Easy Flaky All Butter Pie Crust Recipe

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Easy Flaky All Butter Pie Crust Recipe

This recipe shows how easy it is to make a crisp, flaky all-butter pie crust by hand with four simple ingredients that are probably in your kitchen right now. I'm sharing my best tips and tricks from over 10 years of experimenting!

Course Baking, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword All Butter Pie Crust, Butter Pie Crust, Butter Pie Crust Recipe, Butter Pie Dough, Butter Pie Dough Recipe, Easy Pie Crust Recipe By Hand, How to Make Pie Crust, Pie Crust Recipe, Pie Dough Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 0

Chill Time: 30

Servings (9-inch) double-crust pie

Calories 2765kcal

Author Faith Gorsky

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour see Notes
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter chilled and diced
3/4 cup ice-cold water plus more as needed

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prep the ingredients. Make sure the butter is chilled before you dice it. (TIP: Measure out all the other ingredients first, and then dice the butter right before you're ready to start so it stays cold.)
Combine the flour and salt. Add the flour and salt to a large bowl and whisk to combine.
Toss in the butter. Add the chilled, diced butter, and toss it around so the butter is fully coated in flour.
Incorporate the butter. Instead of using a pastry cutter or 2 butter knives, we're going to work the butter into the flour with our fingertips. Be careful not to overwork it; the mixture should look crumbly with some larger pieces of butter remaining. (TIP: Think of steamrolling the butter between your thumbs and fingertips to flatten it.)
Add the water. Gradually add the water while working the dough with your hands. The dough will look shaggy when it’s almost ready to form a ball, and at that point, it just needs a splash more water and a little more working to come together. (TIP: Add the water a little at a time; you might not need the full amount or you might need a little bit more. See Notes below.) Once it comes together, you want to handle the dough minimally. (TIP: It’s okay if the dough ball is a bit crumbly. Over time, you’ll get a feel for how the dough should look and feel when you’re adding water.)
Divide, wrap, and chill. Because this recipe makes enough for 1 double crust pie (i.e., a pie with crust on the bottom and top), divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Gently shape the dough halves into balls, slightly flatten the balls into disks, and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Transfer the dough to the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes or until fully chilled (or up to 3 days); see Notes below.
Roll out the dough for the bottom crust. Work with 1 disk of dough at a time and leave the other in the fridge for now so the butter stays cold. Flour your work surface. (TIP: A marble countertop or marble pastry slab is ideal so the butter stays cold.) Put your dough down on the floured surface, flour the top of the dough disk, and roll it out to a circle about 12 inches in diameter for the bottom of a 9-inch pie crust.
Transfer the dough to a pie pan. Fold the dough in half and then in half again, and then put it in a pie plate. Unfold the dough, gently nudging it into the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate. Use a fork to poke a few holes in the bottom. Add the pie filling, and pop the pie into the fridge while you roll out the top crust.
Roll out the dough for the top crust. Roll out the remaining disk of dough the same way you rolled out the first (except roll it out to a circle around 10 to 11 inches in diameter instead of 12).
Crimp or flute the crust and brush with egg wash. Tuck the dough along the outer edge underneath itself to form the crust (if there's a lot of extra dough, you can trim it off first). You can crimp along the outside of the dough by gently pressing down with a fork in a decorative way, or use your fingers to flute it and create a scalloped or ruffled look. Whisk together an egg with a splash of water and lightly brush it on the dough.
Bake. Bake the pie as your pie recipe directs, and get ready for one heck of a crust!

Video

Notes

Keep Everything Cold: The butter, the water, your countertop (that's where a marble countertop or marble pastry slab comes in handy), your kitchen (of course you don't have to, but I typically turn the thermostat down a degree or two when I make pie crust, which is especially helpful because I live in Florida), and even your hands if possible. To achieve the right flaky texture, the butter should be cold not only when baking, but also when we're incorporating it into the flour. Through trial and error, I've found that my pies come out flakier in colder weather!
Flour: Use regular all-purpose flour. Make sure it's unbleached and go for organic if possible (my favorite is King Arthur). Also, for best results, make sure your flour is fresh. If your bag of flour has been open a while, its hydration level and flavor will be slightly different than a freshly-opened bag because it can absorb moisture and odors from the air.
Water: For a tender, flaky crust, the goal here is to add just enough water so it forms dough. Too much water can cause gluten development and lead to a tougher, chewier crust.
Chilling the Dough: You want your dough fully chilled; 30 minutes is the bare minimum (and that's if you kept everything as cold as possible), but an hour or two is great if you have the time. If you leave it in the fridge longer and it's hard to roll out, let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
Storage and Make Ahead: You can keep the wrapped dough disks in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. (Personally, I like to use it within 2 days because I've noticed that it can start to turn gray-ish in color by day 3. It still tastes fine, but it looks a bit off-putting.) For longer storage, you can wrap the dough disks in plastic wrap and then foil and freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before using.
Nutrition Information: The nutritional information given is for the full recipe.

Recipe Yield:

This recipe makes enough dough for one standard 9-inch round double-crust pie. (A double crust pie has both a bottom and top crust.) You can also use it to make:

Two standard 9-inch round single crust pies (like pumpkin pie or pecan pie).
Eight mini double crust pies made in a standard-sized muffin tin (like these individual steak and ale pies).
Sixteen tarts made in a standard-sized muffin tin (see this mincemeat tarts recipe).
One single-crust deep dish pie in a 9 by 13-inch casserole dish.
One single-crust slab pie in a jelly roll pan (10 by 15-inches with 1-inch sides).

Nutrition