The fear of a soggy bottom on a pie has inspired a whole host of baking tricks to prevent it, from blind-baking the crust to lining the bottom of the crust with chocolate. However, there's an even easier method you can use to avoid a soggy bottom crust, and all it takes is a simple ingredient that you can throw together in seconds.

"Crust dust" is a fifty-fifty mixture of flour and granulated sugar that can be used to soak up moisture on the bottom of your pie. Flour and sugar are both absorbent ingredients, so mixing them together and sprinkling them onto your pie crust creates a thin protective layer that will soak up juices while the crust itself cooks and sets.

If your pie filling isn't that wet to begin with, crust dust isn't going to make a huge change, but many recipes, especially for fruit pies, are not engineered to avoid extra moisture and could use some help. If you don't want to add sugar, such as when making a savory pot pie, then breadcrumbs can work in much the same way as crust dust.