Reader Pat Johnson of Stratford, Wis., came to Forecast exasperated. After baking high-fat pie crusts for years, she was determined to find a diabetes-friendly version. "I have tried low-fat graham cracker crusts, but they got soggy under fruit pies and actually floated into the filling of the pumpkin pies," she says.

I decided to create a diabetized pie crust to help Pat out—and the result is every bit as flaky as the original, but without the harmful hydrogenated fat that's found in vegetable shortening. Since vegetable shortening gives dough flakiness, I had to cheat: I added oil and butter instead.

Here are a few tips for creating a great dough, sans shortening: 

• Keep it cold. Chill your ingredients—and even the utensils—to prevent the gluten (protein strands in wheat) from developing, which will make the crust tough. 
• Handle it gently. Don't overwork the dough. Doing so will reduce its flakiness.
• Add liquid sparingly. Once the dough mixture is crumbly, add liquid gently and slowly. The dough should stick together, but it shouldn't be wet or sticky.
• Let it rest. Stop the crust from shrinking during baking by letting the dough sit before you bake. Before rolling the dough out, roll it into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Click here to see the recipe for Diabetized Pie Crust.