So many recipes and posts and cookbooks out there talk about how they have an easy flaky pie crust recipe, so I know you are skeptical. Because you’ve made crust and you’re not an expert and it was never as easy or as flaky as promised.
Guess what? I’m not an expert pastry chef either! I love making pie so I’ve made LOTS of crust and there have been times when I’ve wished that it wasn’t so darn fiddly. Well now I finally have a recipe which is easy and is flaky and isn’t fiddly. It simply requires that you do everything differently.
Looking for a sweet pastry crust for tarts?
Try pasta frolla!
My recipe is easy to make and
includes step-by-step instructions.
Hello, all!
Over the years I’ve tried every sort of recipe on pie crust that I’ve seen, and they all make a pie when I’m done. But don’t get anything wrong or you’re in trouble! I’ve had my share of crusts which tore, cracked, got tough, or just wouldn’t come together.
Vinegar? Tried it. Egg? Tried it. (And I do like egg in a tart dough!) Vodka? Been there. All shortening? Grew up on that. By hand? Food processor? Butter and shortening? Yes, yes, yes! Beat the heck out of the dough? I still like that one – good for getting out aggressions and makes a great, homemade puff pastry.
But I would throw out every one of those crust recipes for this one! I discovered it on the Serious Eats site when I clicked on their recipe for Easy Pie Dough earlier this year and I am a convert. It’s flaky. It’s easy. And it overturns everything every other crust recipe gives as gospel.
This year don’t buy a premade supermarket crust and don’t make a fiddly ‘flakes of butter’ crust which turns into a mess if you get it warm. This year make my easy flaky pie crust. Perfect pie crust isn’t for pastry chefs anymore. It’s for anyone with a food processor.
Recipes to Try
Here are a few of my favorite desserts which use this crust recipe:
- Sweet Potato Pie
- The BEST Apple Pie
- Fresh Peach Pie
- No Bake Blueberry Pie (you do bake the crust but not the filling!)
For more info on how this crust works: The Science of Pie Dough
1. Ingredients – flour (divided), sugar, salt, butter, water
Eight ounces of the flour is in my mixer and four and 1/2 ounces are in the bowl. I use my scale to measure all the flour into the bowl and then scoop out until I get to about 4 ounces left.
As for the sugar, only use that if you are making a sweet crust! I personally find it weird tasting when I’ve forgotten and added it to the crust for a savory dish.
2. Strew butter over flour
Try to keep it from getting all clumped up by getting the pieces coated with some flour as you drop them in.
3. Pulse flour and butter until dough forms a ball and there is no dry flour
See how completely mixed that is? Don’t be afraid!
Get it all mixed in.
4. Spread out the dough and sprinkle the reserved flour over
Use a spatula and keep your fingers away from the knife! Then just pour the flour on top.
5. Pulse in the new flour and break up the dough
You want broken up pieces of dough plus LOTS of flour still visible. If you still have some larger chunks after you’ve pulsed (5-6 times), break them up with the edge of a spatula or knife once you’ve poured the dough into your bowl.
6. Fold in the water with a spatula
The spatula is important! You want to fold and mix the water in and the flat side of the spatula is perfect for that.
And then when you’re done? Look at those smooth discs of dough. Like play-doh and as easy to form into shapes.
7. Form the dough into two discs
Make your discs then wrap them up and put them in the fridge! They need to rest for at least 2 hours before rolling and can hang out for up to 3 days. (Or freeze them for up to 3 months!)
8. Roll out the dough on a well floured board
I often use wax paper underneath while I’m rolling for ease of transferring the dough; however, I also like to just use a large wooden board. Either way, keep everything sprinkled with flour so your dough doesn’t stick.
9. Transfer the crust to a pie plate
To transfer either flip it into the pie plate with wax paper or gently wrap it around your rolling pin and then unwrap into the plate. Press the dough down into the plate and trim the edges. For a one crust pie, you can flute the edges now and for a two crust pie wait until you have put on the top crust.
Tip: For more info on making pies and working with crusts, check on my My Pie Baking Tips and Tricks.
If you try my recipe for Flaky Pie Crust, I would love to hear from you in the comments with your experience and rating! And I’m happy to answer any questions you might have.
– Happy Pie Making, Annemarie
Recommended Equipment
- Stainless bench scraper
- 12 cup Cuisinart food processor (or equivalent)
- Tapered rolling pin
- Silicone Spatula
- KerryGold Butter (optional! for extra buttery crust)
Easy Flaky Pie Crust Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 oz) all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 2 1/2 sticks (10 oz, 20 tbsp) cold unsalted butter, cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch thick pieces
- 6 tbsp (3 oz) cold water
Instructions
- Measure out all the flour into a mixing bowl. Add 2/3 (about 8 oz) of the flour to the bowl of food processor.
- Add in the sugar and salt and pulse to combine.
- Lay out the butter evenly over the surface of the flour. Begin pulsing the flour and butter together. Continue until the flour and butter are completely combined and there is no dry flour in the processor and the dough has clumped up.
- Spread out the dough with a rubber spatula and then sprinkle the remaining flour over the top.
- Pulse just few times, 5-6 quick pulses, to break up the dough. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Sprinkle the water over the dough and use the rubber spatula to fold and mix the water into it.
- Once the water is mixed in and the dough has become a cohesive ball, turn it out onto a well floured surface.
- Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
- After the dough has rested, use it in any recipe calling for one or two 9-inch crusts.
Notes
- Inspiration: Adapted from Easy Pie Dough by Serious Eats.
- Storage: Dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to three months. (Well wrapped!)
- Yield: This recipe will make two 9-inch crusts.
- Working the Dough: Don't be afraid to work the dough after you've added the water and are forming it into discs. I fold and press it a few times by hand so that it makes a nice, smooth ball which I can shape into a disc.
- Tips:
- I have found that this dough is forgiving even if your butter isn't completely cold. I made a perfect pie on a hot day where my butter had softened before I made the crust. However, I would recommend going with the cold butter since that does remove a variable.
- Â As you can see from my pictures up above, I like to roll it out on sheets of wax paper. I find it helps when it's time to transfer the rolled crust to the pie plate. I put two sheets below the dough and sprinkle both the wax paper and the dough with flour. Once I'm done I can lift up the whole crust with the wax paper and easily move it to my plate and then peel off the wax paper.
- Whether you use wax paper or not, make sure you use a well floured surface and rolling pin. Flour everything!
- One more thing - when you are ready to roll make sure you let it sit out until it's pliable. Refrigerated dough is too cold to roll and will crack as you work. Your fingers should leave an imprint but not sink in.
Persiasblossom says
May I ask, How did you measure your flour? I used the scoop in and level off method and my dough was a bit sticky.
justalittlebitofbacon says
I use a kitchen scale and go entirely by ounces. For a completely reproducible recipe I would recommend a scale. However, a scoop and sweep method as you used should give approximately 5 oz cups so perhaps your flour was a little fluffed up (which would make lighter cups) or you are using a much softer flour (which will absorb less water).
Lauren says
Hi! This has become my go to crust recipe! Quick question – I did freeze one disk at Thanksgiving and now would like to use it. How do you recommend thawing? Thank you!
justalittlebitofbacon says
Simply leave it overnight in the fridge and it will be fully thawed.
Curriea says
Can you make this ahead of time and leave it in the fridge?
justalittlebitofbacon says
Yes, the dough can be made up to three days ahead of baking. (I’m making mine today and baking on Wednesday.) And now I’m going to update the recipe since the storage instructions should be in there!
Sessia says
I made it on my mixer with the flat spatula mixer. And it came together beautifully. I loved how my coconut cream pie turned out. It was nice and flaky and toasty, just how I like it. Loved so much.
justalittlebitofbacon says
That coconut pie sounds yummy! And thanks for the info on the flat beater. I’ve never done it that way. 🙂
Rita Chartier says
Hi, I think you have a typo in your recipe, 2 1/2 cups of flour is 20 oz.
6 tablespoons of water isn’t enough for this much flour.
The butter however is the right amount for 2 1/2 cups.
Also 2/3 rds of the flour in the processor is closer to 14 oz. Adding more water helped.
justalittlebitofbacon says
20 oz? How do you get that? A cup of flour ranges from 4 1/4 to 5 oz. I used a 5 oz baseline (which you get using a scoop and sweep method of dipping the cup into the flour and sweeping off the excess). 5 + 5 + 2 1/2 = 12 1/2. 20 oz would be 4-5 cups of flour. I make this recipe regularly using the weights listed and it works every time.
justalittlebitofbacon says
Okay. My husband just clued me in what happened here. A cup of flour does not have the same weight as a cup of water. This is a dry weight not a liquid weight we talking about. Two completely different measures! If we had the metric system, we would not be having this discussion. 🙂 Please scoop out a cup of flour and weigh it and you will see that it does in fact weigh about 5 oz not 8 oz. I hope that helps!
Lou says
Hi Rita. Its so interesting to me that I had to add a bit more water. It is a delicious crust this, right?
Becky Callegan says
Hello and Happy Thanksgiving week! I am going to attempt your pie crust recipe. I wanted to see what are you thoughts on using almond, or another non-grain, flour instead of an all purpose?
Also do you think I could cut the recipe in half since I only need a bottom crust or should I make exact and store the other half for later use?
Thanks!
justalittlebitofbacon says
Hi! Happy Thanksgiving to you too. 🙂 I know people have used gf flour blends with good results, however I don’t know about using something like an almond flour. If you try it, please let me and my readers know if works. As for halving it, yes I have made half a recipe before (and also increased it by half for a 10 inch pie).
Natalie says
For those of us without a food processor, what would you suggest? Thanks.
justalittlebitofbacon says
I know people have used pastry cutters or their hands + a knife to cut up the butter. (Based on some of my pinterest reviews.) All you need is to get butter fully mixed with the flour and then cut in the extra flour and you’ll have great crust.
SongOfHope says
How long should it set out for after being in the fridge?
justalittlebitofbacon says
The dough should be pliable but not soft. Can you roll it fairly easily without it cracking? Then it’s ready. As for how long, it depends on how long you kept it in the fridge (a 2 hour rest usually means you can roll it almost immediately) and how cold your fridge and house are. Also, it will depend on the butter you used. I usually use a soft butter (KerryGold) so my dough is ready quicker than when I use a standard American butter (such as Land o Lakes). Just take it out and test it, feel how hard it is, and make your filling while it softens, checking every so often. I’m sorry I can’t give you a number of minutes, but I hope this helps.