The Perfect Homemade Pie Crust

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Flakey, buttery and the base for all of your holiday pies, The Perfect Homemade Pie Crust has only four ingredients and is quick and easy to make. Made with 100% butter and in a food processor, you will never go back to buying store-bought dough again.

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November is officially pie season and I am here for all varieties of pies and tarts! There is truly nothing better than slicing into the perfect piece and enjoying every bite, but when you know you work hard and put so much love into the pie crust, you will love it even more.

Stock Your Pantry With The Staples

Start stocking your pantry with all the pantry staples you need to create the most beautiful and delicious pies and tarts all season long. Here is a pantry prep guide to help you check off everything you need!

Make something fun with our favorite pie dough, Deep Dish Apple Pie and our Deep Dish Chocolate Pecan Pie are two classics that pair perfectly with this recipe.

Ingredients

Bowls of flour, sugar, salt, cubed butter and a jar of ice cold water.

Flour-All purpose flour is the best option for a traditional pie crust.
Salt- A small amount of salt is needed!
Sugar- Pie crust should not be sweet, because the fillings tend to be extra sweet. A small amount of sugar is a perfect addition.
Butter-Unsalted butter needs to be cubed into small pieces and kept cold until you are ready to cut the butter into the flour. The butter is going to give the pie crust a perfect flakey texture.
Water- Ice cold water is the key to keeping the dough flakey when added to the flour and butter mixture.

Directions

Place flour, salt, and sugar into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine.

Slowly add the chilled and cubed butter to the flour mixture and pulse in between each addition until it looks like course meal
Continue pulsing and add ice cold water at a slow stream and process until the dough comes together into a ball

Remove the dough from the food processor and place on a floured surface
Knead the dough until fully combined and reaches the perfect consistency (add flour if needed)
Divide the dough in half and wrap each piece with plastic wrap and refrigerate for approximately 2 hours or overnight
Remove the dough and let it sit out for 20 minutes to slightly soften but the dough needs to remain cold
Roll out pie dough on a lightly floured surface to ⅛” thick and place in pie pan of your choice

Whats The Difference Between Pies and Tarts?

Tarts and Pies are very similar, but there are a few key items that keep them apart. There are a variety of shapes and sizes of tart pans, but there is one pie pan that will be used over and over again!

Pies are shaped into a slightly slanted pan that will be baked and served in. Pies seem much more casual than tarts do and sometimes have a crust on the top and the bottom.

Tarts are a little bit more formal and slightly more delicate, but can be made with the same dough or a sweeter dough works as well.

5 Tips To Make The Best Pie Crust

A tart pan, a pie pan and mini tart pan with dough in each.

Cold Butter The key to a flakey dough is the addition of cold butter. Cutting the butter into the flour mixture will create a small and course texture that ensures that the butter has been distributed through out for all the flakiness!

Food Processor Using a food processor is a great way to create the perfect pie dough texture. Adding the dry ingredients in first and then slowly adding the butter (aka "cut the butter") will create the perfect texture. If you don't have a food processor, you can always use a Pastry Blender and make the dough by hand!

Ice Cold Water The addition of ice cold water will bring the dough together, but will make sure that the dough and butter stays chilled for the flakey layers.

Do Not Over Kneed When the dough is in the food processor, it will still look a little crumbly when you remove the dough onto a floured surface. Gently kneed the dough to bring it all togehter, but do not over kneed or it will be tough to roll out.

Allow The Dough To Rest The resting period is one of the most important. Once the dough comes together and is in a ball, wrap and refrigerate the dough for approximately 2 hours to allow the dough to rest, which allows the gluten to relax and makes the dough much easier to roll out. Once the dough is shaped in the pie pan, refrigerate (rest) the dough again to prevent it from shrinking while baking.

Dough rolled out on a table being cut with a pastry cutter.

Frequently Asked Questions About Pie Crust

How far in advance can I make the dough?

The pie dough can be made 2-3 days in advance and refrigerated until ready to use. Once you are ready to use the dough, allow the dough to come to room temperature before rolling out.

Why Do Some Recipes Have Shortening?

Shortening is a great addition to pie dough and does ensure that it is extra flakey, but I prefer the 100% butter flavor!

What if my dough is dry and crumbly?

When you dough is in the food processor, be sure that the dough starts to come together and if it is still very crumbly and dry go ahead and add a little more ice cold water.

Favorite Tart and Pie Recipes

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