Description
This Easy Flaky Butter Pie Crust recipe produces a tender, buttery, and flaky pastry perfect for both sweet and savory pies. Using simple ingredients like all-purpose flour, cold butter, salt, and ice water, this versatile crust can be made quickly by hand or in a food processor. The dough is chilled before rolling and can be blind baked for single-crust pies or used as a double crust. Ideal for quiches, cream pies, fruit pies, and more, this classic pie crust yields reliable results every time.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (325g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
Fat
- 1 cup (230g) very cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
Liquid
- 6 to 8 tablespoons ice water, or more as needed
Instructions
- Combine flour, salt, and sugar: In a food processor or a medium bowl if making by hand, mix 1 ½ cups of flour with salt and sugar until evenly distributed.
- Incorporate cold butter: Scatter cold butter cubes over the flour mixture. Process in the food processor for about 15 seconds or cut butter into flour by hand with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized butter pieces.
- Add remaining flour: Add the remaining 1 cup of flour and pulse 4–5 times in the food processor or mix with pastry blender until flour is evenly distributed and dough looks crumbly.
- Add ice water and form dough: Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of ice water over the flour mixture and gently press the dough together with a rubber spatula. Add 2 to 4 more tablespoons of ice water as needed until the dough holds when pinched.
- Shape and chill dough: Form dough into a ball on a clean surface, cut in half, and flatten each into disks. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days. Dough can also be frozen up to 3 months.
- Roll out dough: Let one disk sit at room temperature for 5 minutes. Lightly flour surface, rolling pin, and dough. Roll into a 12-inch circle, rotating and lightly flouring as needed. Transfer to a 9-inch pie dish by rolling dough over rolling pin and unrolling into dish. Press gently into bottom and sides.
- Crimp edges: Fold overlapping dough under itself to create a ¼-inch edge on the lip of the dish. Crimp edges by pressing fingers and knuckles together.
- Chill crust before baking: Refrigerate unbaked crust for at least 30 minutes before baking or filling.
- Blind bake crust (for single crust pies): Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Prick bottom of chilled crust with a fork, line with parchment paper, fill with pie weights, dried rice, or beans, and bake 15 minutes. Remove weights and parchment, then continue baking 15–20 minutes until golden. For a shiny finish, brush with egg yolk and cream mixture, bake 5–8 more minutes.
- Make double crust pie: Follow steps for bottom crust, then roll out second disk and place over filling. Trim edges to overhang ¾-inch. Seal edges by folding and crimping. Chill pie 30 minutes. Before baking, brush top crust with egg wash, sprinkle sugar, cut slits to vent, then bake according to your pie recipe (often around 400°F).
Notes
- Use very cold butter for flaky layers in the crust.
- Adjust water quantity depending on humidity; dough should hold together without being sticky.
- Chilling the dough is essential to prevent shrinking and improve texture.
- Dough can be made ahead and frozen; thaw overnight in fridge before use.
- For best results, handle dough gently when rolling to avoid tough crust.
- Blind baking is necessary for pies with unbaked fillings like custard or cream pies.
- Egg wash adds a golden shine but is optional.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Baking
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: pie crust, flaky pie crust, butter pie crust, homemade pie crust, easy pie dough, double crust pie, blind bake pie crust
