increase your LDL, or "bad," cholesterol and decrease your HDL, or "good," cholesterol, which is the opposite of what you want to happen. This man-made fat can lead to diabetes, heart disease and stroke, advises the American Heart Association.

Prevention/Solution

Instead of using a pie crust with saturated or trans fats, try substituting unsaturated oils in a homemade crust. A 2009 article by Ike DeLorenzo on The Boston Globe website suggests mixing 1/2 c vegetable oil, 1/4 c milk, 2 c flour and 1/2 tsp salt to make a 9-inch double pie crust. You can halve the recipe if you only need a single pie crust. After filling the crust with your choice of fruit filling, cover the pie with foil and bake the pie for 40 minutes, taking the foil off for the last 15 minutes.