Our Easy Pie Crust recipe is foolproof, consistently producing a buttery, flaky crust that elevates any pie to perfection. Whether making a sweet treat like the best lemon meringue or a comforting savory chicken pot pie (double crust), this crust ensures delicious results every time.
🧈 Recipe Ingredients
Making the perfect pie crust requires just a few simple ingredients. Utilizing a food processor streamlines the process, allowing you to quickly combine the ingredients and achieve a smooth, consistent dough with minimal effort, ensuring a delightful crust every time. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and variations) below.
🍶 Substitutions and Variations
- Homemade vs. Store-Bought – We have used store-bought pie dough many times and still had great success. However, there is something special about making the crust from scratch. Extra buttery and so delicious!
- Flour – For a softer crust, substitute a combination (equal amounts) of cake flour and bread flour. For gluten-free, go with almond flour.
- Fats – We love a combination of chilled unsalted butter and shortening. You can use all butter, if desired, but we don’t recommend using all shortening. Baking lard can be substituted for the shortening.
See the recipe card (with video) below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Expert Tip
Make sure your butter and shortening are very cold before adding them to the food processor. After cubing them, place them in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes. And, then, make sure the water is ice cold. Try not to handle the dough too much with your hands. You want the butter to stay cold so when it hits the hot oven, it will create steam, which will make your crust flaky and buttery.
👩🏼🍳 How To Make Easy Pie Crust
- Step 1: Add the flour and salt to your food processor. Pulse to combine.
- Step 2: Add the cubed chilled butter and shortening to the flour in the food processor.
- Step 3: Pulse the processor a few times until the butter resembles small peas.
- Step 4: Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing the food processor as you add 4 to 5 tbsps.
- Step 5: Continue pulsing until a rough ball of dough has formed.
- Step 6: Form the dough into a disc and wrap it with plastic wrap.
🥧 How To Transfer and Shape Pie Dough
- Step 1: Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to a 12-inch diameter
- Step 2: Gently roll up the dough around the rolling pin.
- Step 3: Carefully fit the dough into the pie dish and trim away excess along the upper edge.
- Step 4: Use your fingers to flute the edge of the pie dough.
🔥 When To Par-Bake a Pie Crust
Par-baking, or blind baking, a pie crust involves pre-baking the crust partially without the filling, typically using weights to prevent it from puffing up, to ensure a crisp and well-cooked base for the final pie. Here are the benefits of par-baking your crust:
- Prevents Sogginess: Par-baking helps to set the crust before adding moist fillings, reducing the risk of a soggy bottom and ensuring a crisp texture. Perfect for fruit pies such as homemade cherry pie, classic apple pie, or Southern peach pie.
- Even Cooking: By partially baking the crust, you ensure that it cooks evenly, allowing for a more consistent texture and flavor throughout the pie.
- Improved Flavor: Par-baking enhances the crust’s flavor by allowing it to develop a golden color and toasty aroma, which adds depth to the overall taste of the finished pie. This is a must for pies that don’t require the filling to be baked, such as classic key lime pie or chess pie.
🙋🏽♂️ Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! This dough freezes beautifully. Wrap the disc of dough tightly with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.
You can par-bake (aka blind bake) up to 24 hours in advance. Cover with plastic wrap until ready to use.
Substitute the all-purpose flour with almond flour.
😋 Recipes Using Easy Pie Crust
Ready to take your pie dough to the next level? Go for it!
And when you do, be sure to take a photo of it, post it on Instagram, and tag @HowToFeedaLoon and hashtag #HowToFeedaLoon!
Perfect Pie Crust
Video
Equipment
- food processor with fitted blade
- plastic wrap
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting your work surface
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter chilled and cut into ½″ cubes
- 2 tablespoon shortening chilled and cut into ½″ cubes
- 5 – 6 tablespoon ice water
Instructions
- Using a dry ingredient measuring cup, add the flour to a food processor fitted with a metal blade1¼ cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting your work surface, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Add the salt and then the chilled butter and shortening. Secure the lid onto the food processor.6 tablespoon unsalted butter, 2 tablespoon shortening
- 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 tablespoon at a time, just until a ball forms. Immediately stop processing.5 – 6 tablespoon ice water
- 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!
Victor says
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!
Georgina says
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!
Kris Longwell says
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
Melly says
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.
Larry Miller says
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
Kris Longwell says
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
Tanya says
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!!!
Maggie Yoder says
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!
Kris Longwell says
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
Margie Schmidt says
I have no food processor or blender. Can I just make this pie crust by hand?
Kris Longwell says
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
Gord says
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
Kris Longwell says
Hi Gord! Yes! You’re right! We’ll start including weight in recipes that call for flour, especially when baking. Thanks!
Richard says
One cup of flour is 8 ounces. Two cups are 16 ounces= 1 pound. 1 1/4 cups as in the receipt is 10 ounces. Hope this helps.
Mona says
It’s true a cup of flour is 8oz when measuring volume but it’s about 4.25 oz by weight according to King Arthur Flour.
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart
QDpie says
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!
Kris Longwell says
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
Jess says
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!)
Kris Longwell says
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
Jess says
Thank you! It was amazing – buttery and delicious. Definitely my new favorite crust – for sweet or savory!
Kris Longwell says
Awesome!!! So glad you had success with the crust!!
HoneyButter Reeves says
Yes, you can use all butter or all butter replacer. Works great! Great recipe!
Kelly says
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?
Kris Longwell says
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
Nati says
Can i freeze this dough for later use?
Great post!
Kris Longwell says
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
Wendy says
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!
Kris Longwell says
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
RobernHealthyEater says
What can I use in place of Butter and shortening, since I can’t have neither?
Kris Longwell says
Hi there! That’s a very good question, we will look into and get back to you!
Maria says
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.
krislongwell says
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!!
Tanya says
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)
Tanoi Nelson says
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.
Kris Longwell says
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
Lulu says
I’m assuming you double for 2 crust? Also for lard crust, would you use lard in place of both butter and shortening?
krislongwell says
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
The Fine Cuisine says
Great blog and post! thanks!