Apple pie crust recipe

Perfect Pie Crust

Intimidated by pie dough? This flaky pie crust recipe walks you through every step for the perfect pie. Use all butter or a combo of butter and shortening. Plus learn how to blind-bake a pie crust.

Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.

Yes, you can make your own homemade pie crust! It’s not hard, once you get the hang of it, and the result is so much better than your typical frozen pie crust that you get at the store.

Video: How To Make Perfect Pie Crust

Perfect Pie Crust

There are many different ways to make a pie crust. Every baker I know seems to have their favorite recipe or trick.

The most classic pie or pastry crust is made with butter. That one can take some practice to master, because if you handle it too much it will end up tough.

A more forgiving pie crust is one that is made with a mixture of butter and shortening. That way you get the flavor of the butter, with the easy flakiness that comes from using shortening.

Some people use all vegetable oil, and some swear by lard. One of my favorite ways to make a pie crust these days is to use sour cream as the fat, along with butter. No need for a food processor; the dough is easy to roll-out, and the crust is wonderfully flaky.

The following are instructions for making 1) a basic butter crust (pâte brisée) for sweet and savory pies and tarts, 2) a pre-baked pie crust needed for dishes such as quiche, 3) a combination butter and shortening crust, and 4) an egg wash finish for the pie.

The instructions will yield enough dough for 1 10-inch pie with a crust top, or 2 10-inch topless pies or tarts. If you are making a tart or just a pie bottom, cut all ingredients in half.

Pies to Make Using This Crust!

Perfect Pie Crust

These recipes call for unsalted butter. If you are using salted butter instead, omit the added salt.

As a variation, swap out 1/2 cup of the flour with ground blanched almonds or almond flour.

Ingredients

All Butter Crust

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for rolling

1 cup ( 8 ounces ) unsalted butter , very cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

6 to 8 tablespoons ice water

Combination Butter and Shortening Crust

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter , chilled, cut into 1/4 inch cubes

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

8 tablespoons ice water

1 tablespoon heavy cream , half and half, or milk

1 large egg yolk

Method

Put flour, sugar, and salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a couple times to mix.

Add about half of the butter to the food processor and pulse several times. Then add the rest of the butter and pulse 6 to 8 times until the largest pieces of butter are about the size of large peas.

Sprinkle the mixture with 4 tablespoons of the ice water (make sure there are no ice cubes in the water!) and pulse again. Then add more ice water, a tablespoon at a time, pulsing once or twice after each addition until the dough just barely begins to hold together. You may not need all the water.

The mixture is ready when a small handful of the crumbly dough holds together when you pinch it with your fingers.

Carefully empty the crumbly dough mixture from the food processor on to a clean, dry, flat surface. Gather the mixture in a mound.

Divide the dough mixture into two even-sized mounds. Use your hands and knead each mound just enough to form each one into a disc. Do not over-knead! Kneading develops gluten which will toughen the dough, not something you want in a pastry crust. You should just knead enough so that the dough holds together without cracks.

If you started with cold butter you should be able to see small chunks of butter speckling the dough. This is a good thing. These small bits of butter will spread out into layers as the crust cooks so you have a flaky crust!

Sprinkle each disc with a little flour, wrap each one in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for one hour or up to 2 days.

Remove one crust disc from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier.

Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking.

Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate.

Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

Roll out second disc of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie.

Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together.

Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork.

Score the top of the pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.

How to Pre-Bake a Pie Crust

If your recipe calls for a pre-baked crust, as many custard pie recipes do, follow all the steps above for a single, bottom crust only, without filling.

until chilled. This is an important step in pre-baking. Otherwise the crust will slip down the sides.

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

When the pie crust is sufficiently chilled, line the pie crust with aluminum foil. Let the foil extend over by a few inches on two sides to make it easier to lift to remove the pie weights when the baking is done.

Fill the crust to the top with pie weights — dry beans, rice, or sugar. (Sugar works best.)

Bake at 350°F for 45-50 minutes if making a crust for a pie that will require further cooking, for example a quiche. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes if making a crust for a pie that you don’t need to bake further.

You may need to tent the edges of the pie with aluminum foil when you bake your pie, to keep the edges from getting too dried out and burnt.

See more detailed instructions and photos for how to blind bake a crust here.

Combination Butter and Shortening Crust

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add the butter and pulse 4 times.

Add shortening in tablespoon sized chunks, and pulse 4 more times. The mixture should resemble coarse cornmeal, with butter bits no bigger than peas.

Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of ice water over flour mixture. Pulse a couple times. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it’s ready.

If the dough doesn’t hold together, keep adding water, a teaspoon at a time, pulsing once after each addition, until the mixture just begins to clump together.

Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface.

Divide the dough into 2 balls and flatten each into 4 inch wide disks.

Do not over-knead the dough!

Dust the discs lightly with flour, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate for at least an hour, or up to 2 days before rolling out.

After the dough has chilled in the refrigerator for an hour, you can take it out to roll. If it is too stiff, you may need to let it sit for 5-10 minutes at room temperature before rolling.

Sprinkle a little flour on a flat, clean work surface and on top of the disc of dough you intend to roll out. (We use a Tupperware pastry sheet that has the pie circles already marked.)

Using a rolling pin, apply light pressure while rolling outwards from the center of the dough.

Every once in a while you may need to gently lift under the dough (a pastry scraper works great for this) to make sure it is not sticking.

You have a big enough piece of dough when you place the pie tin or pie dish upside down on the dough and the dough extends by at least 2 inches all around.

When the dough has reached the right size, gently fold it in half. Lift up the dough and place it so that the folded edge is along the center line of the pie dish. Gently unfold. Do not stretch the dough.

If you are only making a single crust pie, use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the lip of the dish. Tuck the overhang underneath itself along the edge of the pie dish. Use your fingers in a pinching motion, or the tines of a fork to crimp the edge of the pie crust.

If you are making a double crust pie, roll out the second disc of dough. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Use a kitchen scissors to trim the overhang to an inch over. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Finish the double crust by pressing against the edges of the pie with your finger tips or with a fork.

Use a sharp knife to cut vents into the top of the pie crust, so the steam has a place to escape while the pie is cooking.

Before scoring, you may want to paint the top of your crust with an egg wash (this will make a nice finish).

Egg Wash

A lovely coating for a pie can be achieved with a simple egg wash.

Beat egg yolk with cream and brush on the surface of the pie with a pastry brush.

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Homemade Pie Crust Recipe

An easy tutorial on how to make your own homemade pie crust! This recipe uses just a few simple ingredients and turns out perfect every single time. This post also includes several different ways that you can use this pie crust recipe!

Making your own pie crust should never be intimidating. In fact, if you have a good recipe and instructions it’s actually pretty easy.

If you’ve been following me for a while you’ve probably seen this pie crust recipe at some point. But today I wanted to share this simple recipe with you again because it’s one that I use all of the time! You’ll absolutely love this recipe because it’s:

• Super flaky
• Ridiculously easy to make
• Uses simple pantry staples you likely have on hand
• Tastes better than anything that you can buy at the store

Trust me when I say that you’ll never go back to buying store-bought pie crust again once you learn how to make your own!

Recipe Ingredients

To make this easy pie crust recipe you’ll need some all-purpose flour, salt, sugar, unsalted butter, shortening, and ice water. Each of these ingredients plays a crucial role in creating a delicious pie crust, so let’s break them down.

• Flour: I use all-purpose flour when making this homemade pie crust because it creates the perfect crust. One important thing here, make sure to measure your flour correctly. Too much flour in your pie crust can take your crust from flaky and tender to dry and crumbly. Here’s my post about how to measure flour with the spoon and level method. Or even better, use a food scale to measure your flour! You’ll need 315 grams of all-purpose flour for this recipe.
• Salt & Sugar: The salt and sugar help to enhance the flavor of the pie crust. Salt is a very important ingredient when it comes to making your own homemade pie crust, so don’t leave it out or cut the amount down. As far as the sugar, you can leave it out if you prefer.
• Fat: Some pie crust recipes call for all butter, a combination of butter and shortening, oil, etc. For this recipe, I use a combination of cold butter and cold vegetable shortening. The butter gives your pie crust a delicious buttery flavor and the shortening gives the crust structure and keeps it tender.
  • One important thing – Make sure your butter and shortening are cold. Not soft, not warm, I’m talking straight from the refrigerator right before you add it to the flour mixture. Why? When you put the pie crust in the oven, you want little bits of cold fat in the crust. The little bits of fat will melt as the crust bakes and create little air pockets, which is what gives you a beautiful flaky crust.
• Ice Water: You’ll also need some ice water to help bring the dough together. Measure out some water, add some ice to it, and stir it around so it’s nice and cold. Then measure out the exact amount of ice water the recipe calls for and add it one tablespoon at a time. Too much water in your pie dough and you’ll end up with a sticky mess, too little water and you’ll end up with a crumbly dough that won’t hold together. I suggest gently mixing in one tablespoon of ice water at a time.

How To Make A Pie Crust

To start, you’ll whisk together the all-purpose flour, salt, and sugar. Then add the cold cubed butter and cold vegetable shortening and cut it into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter. If you don’t have a pastry cutter you can also use a fork to cut the fat into the flour mixture.

If you want to make this step even easier, feel free to use a food processor. If you do use a food processor, I recommend just pulsing the mixture. You want to see pea-sized pieces of fat, but a few larger pieces are fine too.

Next, you’ll slowly mix in your ice water. One tablespoon at a time is the perfect amount, so you don’t end up with too much water in your dough and a sticky mess. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of ice water, but you may not need the full amount. Just use enough ice water to get the dough to come together.

Once you add enough water, the mixture will start to look like the picture above and when you squeeze it in your hand it will hold together. Just try not to use your hands too much when making the dough because your hands are warm and can quickly melt the fat in your dough.

Once the dough comes together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and gently pack it into a ball. Cut the dough in half and flatten it out into two discs. Wrap each disc of dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least one hour. You may also store these in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If it’s too hard to roll, just let it sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes.

Once you’re ready to roll out your dough, lightly flour your surface and rolling pin. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on the lightly floured surface. Using your rolling pin, apply even pressure and gently roll it from the center out, turning the dough about a quarter turn after a few rolls. Make sure to lift your dough and flour your surface and the top of the dough as needed to prevent it from sticking.

It’s best to roll the dough out to about 12 inches in diameter. I suggest using a ruler to measure the dough and make sure it’s the right size. This is the perfect size for a 9-inch pie plate, so you have a little overhang and have enough dough to decorate the edges. I like to cut off the excess, leaving about 1 inch of overhang. Then, just fold the overhang under and decorate the edges.

Can I make it without shortening and use just butter in this recipe?

Yes, you can replace the shortening with the same amount of butter. Just keep in mind that this will slightly change the taste and texture of the pie crust.

Can I use salted butter instead of unsalted butter?

If using salted butter, reduce the salt in this recipe from 1 teaspoon to 3/4 teaspoon.

How long do you bake the pie crust?

This will depend on if you’re needing a partially baked crust or a fully-baked crust. I have a full tutorial to show you how to blind bake a pie crust here.

Can I cut this recipe in half?

Yes, absolutely! You may cut the recipe in half to make just one pie crust.

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