Easy Pie Crust

(1,218)

This is our go-to pastry dough for all kinds of pies, tarts, quiches, and more.

Prep Time:
40 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 40 mins
Yield:
2

Here’s our favorite easy pie crust recipe that’s buttery, flaky, and will win you rave reviews every time. If you’ve been looking for foolproof instructions on how to make pie crust, we have everything you need to know. We walk you through our simple pie crust recipe with a step-by-step video, clear directions, and lots of expert tips and tricks from our test kitchen editors.

Easy Pie Crust

Rachel Marek

With this recipe in your repertoire, it may be the only pie crust recipe you ever need! It’s perfect for pies and pastries of all kinds, like fruit pies, pumpkin pies, cream pies, quiches, tarts, and so much more. Make extra batches in advance to prep ahead for special occasions. The dough freezes beautifully for up to three months, and just needs to be placed in the refrigerator overnight to thaw before rolling it out.

How to Make Pie Crust in Advance

This dough keeps well in the refrigerator for up to three days and in the freezer for up to three months. To store it, pat the dough into 6-inch disks, one pie crust per disk, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. To thaw the dough, place in the refrigerator overnight before proceeding with the recipe. Note: never try to thaw pie dough in the microwave! It needs to thaw slowly and gently so the butter doesn’t leak out. 

Why We Love All-Butter Pie Crust

Does anything taste better than butter? While making all-butter pie crust requires some precision in keeping everything cold and handling the dough carefully, we think it’s worth it. Pie dough can also be made with shortening or lard, which are a bit less temperamental than butter, but we think the flavor of all-butter pie crust just can’t be beat.

How to Roll the Dough

There are all kinds of rolling pins to choose from but our test kitchen editors prefer a French-style rolling pin—a wooden cylinder that’s tapered at the ends, and is usually about 18 inches long. This design gives you more flexibility to roll the dough into any size and shape you like, without being limited by the width of a more classic American-style rolling pin.

Make sure the dough is well-chilled before you attempt to roll it out! If it starts getting warm and difficult to handle, pop it in the fridge for 10 minutes before you try to transfer it to the pie plate and trim and shape it.

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 teaspoon sugar

  • 2 sticks chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Directions

Pie Crust Ingredients

Rachel Marek

  1. Combine dry ingredients:

    Mix 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and 1 teaspoon each salt and sugar in a medium-size bowl. Cut 2 sticks chilled unsalted butter into pieces.

    Step 1 Easy Pie Crust

    Rachel Marek

  2. Cut in butter:

    With a pastry blender, cut in butter, working until mixture resembles coarse meal.

    Step 2 Easy Pie Crust

    Rachel Marek

  3. Mix in water:

    Add 4 tablespoons ice water; work with hands until dough comes together. If dough is still crumbly, add more ice water a tablespoon at a time (up to 4 more tablespoons). Do not overwork.

    Step 3 Easy Pie Crust

    Rachel Marek

  4. Divide and chill dough:

    Divide dough in half, and flatten halves into disks. Wrap disks separately in plastic; refrigerate at least 1 hour.

    Step 4 Easy Pie Crust

    Rachel Marek

  5. Fit dough into pan:

    To form the pie shell, roll the dough on a floured surface into a 14-inch round. Wrap around rolling pin and carefully unroll over a 9-inch pie plate.

    Step 5 Easy Pie Crust

    Rachel Marek

  6. Shape crust:

    Fit gently into bottom and side of plate. Use kitchen shears to trim dough to a 1-inch overhang; fold under, and seal to form a rim.

    Step 6 Easy Pie Crust

    Rachel Marek

  7. Crimp crust:

    Crimp rim with fingertips and knuckle. Repeat with remaining dough; wrap each with plastic, stack, and freeze.

    Step 7 Easy Pie Crust

    Rachel Marek

Frequently Asked Questions:

Easy Pie Crust

Rachel Marek

What is the secret to a good pie crust?

In a nutshell:

  • Cold fat
  • Cold water
  • Don’t overmix
  • Chill dough before rolling
  • Don’t re-roll

Learn more: Five Steps to Perfect Piecrust Every Time

Do you bake pie crust before baking the pie?

It depends what kind of pie you’re making. For double-crust pies (the kind with both a top and a bottom crust), never pre-bake the crust. For single-crust pies (the kind with just a bottom crust), it’s always necessary to pre-bake if the pie will not be baked after the filling is added. This is the case with many custard and cream pies, where the filling in made separately and then transferred to the prepared crust. For single-crust pies that will get baked after adding the filling (such as pumpkin pie or quiche).

Should you use milk or water in pie crust?

Most pie crust recipes call for water, which can be made ice-cold, and has a neutral flavor and reaction in the recipe. Some pie crust recipes do call for milk, which contains proteins and sugars that encourage browning.

What if my pie crust dough is dry or crumbly?

Dry or crumbly dough is usually the result of not adding enough liquid to the mixture. Liquid measurements in pie crust recipes are always approximate because the weather, and the age and variety of your flour, will affect the amount of moisture the mixture can absorb. Sprinkle ice water a teaspoon at a time onto a crumbly dough mixture. It may take less water than you think to turn the dough from dry to perfect.

Is this pie crust flaky?

Achieving flaky pie crust largely depends on how you handle the butter and mix the dough. Follow the recipe instructions and read up on all our tips for mixing and rolling pie crust, and you’ll get a deliciously buttery, flaky crust every time.

Do I need a food processor?

A food processor allows you to mix pie crust dough rapidly, with as little handling as possible. This helps to keep it cold and prevent it from getting tough due to overworking. However, you can still make a fantastic pie crust by hand. Take great care to use very cold butter and icy cold water, and use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut in the butter so you don’t warm it up with your hands.

Should I use butter, lard, or shortening?

All three of these ingredients are widely used in making pie crusts. Shortening and lard can be easier to handle, and a bit less temperamental than butter, but we think the flavor of all-butter pie crust just can’t be beat.

More Pie Crust Recipes to Try:

Originally appeared: Everyday Food, July/August 2003
Updated by
Jennifer Anderson

Jennifer is a freelance writer for MarthaStewart.com.

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