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The Ultimate Homemade Buttery and Flaky Pie Crust

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Discover the secrets to creating a perfect pie crust from scratch with this comprehensive tutorial and video guide. This page offers my top success tips, a detailed recipe, and step-by-step photos to ensure your pie crust turns out perfectly every time. Since 2015, millions of readers have relied on this guide. With this crust recipe, you'll find making pies as easy as enjoying a slice of salted caramel apple pie!

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Why Make Pie Crust from Scratch?

Creating a pie from scratch is a rewarding experience for any baker. While pies are often reserved for special occasions due to their time-consuming nature, this challenge should excite rather than intimidate you. If you've ever felt daunted by the idea of homemade pie crust, I'm here to guide and encourage you. If I can do it, so can you!

Pie crusts are the foundation of many delectable desserts (and savory dishes like quiche). Mastering this skill opens up a whole new world of baking possibilities. Whether your favorite filling is apple or banana cream, or even a savory eggs and cheese mix, the quality of your crust can make or break the pie.

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The Basics of a Perfect Pie Crust

Today, I'll teach you how to make a buttery, flaky pie crust. This is my favorite recipe and one of the most popular on my website. After extensive testing for various pie recipes and participating in annual Pie Week, I've learned what works best and am eager to share my insights with you.

Essential Ingredients

The ingredient list for pie crust is simple:

  1. Flour: Use high-quality flour like King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, known for its high protein content, which helps baked goods rise higher and stay fresh longer.
  2. Salt: Enhances the flavor.
  3. Butter: Adds an unparalleled buttery flavor and flaky layers.
  4. Vegetable Shortening: Provides structure and stability.
  5. Ice Water: Brings the dough together. Some recipes use half water and half vodka to keep the crust flaky and tender.

You can use this dough for various recipes beyond traditional pies, like mini pecan pies, fruit galettes, apple hand pies, and homemade pop tarts.

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Butter vs. Shortening

I use both butter and shortening for the best crust. Butter adds flavor and flakiness, while shortening keeps the dough pliable and helps the crust maintain its shape during baking. If you prefer not to use shortening, an all-butter crust is a great alternative.

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The Secret to a Perfect Pie Crust: Cold Ingredients

Keeping your pie dough cold is crucial to preventing the fats from melting before baking, which helps create flaky layers. Here are two tricks to keep your ingredients cold:

  1. Freeze the Butter: Keep some butter in the freezer and transfer it to the refrigerator a few hours before starting.
  2. Chill the Bowl: Mix the dry ingredients together and place the bowl in the refrigerator while you prepare the rest.

Step-by-Step Guide

  1. Prepare the Ingredients: Take the butter and shortening out of the refrigerator. Cube the cold butter and measure out the cold shortening.
  2. Mix the Dough: Add the butter and shortening to the dry ingredients. Use a pastry cutter or two forks to cut in the fats until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
  3. Add Ice Water: Drizzle cold water into the dough one tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition until the dough begins to form large clumps.
  4. Form the Dough: Transfer the dough to a floured surface and fold it into itself to form a ball. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a 1-inch-thick disc. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

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This is enough dough for 2 pie crusts. You can use both crusts for a double-crust pie, like chicken pot pie and strawberry rhubarb pie; or, if your pie doesn’t require a top crust, like coconut cream pie, brownie pie, and lemon meringue pie, save the second pie crust for another pie. You can also roll out the second dough and use cookie cutters to make an easy pie design, like on this pumpkin pie.

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Now your pie dough is ready for a rest in the refrigerator. Flatten each half into 1-inch-thick discs using your hands. The disc shape makes it easier to roll out. Wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 5 days.

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Freezing and Rolling Out the Dough

Pie dough freezes beautifully, making it a great make-ahead option. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling out. When rolling out the dough, keep it cold and work gently to avoid overworking it.

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Between passes of the rolling pin, rotate the pie crust and even flip it, to make sure it’s not sticking to your work surface. Sprinkle on a little more flour if it’s sticking. Roll, turn. Roll, turn.

Do you see that beautiful marbling of the butter and shortening throughout the dough? Flaky layers, here you come!

Baking Tips

  1. Use a Glass Pie Dish: Glass dishes conduct heat evenly, ensuring the bottom crust bakes thoroughly.
  2. Protect the Crust Edges: Use a pie crust shield to prevent the edges from burning. A simple piece of aluminum foil works well.
  3. Create a Beautiful Topping: Explore various pie crust designs, such as lattice, braiding, and crimping, for a stunning presentation.

Trim dough around the edges if there’s excess dough in some spots—you want about 1-inch overhang. After you add your pie filling and top crust (such as a lattice pie crust), fold overhang back over and pinch the top and bottom crusts together. Now you can create a pretty edge, such as fluting or crimping. I have a full tutorial on how to crimp and flute pie crust, but here’s a quick overview

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Roll the dough into a thin 12-inch circle, which is the perfect size to fit a 9-inch pie dish. You want enough crust to have some overhang so you can make a decorative edge for your pie.

Your pie dough will be about 1/8-inch thick, which is quite thin.

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Make sure the pie crust is pretty well centered in the dish, with some overhang all around the sides. Tuck the crust into the pie dish, gently pressing it to the interior all the way around—no air bubbles.

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Your pie crust is ready to bake! Follow your pie recipe’s instructions from here; some recipes may call for a fully baked crust, and some may call for a partially baked (par-baked or blind baked) crust. You can read a tutorial on that here in this How to Par-Bake Pie Crust post. And some recipes, like this blueberry pie or triple berry pie, don’t require baking the crust at all before adding the filling, because the pie bakes for so long; just spoon/pour the filling right in.

Your pie recipe might call for an egg wash on the dough and for that, use a pastry brush. And if you bake a lot of pies, this list of 10 best pie baking tools will be helpful for you.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

  • Tough Crust: Avoid overworking the dough and use enough fat.
  • Shrinking Crust: Use pie weights when par-baking to prevent puffing and shrinking.
  • Dry, Cracking Dough: Ensure enough ice water is used, and keep the fats cold.
  • Crumbling Dough: Balance the fat, flour, and water ratios carefully, and keep ingredients cold.

Gently work ice water drops and flour into your crumbly pie dough to bring it back together:

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Blind Baking

If your recipe calls for a fully or partially baked crust, use pie weights to prevent puffing. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with weights before baking.

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Final Tips

  1. Keep Everything Cold: From ingredients to the bowl and the dough, maintaining a cold environment is key.
  2. Prevent Over-Browning: Use a pie crust shield or aluminum foil to protect the edges from burning.
  3. Designing the Top Crust: Experiment with different techniques to create a beautiful top crust.

With these tips and tricks, you'll be well on your way to making the perfect pie crust. Happy baking!

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.

The above recipe draws inspiration from the renowned culinary experts, Sally and Lindsay.

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The Ultimate Homemade Buttery and Flaky Pie Crust

Serves: 4 / 2 pie crusts (1 lb, 8 ounces dough total) Prep Time: Cooking Time:
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat
Rating: 5.0/5
( 1 voted )

Ingredients

This recipe is enough for a double crust pie. If you only need 1 crust for your pie, freeze the other half per the Freezing Instructions below. Is your pie dough tearing, cracking, or crumbling as you try to roll it out? See recipe Notes.

😎  Total Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes

  • 2 and 1/2 cups (315gall-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for shaping and rolling
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 6 Tablespoons (85gunsalted butter, chilled and cubed
  • 2/3 cup (130gvegetable shortening, chilled
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) ice cold water

 

Instructions

    1. Whisk the flour and salt together in a large bowl.
    2. Add the butter and shortening. Using a pastry cutter or two forks, cut the butter and shortening into the mixture until it resembles coarse meal (pea-sized bits with a few larger bits of fat is OK). In this step, you’re only breaking up the cold fat into tiny little flour-coated pieces; you’re not completely incorporating it. Do not overwork the ingredients.
    3. Measure 1/2 cup (120ml) of water in a cup. Add ice. Stir it around. From that, measure 1/2 cup (120ml) of water, since the ice has melted a bit. Drizzle the cold water in, 1 Tablespoon (15ml) at a time, and stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon after every Tablespoon has been added. Stop adding water when the dough begins to form large clumps. I always use about 1/2 cup of water, and need a little more in dry winter months. Do not add any more water than you need.
    4. Transfer the pie dough to a floured work surface. Using floured hands, fold the dough into itself until the flour is fully incorporated into the fats. The dough should come together easily and should not feel overly sticky. Avoid overworking the dough. If it feels a bit too dry or crumbly, dip your fingers in the ice water and then continue bringing dough together with your hands. If it feels too sticky, sprinkle on more flour and then continue bringing dough together with your hands. Form it into a ball. Use a sharp knife to cut it in half. If it’s helpful, you should have about 1 lb, 8 ounces dough total (about 680g). Gently flatten each half into 1-inch-thick discs using your hands.
    5. Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 5 days.
    6. After the dough has chilled for at least 2 hours, you can roll it out. Work with one crust at a time, keeping the other in the refrigerator until you’re ready to roll it out. Lightly flour the work surface, rolling pin, and your hands, and sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough. Use gentle-medium force with your rolling pin on the dough—don’t press down too hard on the dough; you’re not mad at it! When rolling dough out, start from the center and work your way out in all directions, turning the dough with your hands as you go. Between passes of the rolling pin, rotate the pie crust and even flip it, to make sure it’s not sticking to your work surface. Sprinkle on a little more flour if it’s sticking; don’t be afraid to use a little more flour. If you notice the dough becoming a lopsided circle as you’re rolling it out, put down the rolling pin and use your hands to help mold the dough back into an even circle. Roll the dough into a very thin 12-inch circle, which is the perfect size to fit a 9-inch pie dish. Your pie dough will be about 1/8 inch thick, which is quite thin. Visible specks of butter and fat in the dough are perfectly normal and expected.
    7. Because your dough is so thin, use your rolling pin to help transfer the pie crust to the pie dish. Carefully roll one end of the circle of dough gently onto the rolling pin, rolling it back towards you, slowly peeling it off the work surface as you go. Pick it up, and carefully roll it back out over the top of the pie dish. It’s helpful to watch how I do it in the video below.
    8. Proceed with the pie per your recipe’s instructions. If your dough requires par-baking, see helpful How to Par-Bake Pie Crust tutorial.

Notes

  1. Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare the pie dough through step 5 and freeze the discs for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using in your pie recipe.
  2. Special Tools (affiliate links): Large Glass Mixing Bowl | Pastry Cutter | Rolling Pin | For more tools you may need to completely assemble and bake your pie, see my 10 Best Pie Baking Tools list.
  3. Salt: Use regular table salt. If using kosher salt, use 1 and 1/4 teaspoons.
  4. Shortening: This recipe uses a butter and shortening combination. Butter for flakiness and flavor, and shortening for its high melting point and ability to help the crust hold shape. You can use butter-flavor shortening if desired. If you want to skip the shortening, feel free to try this all-butter pie crust instead. Some readers have substituted lard for shortening in this recipe with success.
  5. Can I use a food processor? You can use a food processor to bring the dough ingredients together in step 1, but I find it quickly overworks the dough. For best results and a light, flaky crust, I recommend a pastry cutter.
  6. Pie dough is dry & cracking around edges when rolling: Use enough ice water when preparing the pie dough. If you work the fats into the dry ingredients too much, the dough will feel too wet before you can add enough water. (And the dough will be dry and thirsty.) Do not overwork the fats in the dry ingredients—you still want those nice crumbles. If it’s too late and you notice the edges of your pie crust are cracking as you roll it out, dip your fingers in ice-cold water and meld the edges back together. Wait a minute, and then try rolling out again.
  7. Pie dough is falling apart & crumbling when rolling: The dough is likely crumbling because there’s too much fat, and not enough flour and water. Again, this is usually a result of fat being worked in too much, which can easily happen if the ingredients weren’t cold enough. (Refrigerate those dry ingredients before you start!) If it’s too late and the pie dough is crumbling as you roll it out, try adding more water AND more flour. Sprinkle a tiny bit of ice water and flour onto the cracks and crumbled pieces, and gently work it all in with your fingers. Wait a minute, and then try rolling out again.
  8. More Crusts: If you need more than 2 pie crusts, make another separate batch of dough. Doubling or tripling the recipe leads to over- or under-working the dough, which ruins all of your efforts.
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