Learn how to make a perfectly buttery, flaky pie crust from scratch using this in-depth tutorial and video. This page includes all of my best success tips, lots of step-by-step photos, and a thoroughly detailed recipe. Millions of readers have been using this helpful guide since 2015. Become a pro with this crust recipe and the rest will be as easy as… eating salted caramel apple pie!
For a baker, there’s nothing more satisfying than making a pie completely from scratch. Pies are often made for special occasions, and there’s a good reason for that: they’re time consuming. This shouldn’t scare you! It should intrigue you. If you’ve ever felt intimidated about making homemade pie crust, I’m here to walk you through it and cheer you on. If I can do this, you can do this.
Pie crust is the foundation for so many delicious desserts (plus savory pies and quiche), so once you build up your confidence in making a crust, you’re opening a door to an entire baking category. And that’s exciting! Whether your favorite pie filling is apple pie or creamy banana cream pie, or even eggs & cheese, the success of the overall pie can really hinge on the quality of the crust.
You wouldn’t hang a beautiful piece of art or favorite photo in a terrible frame, right?
Today I’m teaching you everything about making a buttery, flaky pie crust. This is my absolute favorite pie crust recipe and one of the most popular recipes on this website.
With all the recipe testing that goes into publishing the many pie recipes on this website and in my cookbooks, plus my annual Pie Week, it’s not an understatement to say that I have made a LOT of pies. Along the way, I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t, and I’m happy to share it all with you.
Start With These 5 Ingredients
The ingredient list for pie crust is short & simple:
- Flour: Start with quality flour. Did you know that not all all-purpose flours are equal? King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour is my go-to for not only pie crust, but for everything. (Not working with the brand, just a true fan!) Why? Its high protein level: “At 11.7% protein, it tops ordinary American all-purpose flours by nearly 2 percentage points.” What does this mean? Baked goods rise higher and stay fresh longer.
- Salt: Enhances the flavor.
- Butter: For that unparalleled buttery flavor and flaky layers.
- Vegetable Shortening: For structure and stability. More on this below.
- Ice water: Liquid brings the dough together. Some recipes call for half water and half vodka, because alcohol doesn’t promote gluten formation, which helps the crust stay flaky and tender. Basically, it’s a gift to anyone who accidentally overworks dough. If you want to try using vodka, use 1/4 cup (60ml) each cold vodka and cold water in this recipe.
You can use this pie dough for so many recipes beyond a traditional pie, too, such as mini pecan pies, mini fruit galettes, apple hand pies, and homemade brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts.
Is Pie Crust Better With Butter or Shortening?
I use BOTH shortening and butter in this pie crust because they work together to make the BEST crust. Buttery, flaky, and tender: the pie-fect trifecta.
- What does butter do? Butter adds flavor and flakiness.
- What does shortening do? Shortening helps the dough stay pliable, which is helpful when you’re rolling and shaping it. Plus, shortening’s high melting point helps the crust stay tender and maintain its shape as it bakes. Have you ever had a butter pie crust lose its shape completely? Shortening is “shape insurance.” 😉
If you don’t want to use shortening, try this all-butter pie crust instead. Let’s compare:
- Using all butter creates a lighter-textured crust and this is due to the butter’s water content. As the crust bakes, the butter’s water converts to steam, lifting up the dough and creating flaky layers. But because of all this butter, the crust doesn’t usually have a perfectly neat-edge/shape compared to the shortening and butter combination.
Both crusts taste buttery and flaky. But overall, this butter-and-shortening crust wins in terms of texture and flavor; AND, if you follow the pie crust recipe carefully, it holds shape too.
The Secret to Perfect Pie Crust: COLD
The refrigerator is as important as the oven when you’re making a homemade pie.
Why the emphasis on temperature? Keeping your pie dough as cold as possible helps prevent the fats from melting before the crust hits the hot oven. If the butter melts inside the dough before baking, you lose the flakiness. When the lumps of fat melt in the oven as the pie bakes, their steam helps to separate the crust into multiple flaky layers, as explained above. Warm fats will yield a hard, crunchy, greasy crust instead of a tender, flaky crust.
The colder the ingredients, the easier your pie crust is to work with, and the better it will turn out.
Two Tricks to Start as Cold as Possible:
- I keep some of my butter in the freezer and transfer it to the refrigerator a few hours before beginning the crust. This way it is still a little bit frozen and very, very cold. Simply keep the shortening in the refrigerator.
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl (the flour and salt). Place the bowl in the refrigerator or freezer while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.
These Step-By-Step Photos Will Help
Take the butter and shortening out of the refrigerator. Cube the cold butter and measure out the cold shortening. Give the shortening a little chop—this is actually optional because, truly, the shortening is quite soft even when cold so it’s easy to mix in.
Now it’s time to combine everything. Add the butter and shortening to the dry ingredients, and use a pastry cutter (or 2 forks) to cut in the fats. Some pie crust recipes use a food processor for this, but I don’t recommend it, because it can lead to overworking the fats into the dough, cutting them up too small—which means you’ll need less water and your dough will fall apart. In this step, you’re only breaking up the cold fat into tiny little flour-coated pieces; you’re not completely incorporating it:
Cut in the fats until the mixture resembles coarse meal—crumbly with lots of lumps, as you see above. You should still have some larger pieces of butter and shortening when you’re done.
From a cup of ice water, measure out 1/2 cup (120ml), since the ice has melted a bit. Drizzle the cold water into the dough 1 Tablespoon (15ml) at a time, stirring after every Tablespoon has been added.
You’ll add just a little water at a time so that you don’t accidentally add too much. Stop adding water when the dough begins to form large clumps. I usually use 1/2 cup (120ml) of water, but if the weather is humid, you may not need as much, and if the weather is really dry, you may need a little more.
If too much water is added, the pie dough will require more flour and become tough.
If too little water is added, you’ll notice the dough is dry and crumbly when you try to roll it out and handle it.
You want the dough to clump together, but not feel overly sticky. Once the dough is clumping together, transfer the dough to a floured work surface.
Using floured hands, fold and smush (yes, that’s the technical term) the dough into itself, forming the dough into a ball. Your hands are your best tool, just like when making homemade puff pastry.
The ball of dough should come together easily. If it feels a bit too dry or crumbly, dip your fingers in the ice water and then continue forming the dough with your hands. If it feels too sticky, sprinkle on more flour and then continue forming the dough with your hands.
Once your ball of pie dough has come together, use a sharp knife to cut it in half:
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.
Success Tip: Visible Specks and Swirls of Fat in Pie Dough
Take a look at the inside of the dough where you just sliced it. You want to see pieces of butter and flaky layers throughout the pie dough. These specks and swirls of butter and shortening will help ensure a flaky pie dough. They are a GOOD thing!
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.
Can I Freeze Pie Dough?
Yes, absolutely, and I encourage it! Pie crust freezes beautifully, so it’s a great thing to make ahead of time. Store the tightly wrapped discs of pie dough in the freezer for up to 3 months.
If you know you’re going to want several pies around the holidays, or when your favorite fruit will be in season (cherry pie, anyone?), you can cut down on the amount of time it takes to make pies from scratch the day you want them by making several pie crusts in advance and freezing them.
Thaw the pie crust dough overnight in the refrigerator before rolling it out. It will be extra cold, which is a great starting point.
How to Roll Out Pie Crust
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. You’ll need a clean work surface, a rolling pin, and some flour. 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. Roll, turn. Roll, turn.
Do you see that beautiful marbling of the butter and shortening throughout the dough? Flaky layers, here you come!
Success Tip: 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 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.
Success Tip: Since 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.
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.
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:
Fluting with fingers: To flute the edges, use a knuckle and 2 fingers to press around the edges of the pie crust, to give it a beautiful and classic scalloped look, like this apple pie.
Crimping with fork: You can also use a fork to crimp the edges, like I do with this peach pie.
Again, review my how to crimp and flute pie crust page and video if you need a little extra help with this step.
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, 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 Pie Crust
- Pie crust is tough: Tough crusts are the result of not enough fat in the crust, as well as overworking the dough. Use the recipe below (plenty of fat) and avoid handling the dough more than you need.
- Don’t have enough pie dough: This recipe yields 2 pie crusts. To ensure you have enough pie dough for overhang and a pretty topping, roll your dough out to a 12-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick.
- Pie crust shrinks down the sides of the dish when baking: This can happen when par-baking a pie crust. See section below.
- 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.
- 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.
Gently work ice water drops and flour into your crumbly pie dough to bring it back together:
Blind Baking Pie Crust
If your pie recipe requires a fully baked or par-baked pie crust before adding the filling, follow the directions and success tips in this How to Par-Bake Pie Crust guide. You need 2 packs of pie weights, which are metal or ceramic beads that serve to weigh down the crust to prevent the puffing/shrinking. You could use dried beans instead. Whichever you choose, be sure to line the crust with parchment paper, then fill the empty pie crust shell with the weights prior to baking. Without pie weights, the dough will puff up, and then shrink down the sides.
Pie Crust Success Tips
- Use a glass pie dish. I prefer using a glass pie dish when I make pie. Why? Glass dishes conduct heat evenly, which allows the bottom of the crust to bake thoroughly. Also, you’ll be able to see when the sides and bottom of the crust have browned.
- The refrigerator is pie dough’s best friend. Keep everything cold every step of the way: ingredients, the bowl, and the dough before rolling. When taking the pie crust out of the refrigerator to roll out and fill, make sure your pie filling is ready to go. If not, keep the pie crust in the refrigerator until it is.
- Keep dough cold when rolling out: Warm pie dough is unworkable. If the dough becomes too warm when you’re rolling it out, stop what you’re doing, pick it up as gently as you can, put it on a plate or small baking sheet, and then cover and refrigerate it for 10–20 minutes.
- Protect the crust edges from burning: Use a pie crust shield to prevent the edges from burning. A shield keeps the crust edge covered, but the center of the pie exposed, protecting the edges. I usually just make a pie shield out of a piece of aluminum foil. Take a piece of aluminum foil and fold it in half. Cut out a half circle. When you open it back up, you’ll have a square of foil with a circle cut out of the center. If you notice the edges of your pie crust are browning before the pie has fully baked, carefully and gently place the foil over the top of the pie, centering the cut-out hole over the pie. Carefully (obviously it’s very hot!) and lightly tuck the sides of the foil around the pie crust edges, then let the pie finish baking.
- Create a beautiful topping: For designing the top crust, see How to Lattice Pie Crust, How to Braid Pie Crust, or these Pie Crust Designs. And here is my tutorial on How to Crimp and Flute Pie Crust, too.
For more pie crust inspiration, see my graham cracker crust and homemade chocolate pop tarts (with a chocolate crust!).
PrintHomemade Buttery Flaky Pie Crust Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 pie crusts (1 lb, 8 ounces dough total)
- Category: Pie
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
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.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/2 cups (315g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for shaping and rolling
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
- 2/3 cup (130g) vegetable shortening, chilled
- 1/2 cup (120ml) ice cold water
Instructions
- Whisk the flour and salt together in a large bowl.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 5 days.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- Salt: Use regular table salt. If using kosher salt, use 1 and 1/4 teaspoons.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Perfect crust! I’ve struggled my whole life trying to make pie dough. This turned out perfectly on my first try! I’m so excited because this weekend I’m getting a big box of Georgia peaches & I can’t wait to make a peach pie. Thank you Sally.
Hi Sally, I made your pastry called Homemade Buttery Flaky Pie Crust but, instead of vegetable shortening I used all butter. Later I discovered you have an all butter pastry recipe but that one has sugar as an ingredient. Does that mean it’s a recipe for sweet pies and the Homemade version for savory pies? If so, would it still be ok to to use the all butter version for either sweet or savory? Thanks
Hi Jacqueline! The all butter pie crust is for savory or sweet pies. AAdding a little sugar to butter pie crust improves its flavor and enhances browning. The sugar crystals also help break down the hard pieces of butter. Enjoy!
Thank you very much but just so I get it right, are both the Homemade and All Butter versions good for either sweet or savory pies?
Yes!
The consistency of this pie crust came out sandy for me. I followed the recipe and directions exactly. I followed the adding water directions, but I think that I added too much even though it was only 5T instead of the 8T that Sally says that she usually uses. The dough wasn’t sticky, but too wet if that makes sense. It stuck when I rolled it out, and that doesn’t usually happen for me with other recipes I’ve tried. The taste of the crust was good (hello – butter!), but the mouth feel was odd, more like cracker crumbs than flaky.
Hello! I tried making the pie and place it in the fridge overnight, but the next day there were little white dots in the dough, I don’t know why (I’m guessing it’s the fats). I’m not sure if I can still use it to make my pie!
Hi Noora, you’re right — those flecks are the fats! You can certainly go ahead and use the crust to make your pie. Hope it’s a hit!
Hi Sally!
I just made this crust, but when I cut the dough in half I didn’t see very many layers… Any idea on what might’ve went wrong?
Hi Lara! Make sure to keep the fats very cold and to not overwork the dough. The layers of butter and shortening come from being very careful with the dough. See “Pie Crust Tips” under the recipe for more helpful tips!
I tried this recipe the first time I made pie dough. I was so happy with it I got cocky and thought, “Now I know where that saying ‘easy as pie’ comes from!”. I tried it a few more times and realized that like many arts, pie baking is simple but needs intuition. I now feel like I understand what I’m looking for when I make a pie dough, and I stop when I get that look and feel.
Then I lost my printout, couldn’t remember where I had found it originally, started looking online and made some terrible tough crusts and some OK crusts but none as good as Sally’s. Fortunately Google saved me and I found my way back to your site.
A tip from me would be that I have found that the amounts of water to add can vary. Maybe the weather or which house my moon is in (whatever that means!) but I’ve learned to have a cup of ice water on hand. I have also found that the amount of flour Sally recommends is perfect at my house. I’ve tried a few recipes that call for 3 cups and it becomes too crumbly and dry and something goes wrong with the flavor–blander I’d say, I guess. Time and temp are very important also, and knowledge of your own oven is good knowledge. I don’t worry about exact times any more, I go by the look of the crust and whether the filling is bubbling.
I like the all butter crust but it is kind of expensive and guilt-making :O)
Next time I will try to duplicate my Mom’s canned pineapple pie and I will use lard and then maybe a butter + lard crust.
Thank you Sally!
Hi Sally! Is there a specific temperature the butter should be? Can i use the butter straight out of the freezer, or do i have to bring it down to the refrigerator several hours before? As for the ice water, is there an optimal temperature?
Trying this recipe tmr, fingers crossed!!
Also, i just started baking recently and i’m such a such a huge fan.. ❤️
Hi LC! We keep butter in the freezer and transfer it to the refrigerator a few hours before beginning the crust. This way it is part frozen and very, very cold. For shortening? Just keep it in the refrigerator. We don’t have a specific temperature for the ice water – as long as you follow the directions to cool the water with ice, you should have great results. We would love to hear how it goes for you!
Definitely my go-to pie dough recipe!
Quick and easy, and always turns out
I will usually make extra to store in my freezer for another baking adventure day.
A big help to some that may have trouble with either keeping the fats cold or the difficulty working any dough together by hand would be a half decent food processor. It’s the magic go to tool for real quick doughs (not just pie doughs but other things I bake a lot of). Just have to watch the pulsing action you use and allow whatever dough you’re making to just come together some, then you can dump it out and finish forming/kneading by hand for a few seconds.
Your recipe for a pie dough is somewhat similar to one I’ve been using for several years. A mostly shortening with a little butter type of one, but the portions are all a little less on each. Ever since I started trying the one I mostly use I actually have a hard time burning the edges, and ever after relied on it. I’ll try and give your proportions a try.
Also another tid bit I learned recently. If you can find certain freeze dried fruits for the type of pie your making, you can take maybe a handful of the freeze dried fruit and pulse it with your dry ingredients of the dough. If you portion just the right amount it can add a little fruity kick to your dough (just start with small amounts first when you try, and work your way up to find just the right taste you’ll love).
Can I possibly sub almond flour for the all purpose flour? If so do I need to add anything?
Hi Brandie, we don’t recommend using almond flour here. It has very different baking properties than all-purpose flour and would require quite a bit of recipe testing to ensure results. Best to stick with all-purpose flour here, or try a quick search for a recipe that is specifically formulated to use almond flour. If you find one you love, let us know how it goes!
When I’m making the crust, it comes together well after only 5 T of water. Not even 1/2 cup! But when I roll it out it doesn’t get very far without cracking – especially when I try to fold it over a filling. Should I be adding more water regardless of the dough being sticky?
I made one a few days ago and it turned out a great crust for my buttery and cheesy quiche filling. However, I would prefer it to be more buttery in taste. Can I use more butter but less shortening to achieve that? What proportions would you recommend? Thank you.
Hi Sharon! You may love our all butter pie crust instead.
Hi Sally, I’ve just made one this morning after chilling the dough for more than 10 hours. And it turned out so well! It’s my first time making a pie crust and am so happy with the result. It didn’t have much of the nice buttery taste that I love but given that my quiche filling is slightly buttery and cheesy, it makes a perfect crust. Thank you so much!
Well, I’m gonna “bite” and try this recipe. I have great success with a couple of other pastry doughs..but just want the challenge. LOL Yes, it isn’t performing as other pastry dough recipes..and right now is officially in the freezer(rolled into a tart pan)…so will blind bake straight from freezer tomorrow morning, then see how that goes. LOL Better “test” if it holds up to blind bake…then I will add in quiche setup. But if it fails to perform in blind bake…will just go with another tried and true recipe(which is pure butter, flour, salt and iced water). But had to see if the combo of butter and shortening was worth the reduced costs(butter isn’t cheap with rising prices).
I have always used this recipe for all of my pies. You never fail. Thanks to you and some of your re ideas, (tweaked with a bit), I have been able to open my own sweets bakery. Thank you again.
This is my new favorite pie crust. I’ve made it a few times and it makes a tender, flaky crust. My old go-to recipe was from Joy of Cooking – and this has replaced it. However, no matter how I try; rolling dough thinner, weighing not measuring the butter & shortening (life changing tip, btw), it doesn’t yield enough for my pie pans. Maybe my pans are too big? I would like to increase this by a 1/3. I can do the math and let you know how it goes.
Hi Mae, this recipe is written for a 9-inch pie dish. Looking forward to hearing how that goes for you!
I tried this recipe yesterday and followed the recipe exactly and the dough was way to wet. I barely used any of the water and used the exact amount of ingredients using a kitchen scale. I’ve made numerous all butter pie crusts in the past so I wanted to give this a try, will go back to my trusted all butter crust. When I rolled it out it was to wet and falling apart, I tried to blind bake and it was to greasy it bubbled and had to be thrown out.
Hi Sally
Happy to say that this pie crust has made me the pie maker I always wanted to be…lol. Every time I have made it it just keeps getting better. Many thanks for your super instructional videos and instructions. Have you ever made a chocolate pie crust? I had the most wonderful chocolate pecan pie with chocolate pie crust many years ago and the restaurant has since shut down. I am too much of a novice to attempt this one on my own. Any suggestions?
Hi Rosemary, thanks so much for the kind note! Here’s our chocolate pie crust recipe. We’d love to know if you give it a try.
When you say two pie crusts, does that mean 1 pie (1 top plus 1 bottom layer) or 2 pies (2 tops plus 2 bottoms)? Also, if I’m using this for the hand pie, can I halve the recipe?
Hi Veronica! This recipe yields 2 pie crusts — 1 top plus 1 bottom crust OR 2 bottom crusts. You can halve this recipe if desired.
I can’t wait to try this. I only have 9.5 inch glass pans. Any ideas of the measurements for a more generous pie crust? I need to make 2 pies and I’m using your coconut pie recipe. Thank you! This will be my first try with your recipes and I can tell they will be delicious!
Hi Wendy! For your slightly larger pie dish, you should be able to simply roll the crust a bit thinner. You could always make 1.5x the recipe to ensure you have enough and trim excess dough from the edges of the pan. Hope this helps!
Can you elaborate on what is meant by “fold the dough into itself”? This will be my first time making a pie crust on my own so just want to be sure.
Hi Amanda! You just want to bring the dough together with your hands, almost like kneading but more gentle. You can check out the video tutorial above around the 3:30 for a visual!
I’ve had amazing success with this pie crust! I weigh it all out too, and try to pay attention to humidity outdoors so guide how much water I need to add. I definitely will say that it’s most successful when all ingredients are cold! I even put my flour in the fridge. Great recipe
This is fantastic dough. I used it for beef hand pies; using leftover short ribs and oxtails cooked bourgogne style, with a bit of shredded manchego on top of the meat and veggies. Gruyeres would have been better.
I made this a day ahead of time, so it sat in my fridge for 24 hours. I don’t have a pastry cutter, so I put the butter in the freezer for about 5 hours and used the mandolin side of my grater to slice it, then used a fork to cut in the shortening and butter. I was thorough with that because I have hot hands and wanted to make sure I minimized later handling. I used just barely over the 1/2 cup of water because I needed it. One bowl rotation of mixing per dabble of water and a very quick fold by hand.
Rolled out to about 9 in diagonal (fatty, juicy leftovers needed a slightly thicker crust) trimmed the edges and used my trimmings for a big fat meat pocket at the end.
I will 100% use this recipe again.
I use this recipe all the time and it is excellent! I live at high altitude in a very dry climate so I add two extra tablespoons of ice water/vodka to my dough recipe. It makes the dough easier to work but still flaky. Your lattice video was perfect to help me make my first lattice crust. Came out beautiful. Thank you for sharing all your baking tips! PS I also prefer King Arthur flour.
I just want to say….I thought I could substitute the vegetable shortening with coconut. Don’t! It will fail. It was an unusual consistency. It was soft and crumbly at the same time lol. If I added more water it was sticky, more flour then it was too dry and extra crumbly. Like playdoh but less sustainable. I decide to experiment just see how it would taste to give me an idea of the flavor of the crust. I decided to add sugar into in the dough then I made a 3.5 in “pie crust” because that’s how far it would go without fully falling apart (I’m not one to waste things). The kids were curious as well. Put it at 400 for about 30 mins. I put some homemade blueberry and lime jam in the “crust” and it was delicious! The crust was almost like a cookie. Very similar texture to that of the almond Christmas cookies Puerto Rican’s make. We decided to make cookies with this and I’m going to try the recipe again once we get the shortening, this was a happy accident and I can tell that this would’ve made a great crust! Lol
I was unsuccessful at making this pie crust as written. I followed all of the steps exactly. I am happy others have had success though.
Hi Shannon, is there a certain part of the recipe that we can help troubleshoot? We’d love to help you find success with this recipe!
I have never made a pie crust from scratch but it came out absolutely perfect! It didn’t get too soggy and it flaked nicely. I love your recipes and I’ve made a handful of them already and they all came out amazingly well.
Hi there! I’ve made this several times with no problems, but the last 4-6 times some of the little pieces of butter in the crust melt all the way through (and I can see the pie plate underneath) in the blind baking. I have absolutely no idea why this is happening, as I’m doing the same things I’ve always done. The pieces aren’t any larger than pea size, but maybe I need to now cut them smaller with the pastry cutter? It’s very strange! Any thoughts?
Hi Danielle! Make sure your crust is very cold going into the oven to prevent the butter from melting too quickly. You can definitely try working the butter down to smaller pieces, that should help!
I tried this recipe but the crust did not bake at all. When I did it the crust was all buttery and probably long melted. Do you have some option for someone living in hot humid places where it takes minutes to for butterflies from the freezer to melt, nevermnd it remaining cold in the dough?
Hi Purva, we’re happy to help. As you mention, keeping the butter and dough cold is imperative for success, so here are a few tips to help for next time. If you’re not already, be using a pastry cutter or fork (rather than your hands) will help keep the butter colder for longer. On a hot day, you can even measure and chill your flour in the refrigerator before beginning. When taking the pie crust out of the refrigerator to roll out and fill, make sure your pie filling is ready to go. If not, keep the pie crust in the refrigerator until it is. And, if at any point the butter starts to become too warm, feel free to pop the dough back into the fridge for a few minutes, then continue. Hope these tips are helpful for next time — thank you so much for giving this recipe a try!
Hi Sally, I have tried this pie dough recipe several times and have been completely unsuccessful. It just falls apart. I followed recipe to the letter. In my defense, I have made dough with other recipes with no trouble. Seems very unmanageable. Any ideas? Thanks, Andrea
Hi Andrea! If you are experiencing a crumbly crust, the dough may have been over-worked and/or it was too dry. Don’t be afraid to add more ice water until the dough clumps together and feels a little moist. Keep the fats as cold as possible, use a pastry cutter to cut in the fats by hand, and don’t overwork them. You want little pieces of cold butter throughout. Hope this helps!