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 |Â 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.
I am a senior who can bake bread, cookies, cakes etc etc. When I made pies I bought the pastry because I couldn’t make pastry at all even tho I have many MANY recipes. I never paid attention when I was younger to how my mom or grandmother made their delicious pies. I watched your video and decided to give your recipe a try thinking it would be like all the others. Your tutorial was so helpful that I now have mastered pastry making. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! I’m so proud of myself that at my age I’ve finally learned how to make pastry.
Elaine, I am almost 60…and had NEVER made pie crust (nor a pie for that matter)
I LOVE to bake, and when I got a request at Christmas for a “lemon meringue pie” I thought “well, I accept that challenge!!”
**If it were not for Sally’s step-by-step instructions, and pictures, and videos, I KNOW I would not have had the great experience/results that I did!**
Elaine, you should be proud of yourself! –Sally has given us the confidence!
(I am getting ready to bake Sally’s “deep dish apple pie” for my husband!)
I made homemade pie crust for the first time EVER–it was this recipe and it was PERFECT!!
If it were not for Sally’s step-by-step instructions, pictures, tips and tricks, I am afraid I would have had a ‘terrible’ experience!
BUT, my very first (partial blind bake) homemade crust came out GREAT!
Thank you Miss Sally for your tutelage and encouragement!
I am going downstairs right now to make another pie!!!
How do you keep the crust from shrinking? I don’t usually blind bake the crust for pecan pie but would that help? I’m using a glass pie dish.
Hi Elizabeth! Happy to help. My first tip is to avoid over-working the pie dough. Dough should only be mixed until the ingredients come together. Don’t use a food processor if you continue to experience pie dough shrinking. Use a pastry cutter. Let it rest for at least 2 hours in the fridge– and if you can let it rest longer, awesome. Better yet, make the pie dough discs a few days in advance so they can rest during that time. Likewise, use gentle force when rolling out pie dough. Roll out very slowly and take your time. Keep the ingredients as cold as possible. You can even freeze the crust for 20-60 minutes before blind baking. That always always helps! (I usually do that.)
Let me start off saying I’ve made your pie crust multiple times and every time it tastes amazing and the texture is sooo flaky. But every time when I roll it out it cracks! And I feel like I’m doing surgery on it to repair it and make it look decent. I take it out of the fridge about 15-20 minutes prior to rolling it. I don’t want to let it get to warm because I know the dough should be kept cold. I’ve even thought about rolling it out and putting in the pie dish and then chilling it. I know it has enough water because it comes together just fine.
Please help! What can I do so that my crust doesn’t crack when I roll it out?
Hi Katie, I’m so glad you enjoy this pie crust recipe! You can absolutely roll out the dough in the pan and then chill it again – I do this often!
How long do you thaw the pastry for? In the fridge?
You can thaw it in the refrigerator or at room temperature. The refrigerator is best. It takes a few hours to completely thaw out.
Sally, this is an excellent recipe for pie crust and so clearly laid out. Your instructions were very easy to understand and helpful and the texture was just as you said! I used the full 1/2 cup of cold water. We used the crust for the french silk pie and will use the leftover crust for another one of your pie recipes. I’m thinking the lemon meringue for New Years.
I usually hit or miss when making pie crusts but not with your recipe; I made several pies over Thanksgiving and the pie crusts were unbelievable. They rolled out perfectly and were flaky and buttery. Thank you.
My Lemon Meringue Pie crust turned out magnificent! At thought, I believe pie crusts are a hassle & I’m a cake lady but the baker in me will not allow me to substitute a frozen for a handcrafted crust! On to next, making a chess pie (wish we could share photos).
I will never buy a store bought pie crust again… This came out so fantastic!!! I used it on a chicken pot pie last night and it was so delicious that the whole pie is already gone… the crust really made the whole dish! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
OMG I made the crust using cold lard and unsalted butter and again OMG I am in love with your crust. I made a homemade cherry pie and my next pies are holiday meat pie with Hamburg and pork. Thanks again for posting this.
Wow, just wow! I’ve had your recipe for a few weeks now, and still put off baking a pie because I hate making crusts so, so much! Problem is, here in Germany, you cannot buy pre-made pie crusts, so I used a substitute which was never absolutely right. Today, I ventured into baking my first ever double crust apple pie, using your crust recipe.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! It’s the first time in decades that the pie crust turned out perfect at the first go (also, I never made a perfect pie crust before!), and while I didn’t find it easy, the recipe is super simple, if you follow it completely. My pie is currently in the oven, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out. Again, thank you, I will never attempt a different pie crust ever again!
I suck at making pie crust, like to the point I’d given up and just bought it for years and I’m the type to try to make everything homemade. I made this recipe tonight on a whim to top a curry turkey pot pie I threw together (gotta use up those holiday leftovers!) and not only was this recipe super easy but it is by far the very best pie crust I’ve ever made! My husband loved it and I ended up nibbling on a bunch of the little crust leaves I topped the crust with made with the scraps! Thank you SO much for this recipe, I’ll never make another crust recipe again!
I want to give this dough 10 stars, it’s so delicious! My dad and my father-in-law are huge pie fans, so I thought I’d make them pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving. My f.i.l. LOVED this pie crust; he said I’m making pies for every holiday until he dies.
Thank you for this easy to follow recipe. Just a tip for the other newbie crust bakers: my dough seemed perfect when I put it on the fridge, but it hadn’t taken very much water. When I tried to roll it out, it kept breaking so I added water a tbsp. at a time just like Sally advised, and it turned out PERFECT!
Two questions…..
1) Does anyone else have problems with not having enough dough? Like the recipe says it’s enough for two pie crusts. But when I only use 1/2 of the dough and roll it out it becomes too thin or I don’t have any overhang at all. For my current fix I’ve been keeping alllll the dough together to make one good pie crust and then it seems only 1/4 is left over. Any thoughts as to what could be wrong?
2) Every time I go to blind bake this crust — I use ceramic weights. I put the crust in a dish, pop in the fridge for a little, egg wash it, put some parchment paper, and then the weights.
After 10 minutes (per the pumpkin pie recipe) I take it out to remove the weights. But then my dough sticks to my parchment paper and rips it all up.
Everyone loves the taste of the crust but I wish I could just get it to look pretty for once I read in comment to put it in the fridge in the pie plate with the weights for 30 minutes so I’ll try that next but was wondering if there’s something else to correct.
Hi Beca! If you want any sort of lovely crust edge, it’s best to use a little extra pie dough. Sometimes I use 1 and 1/2 of the crusts for 1 pie if I want a nice thick edge. You’re not doing anything wrong! If you’re using a quality pie dish (I recommend Pyrex glass dish), then you can actually place the shaped pie shell in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Add the parchment/weights, then bake. Freezing helps a lot.
I will definitely try using more dough to create a ‘heavier’ crust that holds it from falling down the sides and DEFINITELY be freezing it going forward. Thanks so much for replying!!! 🙂
As always, love love love your recipes! I wish I could take lessons in person from you LOL
I am in love with this pie crust. I’ve avoided pie baking for decades because of my fear of crusts. This summer, the rhubarb was ready in my hometown when I went to visit friends and family (I now live where rhubarb is NOT a thing) and I made a strawberry rhubarb pie — with lattice topping! The very next day, I made another. Today, as I prepare for Thanksgiving, I do it without fear and I feel well able to offer the pumpkin pie I’ve always had to ask someone else to bring. Fingers crossed, Sally’s recipe will win the day. Thanks, Sally, you’re the best. I tell everyone I know that this is true.
I have used this pie crust recipe for the last 3 years and will NEVER use another recipe. It is truly a no-fail recipe that produces the best, flakiest crust. Once you try this, you won’t go back!
Love your details on pie crusts. I use to bake all the time, but have gotten lazy & started using frozen pie crusts. I decided to make my own this year, but I had challenges! I worked my cold pie crusts onto my floured granite counter top & it stuck to the counter & the rolling pin. I kept adding a sprinkle of flour & rubbing it lightly over the pin & dough, but had to roll the dough several times & finally scooped the largest part & placed it in the pie tin & worked the dough in. It looks pretty in the pan, but I no doubt did something wrong! I only used 5 tbsp of ice water when mixing my dough. So how do you transfer your rolled pie crust into the pan without disturbing the shape?
Hi Judy, make sure you’re not over-working the butter and shortening into the flour/salt. If you mix it too much, you’ll need less water and the pie dough will end up being dry on the edges and too soft in the center as you roll it out. You want little crumbles of flour coated fat before you add the cold water. The easiest way to transfer the pie dough to the pie plate is to actually roll it onto your rolling pin. If you need a visual, you can see me do that in a recent recipe video I published, which is in my French Silk Pie recipe post.
Help! I forgot to cube the butter before adding it to the flour and salt mixture. I did use a pastry cutter and the dough formed just as it should, however there are noticeable chunks of butter in dough. Will this be okay?
Hi Susanna– the pie crust *should* be fine. Remember, visible specks of butter and fat are normal and encouraged. (See the post, too!)
Made this yesterday and then baked it all tonight! I made it with the homemade pumpkin pie.
Now I’m not a baker. At least not a sweet baker but I was so proud of this! I didn’t have pie weights so my first one was not good. Thankfully I made the double pie crust and had another one to use. If only I knew how simple this was years ago I would have been making all the pies!!
Sally, I love all of your recipes I have tried! I have never felt the need to “tweak” any of them, as I feel you’ve already done that for us! I own all of your cookbooks and always look forward to forthcoming books. I have always been intimidated by pie crusts & have been guilty of picking up refrigerated rolled crusts as I’ve been too fearful of a fail! Not this year, I did a trial run of a double crust cherry pie with this recipe and it was incredible! I used the vodka version and everyone loved it! I can’t wait to use the crusts for my Thanksgiving pies! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I hope you & your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I’m loving baking all the things on your site! Truly, you’ve sparked a love of baking I didn’t know was there! One question about this recipe, it seems like I only need a few tablespoons of water (not nearly 120 ml) for the pie crust. What would make that happen? I’ve made it once before and the same thing happened (I think I used maybe 5 tablespoons of water?) and it turned out great. So I guess all’s well that ends well, but just trying to understand why this would happen both times. Thanks!
Hi Elise! I’m so glad you enjoy this pie crust recipe. And I’m happy to help! Make sure you’re not over-mixing the shortening and butter into the flour. If it’s too wet/too combined, you won’t need as much water and the pie dough could end up being too dry. This is why I like to use a pastry cutter and mix by hand. You get a really nice feel for the dough that way.
Hello Sally,
When I roll the dough out in preparation to put it in the dish, should the swirls or lard and specs of butter disappear in to the dough? I’ve made this recipe twice now and once the specs stayed prominent and the other times, I’ve managed to combine it in with the dough.
Thanks!
Kaitlin
Hi Kaitlin! Visible specks of fat are normal and encouraged– it will create more flakes as the crust bakes. The more, the better. (But you’ll need a bit extra flour rolling out the dough if those butter specks get sticky.) Fully combining the fats means that the dough has been over-worked.
Sally,
I applaud you on all your recipes! I get a lot of my recipes from you. I usually end up tweaking it just a bit (don’t we all?) and they are always a hit. I have a couple on my own site that I credit to you!
PS. This is a great dough recipe. I use it for all of my pie doughs. I added a tablespoon of sugar once but could not really tell a difference. Maybe honey next time for a sweet dough?
Amazing recipe! I always go to this one for a perfect pie crust!
Just wanted to let you know that I used your pie crust recipe and made it Gluten Free and it was incredible. Was it exactly how a regular pie crust would be? Well no… it’s gluten free but it was pretty darn close and actually (in my opinion) better than regular pie crust – even my family agreed. I followed everything you said to do step by step. The only difference was I used GF flour (the kind that is ready to go and you don’t have to mix your own). The trick I have learned is I weigh the GF flour. First I weighed a plastic cup and put it on a scale and it weighed .05 oz then measured 2 1/2 cups of regular flour with regular measuring cups and added it to the plastic cup. The total came to 4.9 oz all together. I knew then I just had to fill the cup with GF flour until it came to 4.9 on the scale. I think weighing the flour helps. I find the GF flour to be very dense compared to regular flour so all the recipes come out really dry if I do it the regular way of using my measuring cups. It has worked wonderfully with every regular recipe I have tried. I haven’t changed anything else within the recipe – I just weigh the flour. When I found out I had to become gluten free I was devastated believing I would never be able to make anything from your site again. Your baking recipes are the only ones I use. Not only are they the best baking recipes in the world, the pictures on your website are the happiest looking cookies, pies, cakes etc. ever. How could I never make them again? I hope you or someone else finds this helpful. Knowing what a fantastic baker you are, you probably will come up with something to improve upon this. Thank you for sharing all your recipes with us!
What if I don’t have a glass pie dish. Any substitutes? This is my first time doing a homemade crust I am used to the little metal tin thing coming with the dough lol!
Glass is simply my preference because it transfers more heat than metal and ceramic pans. I also find that the crust cooks more evenly in glass, too. But metal is perfectly fine if that’s all you have– keep a close eye on your pie and use a pie crust shield to prevent over-browning around the edges.
I know you said glass is preferred, but would a cast iron skillet work?
That would be fine, yes! The bake time for your pie may be quicker.
Hi Sally,
I used this recipe for my homemade pot pie. I make it in a 13x 9 so I made two batches of the crust and it rolled out so nicely. My family loved it. It was so flavorful, flaky and has incredible taste. It was easy to work with and I look forward to using this crust for my pumpkin pies this Thanksgiving. Thank you so much for this great recipe. The step by step instructions and tips are so helpful and allow me to have success with each recipe.
Sally, when using leaf cut outs, is it possible to add a bit of food coloring to the milk egg wash to get a variety of fall colors?
Yes, absolutely! That would look so festive.
Hi there!
Just curious if I were to Par-bake the crust and then freeze it to bake off another day, would it hold up?
Thanks so much!
Britney
Definitely. Pre-bake, cool completely, then wrap and freeze. Thaw slightly before continuing to blind bake or before filling. No need to thaw completely.