Perfect Pie Crust

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This foolproof recipe will deliver flakey, buttery, delicious pie crusts for your favorite pie creations.

I’ve been making pie crust this way for many, many years, and I promise you, you won’t be disappointed.

Homemade Pie has actually been around for centuries!  And we think is one of the greatest human inventions!  Learn more about the fascinating history of pie here!

perfect pie crust on a cutting board with rolling pin

HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT PIE CRUST

Using your food processor is a solid way of producing wonderful pie dough.

Watch us show you how simple it is to make this amazing dough!

 

Use your fingers, as shown below, to easily flute the edges for an attractive design.

So festive! Making pie crust from scratch makes your pie even that more special!

perfect pie crust recipe

Of course, you can find perfectly acceptable pre-made pie crusts at most supermarkets nowadays. But, there is just something so special about a pie that has a homemade crust.

You can just taste the love that went into the creation of the pie, starting with the flakey, buttery crust!

perfect pie crust recipe

Classic Pumpkin Pie (click for recipe) is made even more perfect with a homemade crust!

Now, go ahead and make this delicious dough from scratch!

And when you make this fabulous dough, be sure to take a photo of it, post it on Instagram, and tag @howtofeedaloon and hashtag #howtofeedaloon!

Take a photo of the pie you make, too!  We love pie!

Perfect pie crust on board with rolling pin

Perfect Pie Crust

This dough makes perfect pie crust every time! Use cold butter, and fold into the dough. Using lard from www.smithfield.com makes it even better.
5 from 10 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Baking
Cuisine: Baking
Keyword: Pie Crust
Prep Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 140kcal

Ingredients

  • cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting your work surface
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter chilled and cut into 1/2" cubes
  • 2 tbsp shortening chilled and cut into 1/2" cubes
  • 5 - 6 tbsp ice water

Instructions

  • Using a dry ingredient measuring cup, add the flour to a food processor fitted with a metal blade
  • Add the salt and then the chilled butter and shortening.  Secure the lid onto the food processor. 
  • Cut the fat into the flour by pulsing 7 or 8 times.  The butter should resemble small frozen peas. 
  • Through the tube of the food processor, add the ice water, 1 tbsp at a time, just until a ball forms.  Immediately stop processing. 
  • Remove the dough from the processor and using your thumbs, for a disc.
  • Enclose the dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour. 
  • On a lightly floured counter/surface, place the dough.  Try not to handle the dough too much, to prevent the butter pieces from melting. 
  • You'll need to roll out the dough to about 3 to 4 inches greater than the inside diameter of the pan. (i.e., if you have 9-inch pie pan, roll the crust to a 12 - 13-inch diameter.)
  • Try and roll the dough out in as few 'rolls' as possible. Repeated rolling will overwork the dough, and will yield less flakey crust.
  • To transfer the dough to the pan, fold one half over, then fold over again into a quarter. Gently place into pie pan and then unfold the dough. Trim the edges with scissors.
  • Use your fingers to flute the edges.  Your pie dough is now ready for baking!

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 140kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 100mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 355IU | Calcium: 3mg
Tried this recipe? Take a Picture!Mention @HowToFeedALoon or tag #HowToFeedALoon!

46 Comments

  • 5 stars
    I love this recipe – I needed to make 4 pies (one gluten free) for Thanksgiving, and was able to have all the crusts done ahead of time in a matter of minutes. It’s the first time I’ve been able to make a gluten free crust successfully – Thank you! Thank you!

    • Hi Maggie! Woo hoo!! So so thrilled you have had such great success with our recipe to make GF crust successfully! You ROCK!!! Thank you so much for sharing and for the wonderful review! That means the world to us! xoxo Kris & Wesley

    • Hi Karyn! So sorry for the delayed response. We have not tried it personally with GF flour, but we know others have with success. Just substitute GF flour for the All-Purpose, and you should be good! Let us know if you make it and how it turns out! Best, Kris & Wesley

  • Would it matter if I left out the 2 tbs of shortening? Looking for a less buttery/oily pie crust for my mini pie maker when I make meat pies. Butter was all over the place, ha ha!! Or do you hv a crust recipe w less butter/oil?
    Thanks!!!!

  • Hi!
    I am looking forward to using this recipe for the crust for your classic meat pie recipe! However, I wanted to ask if this recipe makes enough crust for the meat pies? I see that it’s enough for one standard pie crust, but I can’t tell if it’s enough for the 8-serving meat pie recipe.
    Thank you!

  • This is my go to recipe for pie crust or a hearty crust in general. The only critique is a painful one for us metric folks – please supply measurements in grams! I have no idea how you measure a solid like butter in tablespoons and find myself googling it each time. Otherwise, this is fabulous and foolproof. Thanks for sharing!

    • Hi Georgina! We are so happy you are having success with our pie dough recipe! And we hear you on the measurements! We are working to update all of our recipes to include both types of measurements, but it’s quite the undertaking. Thank you for your patience and thank you even more for understanding! We appreciate that so very much!! Kris & Wesley

    • A block of butter from the grocery store is 2 cups. There are 16 tbsp in one cup. I usually cut the block into 4 sticks and then each stick is 8 tbsp’s. This makes it easy to measure out each tbsp by indenting at 1/2, then 1/4, then 1/8th’s.

  • Hi Kris, Wesley, Eb & Flo,

    Love your site! So I was in Portland recently having a food orgy with all the many great food trucks and eateries there. It was Fantastic! So I’m thinking of using your pie crust recipe to make marionberry poptarts which I discovered while there. These were huge about 4×5″ and really full of Marionberries. Do you see any reason why I shouldn’t use this pie crust or if there is a better dough recipe for pop tarts?

    Larry

    • Hi Larry!! This pie dough will work perfectly for pop tarts!! We make them using this recipe all the time!! Sounds like fun in Portland!!!!! We’re jealous!! Let us know if you make the pop tarts and how they turn out!!!! All the best, Kris & Wesley

  • I’ve searched and searched for a perfect dough recipe for meatpies, I found this one, then seen the recipe for the meatpies!!! I’m super excited to try this tonight!!!

  • 5 stars
    Just made a pie crust using your recipe this morning, and you’re right – it IS perfect! This will absolutely be my go-to from here on in. I even made an extra one so that I could make cinnamon rolls like my mother used to from the extra pie dough. That brought back some wonderful memories. Thanks for making this so easy!

    • Hi Maggie! That is so wonderful to hear! We are so happy you had such great success with the pie crust! Nothing much better than homemade pie with homemade pie crust!! And the cinnamon rolls sound heavenly! Thanks so much for letting us know and for the wonderful review! That truly means the world to us!! All the best, Kris & Wesley

    • Hi Margie, you can certainly knead the dough by hand. Cut the butter into small pieces and then use the heel of you hand to begin to work the dough with the ice water. Don’t overwork it, or you’ll get a tough dough. Let us know if you try it and how it turns out, or if you have any other questions. Best, Kris & Wesley

  • Hey Guys,

    I would like to ask a favour. When you post a recipe that calls for flour could you please also indicate the weight. When flour is measured by the cup, depending on how packed it is, it can vary by as much as 20%. This can make quite a difference to the final product.

    Thanks,
    Gord

  • 5 stars
    Loved this! I wanted a bit extra flake, so when I added the water I did 3T of water and 2T of Tito’s. The vodka evaporates and puff! So flaky.

    Thanks for giving my pie crust recipe a refresh. You boys are pure peach!

    • We can’t LOVE this comment enough!!! Love the tip for adding a little vodka!! Thanks for letting us know and thanks for the GREAT review!!! Stay in touch!!! Much love!!!! xoxoxo Kris & Wesley

  • This looks fantastic. With quarantine cooking, I’m finding I don’t always have everything I need. I have butter but no shortening. Do you think I can get away with replacing the shortening with butter (or something else)? Thank you!! (We are trying this with your Guinness Beef Pie tonight and can’t wait to taste it!)

    • HI Jess! Awesome! That Guinness Beef Pie is perfect for Quarantine Cooking! It’s a run project! Absolutely, just increase the butter by the amount you would have used for the shortening. I do that from time to time, and still have great results. Do let us know how it turns out, or if you have any other questions! xoxo

  • If I were going to use this recipe for a fresh strawberry pie, how long would I need to bake it and at what temp?

    • Hi Kelly, you’ll need to blind bake the crust first, which means placing some parchment paper over the pie dough that’s been fitted to your pie plate, then add dried beans, or dried rice, or pie weights to weight down the dough. Bake for 20 minutes at 375°F. Remove the pie from the oven and remove the parchment with the beans, or rice, or weights on top. Piece the dough all over with a fork. Place the dough back in the oven and bake for another 15 minutes, until a nice pale golden brown. Now, you’re ready to fill with the strawberry filling and continue with your recipe. Hope this helps and let us know if you have any other questions!! All the best, Kris & Wesley

    • Hi Nati! YES! The dough freezes beautifully. We freeze it all the time for later use. Just let it fully thaw before using. Let us know if you have any other questions or comments! All the best, Kris & Wesley

  • 5 stars
    I haven’t made a pie crust from scratch for years. I’m retired and now have the energy to be more creative in my cooking. I love your site and tutorial videos, made your pie crust today and was delicious!!! I made a cherry pie (filling from a can) and the crust was light and flaky…delicious! I plan to make the entire pie from scratch in the future. Thank you for your wonderful webpage!

    • Hi there, Wendy!! Congrats on retirement!! Now, it’s time to have FUN!! So so glad you had success with our pie crust. And cherry pie is definitely a favorite of ours!! Thank you so much for your note and wonderful review. We appreciate that so much. Let us know if you have any questions, and in the meantime, please stay in touch!!! All the best, Kris & Wesley

  • Have you ever used a non-dairy substitute for the butter? How does it hold up?

    Also, the last line of the recipe is confusing: Step: 11: Use your fingers to flute the edges. Your pie dough is not ready for baking!
    Is it really supposed to say it is “now” ready for baking?
    If not, I’m confused and there must be a step 12.

    • Hi Maria, to be honest, I’ve never tried a non-dairy substitute for the butter so I can’t really say how it would hold up. You could go with only shortening, and that would work, but you obviously wouldn’t get that delicious butter taste. I’ll let you know though if I run across something that will work well as a substitute.

      And thanks for the heads up on the instructions. It should have read: Your pie dough is NOW ready for baking! Ha!! Recipe has been updated. Thanks again!!

    • What can I use instead of a processor? Besides the old fashioned way?I have a blender although it might be too powerful.It for crushing ice besides regular blending. Do you think that would work?(my blender)

      • Just wondering if a blender would work as well. I want to try the meat pies and also Have been wanting to make my own pie crust.

      • You know, we’ve never tried it in a blender. My guess is it would be difficult for the ball of dough to from. You can easily knead the dough with your hands. It will take about 15 to 20 minutes, but that’s the way our grandmothers did it! Let us know if you try it and how it turns out! All the best, Kris & Wesley

  • I’m assuming you double for 2 crust? Also for lard crust, would you use lard in place of both butter and shortening?

    • Hi Lulu! (love your name, btw). Yes, double the recipe for 2 crusts. You can use lard in place of the shortening, or vice versa. Keep the butter quantities as is. Hope this helps! Let us know of any other questions or comments. Best, Kris & Wesley

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